Further exchanges of good-will and friendship were shared (video below) at meetings end. The king gifted Pope Benedict with a gold and silver sword studded with precious jewels; in keeping with a Bedouin custom the Saudis follow when foreign leaders visit their country... The king also presented Benedict with a small silver and gold statue depicting a palm tree and a man riding a camel.
Pope Benedict XVI discussed the situation of minority Christians in the Islamic country, as the Vatican wants greater rights for the some 1 million Catholics who live in the Saudi Kingdom. Most of these Christians are migrant workers, not allowed to practice their religion in public...
The visit by S. Arabia's King Abdullah was sincerely welcome... One cannot help but remember the stark contrast when Pope Benedict visited Turkey... The Pope's Turkish visit was marked by millions of angry Turks did not want him to visit their country, as 25,000 took to the streets because the Pope quoted Manuel II Paleologus, a Byzantine emperor, in his 1391 passage about the Ottoman Empire before the fall of Constantinople to the Muslim Ottomans...
Today, in what is viewed as the Iranian Regime's...
Kurds should be given complete rights
"Everyone should acknowledge that the Kurds are a nation that lives in the current borders of Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey”. The pope praised the Kurdish people saying that they have a rich culture, but that they are oppressed and should be given their utmost rights.
During his speech, the Pope called for a meeting between the world's religions to put an end to the oppression against the Kurdish people. Pope Benedict XVI said that a meeting must be arranged immediately to discuss a plan to urge the world to grant Kurds their rights."
