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Abu Dhabi Marks Interfaith Effort a Year after Pope's Visit

Associated Press

   ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - Interfaith leaders gathered on Monday
   in Abu Dhabi to mark one year since Pope Francis' historic trip to the
   Arabian Peninsula, a visit that saw leading Muslim clerics gather
   alongside the pope to promote co-existence.
   The United Arab Emirates has worked to promote itself over the past
   year as a beacon of religious tolerance, despite it's hard limits on
   political speech. The majority of the country's population are not
   Emirati Muslim citizens, but foreigners, millions of whom are Christian
   and Hindu.

   Abu Dhabi hosted Monday's meeting to showcase its continued efforts in
   promoting interfaith dialogue as it prepares to break ground this year
   on a compound that will house a mosque, church and synagogue side by
   side. The Abrahamic House of Fraternity project is due to be completed
   in 2022.

   In the neighboring emirate of Dubai, an unmarked villa has already been
   turned into a synagogue.

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