Pope Francis has sent a condolence message following the death of the United Arab Emirates president Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
“I offer Your Highness my heartfelt recognition and the assurance of my prayers for his eternal rest. I likewise join the people of the Emirates in mourning his passing and paying tribute to his distinguished and far-sighted leadership in the service of the nation,” Pope Francis wrote in the message sent on 17 May.
“I am particularly grateful for the solicitude shown by His Highness to the Holy See and to the Catholic communities of the Emirates, and for his commitment to the values of dialogue, understanding, and solidarity between peoples and religious traditions solemnly proclaimed by the historic Abu Dhabi Document and embodied in the Zayed Award for Human Fraternity.”
Sheikh Khalifa died on 13 May at the age of 73. He had been in an ailment after suffering a stroke and undergoing surgery in 2014.
The Pope addressed the message to Khalifa’s successor, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who had been the de-facto ruler of the country since Khalifa’s health worsened.
He has led the country’s foreign policy, which has included deploying warplanes in Libya in 2017 and joining the Saudi-led coalition in the war in Yemen before withdrawing its forces in 2020.
Sheikh Mohammed, the Abu Dhabi crown prince often also referred to as MBZ officially became the president of the UAE on May 14.