Crown prince, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (right) and Pope Francis (left) at a meeting in Abu Dhabi, UAE on February 3, 2019 (Photo: AFP/ VNA)

The pope also met a host of cabinet ministers in a greeting line, as well as Catholic and Muslim officials. The pope touched down in Abu Dhabi for the 48-hour trip during which he will meet leading Muslim clerics and hold an open-air mass for some 135,000 Catholics. The pope said the trip, which will end on Tuesday, is an opportunity to write “a new page in the history of relations between religions”.