By Andrea Tornielli – Rimini
“Weapons will certainly never lead to solutions,” says Capuchin Bishop Paolo Martinelli, who since 2022 has been Vicar Apostolic of Southern Arabia, which comprises three states on the Arabian Peninsula: the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Yemen.
In an interview with Vatican News’ Andrea Tornielli, Bishop Martinelli speaks about the lives of the more than one million Christians in those territories, and how they have changed since the outbreak of the war between the United States and Iran.
“The past few months have been a challenging experience that has put us to the test, but I must say that the Christian community, our faithful, have given a great witness of loyalty to the Church,” the Bishop says. “They have always been very faithful to the initiatives we have proposed. From the very first day of the attacks, I wrote a letter to our faithful inviting them to pray together, to help those in difficulty – those who had lost their jobs – and, above all, to follow the guidance issued by the local authorities. We increased the number of Masses so that as many people as possible could attend whilse minimising gatherings. People have set a fine example of faithfulness, prayer and mutual support.”
Bishop Martinelli explains that in the context of countries with an overwhelming Muslim majority and in the face of laws prohibiting any public proclamation of the Gospel, “no one can prevent us from living out our faith—and therefore, from bearing witness to the joy of the Gospel in our daily lives, through our ability to form authentic relationships, including through dialogue and witness.”
The Apostolic Vicar then reflected on the words of Pope Leo XIV at the Rimini Meeting: “The Pope touched upon the fundamental themes of the whole of Christian life. And then there is this value of love for the Church, the striving for the unity of the Church, and the value of communion as a founding principle. For us, as a Church with so many different components, so many different cultures, languages, and rites, it was important to hear this call back to the original source of communion and to love for the Church as such. I believe these are key words for all Christians, wherever they may be in the world”.
Finally, regarding the Pope’s call in Rimini to disarm words, minds, and nations, and his condemnation of the folly of the arms race, Bishop Martinelli says that the unarmed and disarming peace to which Pope Leo XIV continually refers is “absolutely crucial, because here we can see very clearly that the only way forward is through the promotion of peace and the patience of mutual dialogue.”
“Certainly”, he continues, “weapons will never lead to solutions; therefore, we must have the patience for dialogue and the shared promotion of peace, which is the only possible path to a shared and fruitful coexistence. Therefore, the Pope’s words on promoting a disarmed and disarming peace are essential words that we must keep close to our hearts and before our eyes every day of our lives”. – Vatican News
