It was still dark on the morning of February 5, 2019, but already the faithful were on their way to Abu Dhabi.
Tens of thousands of worshippers had set off on the long journey to the capital from the four corners of the UAE. From Ruwais to Ras Al Khaimah, they came on special buses, others by car, and some hitched a lift with whoever they could – but all were united by a determination to participate in this once-in-a-lifetime event.
The symbolism of what was happening could not be overstated. Here, in an Islamic country, Pope Francis was to celebrate an open-air Mass at Zayed Sports City. As a reporter for The National covering the event, the devotion and dedication from those who attended was incredible to see.
They were living far from their homes and families, but were brought together on a momentous day that will live forever in the hearts and minds of those who were there.
This was the first visit by the pontiff. And a Mass on this scale had never been seen before in the Arabian Gulf. So many people came that giant screens were installed outside the venue so people who didn’t make it inside could watch. There was something special in the air that day as Catholic hymns drifted across Zayed Sports City and filtered out into the city.
This was no ordinary mass. As the Pope approached, cheers rang out from the jubilant crowds wearing pope-branded baseball caps and waving Vatican flags. They chanted his name, shouting "Viva il Papa" as the pontiff circled the pitch in his popemobile under the winter sun before the mass at 10.30am. A little girl even ran towards the pope and he blessed her.
In his homily, delivered in Italian and translated into Arabic with English subtitles, Pope Francis addressed the expatriate Catholic workers in the UAE. “It is most certainly not easy for you to live far from home, missing the affections of your loved ones, and perhaps also feeling uncertainty about the future. But the Lord is faithful and does not abandon his people,” he said.
He also spoke about materialism and called for greater understanding between the world’s religions. Pope Francis said people who were powerful or wealthy were often acclaimed by crowds. But Jesus believed in the meek, the poor and the persecuted. “Who is correct here: Jesus or the world?” he asked.
"Look at Jesus: he left nothing written, built nothing imposing. And when he told us how to live, he did not ask us to build great works or draw attention to ourselves with extraordinary gestures. He asked us to produce just one work of art, possible for everyone: our own life."
Rounds of applause broke out throughout the service, and some people were visibly emotional. After the homily, prayers were said in commonly spoken languages in the UAE, such as Urdu, Tagalog and Malayalam.
The pontiff then blessed the crowd, cheers erupted, and the mass finished just after midday. More than 130,000 people were inside the stadium, with some putting the attendance at 180,000, including those outside.
Pope Francis died on Monday. But no one at Zayed Sports City that sunny February day will forget his visit. The symbolic location of the Mass – close to Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque – underlined the tolerance shown by the country’s leaders. But this was nothing new.
It was noteworthy that Pope Francis visited St Joseph’s Cathedral in Abu Dhabi hours before the historic Mass. The church was established in the 1960s, before the UAE was even formed, and the 2019 visit was simply the culmination of decades of work by pioneering priests and dedicated congregations, and tolerance shown by the country’s rulers.
The pope’s outreach to other religions will also not have gone unnoticed in the UAE. Whatever happens next, a crucial phase in Roman Catholic history has passed.
