Pope Francis is about to make a landmark visit to the UAE where he will hold the first ever Catholic Mass in the Arabian Peninsula.
The Muslim-majority country is home to almost a million Catholics, and many more Christians, with people from all over the world attending churches to worship together.
At a time when Christian minorities are being persecuted in the Middle East, while Islamophobic sentiment has surged in the West, the UAE is leading by example. Despite being far from home, residents are granted the right to practice their religion freely and for many this also means the freedom of identity.
Liz Cookman speaks to Father Ani Xavier from Abu Dhabi's St Paul's in Mussaffah and the congregation at St Joseph's, the UAE's oldest Catholic church, about their relationship with their religion, how the Emirates has embraced one of its largest religious minorities and why the Pope's visit is so important.
Listen here:
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Read more on the Papal visit:
Pope Francis hails UAE as a 'model of co-existence' in video message
Inside the real global village, Dubai's sprawling multilingual Catholic church
Pope's visit speaks to a 1,400-year-old tradition of Christianity in the Gulf
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Babumoshai Bandookbaaz
Director: Kushan Nandy
Starring: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Bidita Bag, Jatin Goswami
Three stars
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
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