Pope Francis begins four-day visit to Bahrain

Pope Francis is making the first-ever papal trip to Bahrain on Thursday.

He will be attending the closing ceremony of the "Bahrain Forum for Dialogue: East and West for Human Coexistence" and meet members of the Catholic community.

Bahrain has said the forum aims to "further cement the values of peace and tolerance," including dialogue to promote coexistence.

Pope Francis will also meet King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa and stay in the royal compound because there is no Vatican embassy in Bahrain.

In addition to meeting with Muslim leaders in Bahrain, he will also celebrate Mass in the national stadium for the country’s Catholic community.

In 2019, Francis visited the UAE and travelled to Kazakhstan for a meeting of religious leaders in September.