Bishop Berardi: Gulf Christians called to be witnesses of peace

By Roberto Paglialonga and Linda Bordoni

As the war between the United States and Iran enters a new phase, concern is growing across the Gulf, where attacks have targeted several countries that host US military bases.

On Saturday, Tehran accused the United States of attacking an Iranian tanker near Kharg Island, a major hub for Iran’s crude oil exports. The reported strike risks further escalation and renewed Iranian attacks against US allies and interests across the region.

Bishop Aldo Berardi, Apostolic Vicar of Northern Arabia, which includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, was in Rome this week for a meeting of the Latin Bishops of the Arab Regions. Pope Leo XIV received the bishops in audience on Thursday.

Speaking to Vatican Radio after the audience, Bishop Berardi said the meeting with the Pope was particularly important because it allowed the bishops to share directly with him their concerns and the suffering experienced by the people entrusted to their pastoral care amid the conflict.

“It was very important for us to meet the Holy Father,” he said. “Of course, we are in contact with him through the Apostolic Nuncio and through the Dicastery, but to meet him directly was very, very important.”

The bishops, he explained, wanted to express “all our suffering, all our questions, all our worries and our concerns regarding the Gulf and regarding the whole region.”

Listening to the reality of the Gulf

Bishop Berardi said the delegation also presented the Pope with a picture of the different realities facing Christians in the Gulf, distinguishing between Christians who are native to the countries where they live and the many expatriate Christians who form a large part of the Catholic communities.

“The Holy Father received all our concerns and also our presentation of the reality and the situation,” he said.

For Bishop Berardi, the encounter was important not only because the Pope listened to the bishops, but also because they were able to hear his words of encouragement and reassurance.

The Pope, he added, assured the bishops that they could turn to him in moments of difficulty: “We can contact him at any moment, in any difficulty.”

A message centred on peace

At the heart of the exchange was a call to peace and the focus on the Church’s role in helping to build it.

“His message was about peace, of course,” Berardi said, highlighting the contribution of Christians, whom he said, “can help to build peace by our prayer, by our dialogue, by maintaining contact with the different factions.”

But the bishop added, the Church’s witness must go beyond words: “Maybe the most important thing for us is to be witnesses — witnesses of Christ, the risen Lord, and witnesses of the Gospel in that region.”

That witness, he explained, takes place in a particularly complex environment, in countries where Christians live alongside Muslim communities and where there are also different interpretations of Islam.

Unity as a witness

The diversity of the Catholic Church itself, Bishop Berardi said, can offer an important witness, noting that, “In the Gulf we have different rites, different traditions, different languages, but we are all one Catholic Church.”

“The unity of the Catholic Church is also an example for the region,” he reiterated.

The Church’s presence in the Gulf may often appear quiet and understated, particularly amid the noise and violence of war. Yet Bishop Berardi believes that it is exactly this that can make its witness significant.

“Our testimony is maybe silent, but very effective.”