Bishop Martinelli calls for dialogue amid war in the Middle East
Bishop Paolo Martinelli, apostolic vicar of Southern Arabia, said dialogue and peace are urgently needed for the more than one million Christians living in the Arabian Peninsula
Bishop Paolo Martinelli, a Capuchin who has served as apostolic vicar of Southern Arabia since 2022, spoke about the situation of Christians in the Arabian Peninsula during a conversation at the Rimini Meeting in Italy. Referring to the conflicts in the region, he said: "weapons will never lead to solutions." Dialogue and peace, he said, are the only possible approach.
The past few months have been especially hard for the Christian community spread across the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Yemen, more than one million faithful in all. The outbreak of war between the United States and Iran added to an already fragile situation. Still, Martinelli said the community had responded faithfully to the initiatives the Church proposed.
When the attacks began, the bishop wrote to his community asking them to pray together and to show solidarity with those in the most vulnerable situations, among them people who had lost their jobs. More Masses were scheduled to avoid crowding and make it easier for people to attend.
Most of the population is Muslim, and the law prohibits public preaching of the Gospel. "No one can stop us from living our faith," Martinelli said. Christian witness is given in daily life, he said, through genuine relationships that open space for dialogue and for the joy of the Gospel.
Martinelli also cited the words Pope Leo XIV delivered at the Meeting on love for the Church and the search for unity. The pope's message on communion, he said, is particularly relevant in a Church made up of cultures, languages and rites as varied as those living side by side in Southern Arabia.
On the pope's call to disarm words, minds and nations, Martinelli said a disarmed and disarming peace is "absolutely decisive." The only path to living together fruitfully, he said, lies in patience and actively working for peace. "We must have the patience of dialogue and promote peace together," he said, encouraging the faithful to keep that message alive in their daily lives.
