(MENAFN- The Arabian Post) Arabian Post Staff -Dubai

During a private audience at the Vatican, Pope Francis offered high praise for the United Arab Emirates, describing the country as a“global model” for promoting the values of coexistence and human fraternity. He underlined the readiness of the Holy See to deepen cooperation with the Higher Committee of Human Fraternity, an initiative rooted in the landmark February 2019 document on human fraternity. At the meeting, the pontiff welcomed Dr Khalid Ghanem Al Ghaith, Secretary-General of the HCHF, at his invitation, signalling a renewed commitment to advancing peace and human solidarity through interfaith partnership.

The Vatican described the UAE's efforts as“tangible and inspiring”, pointing to the Gulf state's role in advancing the principles laid out in the Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together, signed in Abu Dhabi by Pope Francis and Ahmed el‐Tayeb, Grand Imam of al-Azhar, on 4 February 2019. That foundational declaration called on faith-based and secular actors alike to adopt“a culture of dialogue as the path; mutual cooperation as the code of conduct; reciprocal understanding as the method and standard.”

The meeting occurred amid a broader push by the Holy See to strengthen interreligious dialogue and global solidarity. Over the past year, the HCHF has ramped up activity, from educational initiatives to awards such as the Zayed Award for Human Fraternity, all aimed at fostering tolerance and cooperation across faiths. The Vatican's outreach to the UAE underscores the role the Gulf state is playing as both a host and catalyst for such initiatives.

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Pope Francis commended the UAE's legislative and social frameworks for promoting tolerance, freedom of worship and inclusive governance. He remarked that the Emirates' example helped illustrate how“the desert can flourish” when investment in education, justice and fraternity outpaces the mere pursuit of economic growth - a phrase reminiscent of his address in Abu Dhabi in 2019. That trip marked the first papal visit to the Arabian Peninsula, during which he sought to reshape perceptions of religion's role in public life.

The Holy See's indication that it is willing to expand institutional ties with the HCHF reflects an evolving strategy of the Catholic Church to embed interfaith cooperation within its global diplomatic and pastoral agenda. Church officials suggest that future collaboration may involve joint programmes in education, cultural exchange, youth leadership and humanitarian outreach, targeting zones where religious tension or social fragmentation remain acute.

For the UAE, the recognition from the Vatican offers both symbolic and practical benefits. The country has made human-fraternity initiatives a diplomatic pillar, hosting gatherings under the umbrella of peacebuilding and supporting the construction of the Abrahamic Family House in Abu Dhabi - a complex housing a mosque, church and synagogue side-by-side, and overseen by the HCHF. The Vatican's endorsement thus serves to amplify the UAE's soft-power project as a crossroads of faith, culture and ideas.

Critics, however, note that while the rhetoric is laudable, the broader impact of these efforts remains mixed. Some analysts warn that advocacy for interreligious harmony must be matched by measurable advances in religious-freedom protection, civil-society space and accountability. The Vatican appears to recognise that tension: its decision to deepen ties with the HCHF suggests a move to translate dialogue into action.

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The meeting did not announce specific new initiatives or funding commitments. Nonetheless, the timing and tone suggest that the Holy See and the HCHF view this partnership as an operational platform rather than simply a symbolic alignment. For Pope Francis, whose encyclical Fratelli Tutti links peace, fraternity and human dignity, the UAE's role provides a variable test-bed for putting theory into practice.

Also published on Medium.

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