Francis in United Arab Emirates

Pope Francis has expressed openness to the Vatican stepping in to mediate in Venezuela, where the head of the country's national assembly has declared himself interim president after months of unrest 

United Arab Emirates: Pope Francis sought to fortify the Catholic minority in this Muslim country Feb. 5, encouraging a dynamic but disenfranchised community of migrant workers and housekeepers to "face up to the trials of each day."

United Arab Emirates: Pope Francis urged religious leaders to renounce all forms of support for violence Feb. 4, using the first papal address on the Arabian Peninsula to call it a "duty" of the world's faiths to reject "every nuance of approval" for war.

The sun had set long before Pope Francis arrived in Abu Dhabi Feb. 3, but Sheik Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the crown prince, and Egyptian Sheik Ahmad el-Tayeb, grand imam of al-Azhar, still went to the airport to welcome him.

Some Middle East experts are wishing Pope Francis would reconsider the February visit to the United Arab Emirates because of that country's role in the coalition led by Saudi Arabia in Yemen.