Love always and love everyone, Pope Francis at Bahrain Mass

On the third day of his Apostolic Journey in Bahrain, Pope Francis celebrated Mass in Bahrain's National Stadium, the kingdom's biggest venue.

About 30,000 worshippers joined the open-air Mass held in mainly Muslim Bahrain on Saturday, the highlight of his outreach mission to the Gulf.

A multinational choir of 100 members sang in multiple languages.

Pope Francis arrived in his Popemobile to the white stage with a giant gold cross, smiling and waving to the crowds gathered there, occasionally stopping to kiss the children.

In his homily, the Holy Father spoke of Messianic peace, quoting prophet Isaiah's words: “His power shall grow continually, and there shall be endless peace”.

He noted that the prophet announces the extraordinary news that "the Messiah to come will indeed be powerful, not in the manner of a commander who wages war and rules over others, but as the 'Prince of Peace' who reconciles people with God and with one another."

“His great power does not come from the force of violence, but from the weakness of love.”

The Pope continued that "the Lord asks of us not to dream idealistically of a world of fraternity, but to choose, starting with ourselves, to practice universal fraternity, concretely and courageously, persevering in good even when evil is done to us, breaking the spiral of vengeance, disarming violence, demilitarizing the heart".

He continued, "we often notice that the more power is sought, the more peace is threatened."

Love always, Love everyone

The Holy Father then urged the faithful to shatter the chains of evil and break the spiral of violence by loving everyone, always.

"The Lord knows that within our relationships there is a daily struggle between love and hatred", and within our hearts "there is a daily clash between light and darkness".

The Pope noted that, all around the world, we see "ways of exercising power that feed on oppression and violence, by restricting basic freedoms, and in this way oppressing the weak". 

Pope continued, "peace cannot be restored if a harsh word is answered with an even harsher one, if one slap leads to another."

“We need to disarm, to shatter the chains of evil, break the spiral of violence, and put an end to resentment, complaints, and self-pity. We need to keep loving, always. This is Jesus’ way of giving glory to the God of heaven and building peace on earth.”

The way of the Lord is to love everyone: "If we want to be children of the Father and build a world of brothers and sisters, the real challenge is to learn how to love everyone, even our enemies."

 “To love our enemies is to make this earth a reflection of heaven.”

Pope Francis, bringing his homily to a close, stressed that the power of Jesus is love, and He gives us this superhuman power "to love always and to love everyone".

Finally, the Pope praised Bahrain for its diversity and tolerance: "This very land is a living image of coexistence in diversity and indeed an image of our world, increasingly marked by the constant migration of peoples and by a pluralism of ideas, customs and traditions."

Finally, the Pope praised Bahrain for its diversity and tolerance: "This very land is a living image of coexistence in diversity and indeed an image of our world, increasingly marked by the constant migration of peoples and by a pluralism of ideas, customs and traditions."

This is Pope’s second visit to the Gulf region, in an apparent gesture of outreach to Islam.

During his 2019 trip to the United Arab Emirates, he led a Mass for 170,000 people and signed a Christian-Muslim manifesto for peace.

Bahrain, like the United Arab Emirates, is considered a relatively tolerant Arab nation.