Pope Francis leads the largest ever display of Christian worship at the birthplace of Islam, performing Mass in front of 170,000 Catholics in Abu Dhabi

The 82-year-old pontiff led the service at a sports venue this morning during first papal trip to the Muslim Gulf

Huge crowds waved Vatican flags and banners inside the stadium while another 120,000 watched outside

Around 10 per cent of the UAE's population - roughly one million people - are believed to be Roman Catholic

Pope Francis held an open-air Mass for 170,000 people in Abu Dhabi today on the final day of his historic visit to the United Arab Emirates. The 82-year-old pontiff led the service at a sports venue this morning where huge crowds waved Vatican flags and banners and an altar with a huge cross was erected for the Mass. The worship was the centrepiece of the first papal visit to the Arabian Peninsula, the birthplace of Islam, in a country where Christian worship is usually allowed only inside churches.

Inside the Zayed Sports City stadium, 50,000 Catholics with tickets to the Mass cheered the pope on, with one small group hoisting a pink poster which read 'We the Catholics of Yemen love you!'. Another 120,000 were gathered outside, watching via video link on large screens, in what was believed to be the largest ever display of Christian worship in the region. A choir sang hymns as the pope, joined by priests of different nationalities, began the service, broadcast live on Emirati television. 'How beautiful it is for brothers to be joined under this sky,' said a master of ceremonies in Arabic shortly after the pope's arrival around 10:00 am (0600 GMT) Unlike Saudi Arabia, which outlaws all non-Muslim places of worship, Abu Dhabi allows Christians among its large migrant workforce to practise their faith discreetly.

More than 85 percent of the UAE population are expatriates, and about one million Catholics live in the country, or about 10 per cent of the population. Pope Francis' trip has been warmly welcomed by Filipino and Indian Catholics among the UAE's huge migrant workforce. The UAE has eight Catholic churches, while Oman, Kuwait and Yemen each have four, Qatar and Bahrain have one each and ultra-conservative Saudi Arabia bans all non-Muslim places of worship.

Tuesday's service came a day after the pope called for an end to wars in the troubled Middle East, including in Yemen and Syria, at a meeting with a top sheikh and rabbi in the UAE. All religious leaders had a 'duty to reject every nuance of approval from the word war', he told the interfaith meeting on Monday. 'I am thinking in particular of Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Libya,' he said. As Francis arrived from Rome on Sunday human rights groups urged him to press UAE rulers about the war in Yemen. The UAE has been Saudi Arabia's main ally in the war in Yemen, where people are struggling for food and medicine in the depths of a humanitarian crisis. Before heading to the Gulf on Sunday, Francis urged warring parties in Yemen to respect a truce agreement and allow deliveries of food aid. 'The population is exhausted by the lengthy conflict and a great many children are suffering from hunger, but cannot access food depots,' he said. 'The cry of these children and their parents rises up to God.'

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6668593/Pope-Francis-leads-historic-mass-170-000-Catholics-Abu-Dhabi.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490

>>5037399

Agreed, I think most are there just for the Fanfare of it, they can say they went they saw.

I found the emblem on his robe interesting.

James Comey: 'Zero chance' Hillary Clinton gets prosecuted for her emails

Former FBI Director James Comey said Monday there is "zero chance" Hillary Clinton will be prosecuted for her emails. "There is zero chance, zero chance, on the facts in the Hillary Clinton case, that she would be prosecuted," Comey said during a town hall lecture in Sarasota, Fla. "You are out of your mind if you don't think the FBI wanted to make a case if we could. The facts weren't there. Period. Full stop."

As FBI director, Comey oversaw his agency's inquiry into the unauthorized email server Clinton used while serving as secretary of state. In a stunning public admission in July 2016, Comey announced his agency would not recommend criminal charges against anyone involved with Clinton's private email network, even after finding that Clinton's team was "extremely careless" in handling classified emails. Less than two weeks before the presidential election — in which Clinton was the Democratic nominee — Comey once again shook the political world when he announced the FBI was reopening its investigation into Clinton's email server. The FBI closed the inquiry again just days before the election took place. This controversial move has prompted Clinton and her allies to blame Comey, in part, for contributing to her 2016 defeat.

Trump has long attacked Clinton for the email controversy. During the 2016 campaign the "Lock her up" became a mainstay at his rallies and during one of their debates Trump told Clinton she would "be in jail" if he was elected president. In August, Trump accused the FBI of ignoring "tens of thousands of Crooked Hillary Emails, many of which are REALLY BAD." He also warned that at some point he "may have to get involved!” That Twitter storm followed a RealClearInvestigations report on how a “technical glitch” thwarted the ability of FBI technicians to compare Clinton’s emails that were in the FBI’s possession with new emails discovered on the laptop of Anthony Weiner, who is married to top Clinton aide Huma Abedin. According to RealClearInvestigations, the FBI directly examined 3,077 of the 694,000 emails for classified information.

A New York Times report from November said Trump earlier in the year went so far as to tell the White House counsel he wanted to direct the Justice Department to prosecute his political enemies, including Clinton and Comey. But Don McGahn, who was the White House lawyer at the time, told the president that he had no authority to order the prosecution of Clinton, and Comey and warned Trump that doing so could lead to his possible impeachment. Comey was fired in Mary 2017 by Trump, prompting Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to appoint former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counsel in charge of the federal Russian interference investigation.

At the event in Sarasota, Comey trashed his former boss, calling him "one of the worst listeners as a leader," according to Fox 13. He also brought up his claim that Trump asked him to take a loyalty pledge — a conversation which Trump denies took place. “An effective leader never asks for loyalty,” Comey said to applause according to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Comey, who has been on a book tour for his life memoir A Higher Loyalty, during which he has repeatedly condemned Trump, lamented his status as a "semi-employed celebrity." "I thought the easiest thing for me to do would be to be quiet. I don’t love my life as a semi-employed celebrity, but I would be a coward if I didn’t speak. I’m really worried about the impact this president has on our values that we all have in common," he said.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/james-comey-zero-chance-hillary-clinton-gets-prosecuted-for-her-emails