FEB 9 FRANCIS IS THE FIRST POPE TO VISIT ARABIAN PENINSULA

FEB 9  FRANCIS IS THE FIRST POPE TO VISIT ARABIAN PENINSULA

This week, Francis made Papal History by becoming the first pope to visit the Arabian Peninsula. Pope Urban II must be turning over in his vault. He's screaming "Deus Volt!" Back in 1096, he organized the First Crusade to free the Holy Land from the "evil infidels of Islam." For the next millennium, the world's two largest religions have been at odds. All of which makes Pope Francis' visit on Monday

even more miraculous.

Let's begin by looking at where the event took place: The Zayed Sports City Stadium in Abu Dhabi, U.A.E. It's one of the largest in the world, capable of holding 180,000 people. Next, let's look at why the event took place: The ruler of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed, declared 2019 as the 'Year of Tolerance." He got things started by opening the Tolerance Bridge in Dubai on January First. But the sheikh really upped his game in February when Pope Francis surprisingly accepted his offer to come to the Arabian Peninsula to make history.

Your next question is: Are there really 180,000 Christians living the tiny U.A.E.? The answer is: Yes, and most are Filipino guest workers. Like neighboring Qatar, a staggering 88% of the U.A.E.'s population aren't citizens. Rather, they are foreign laborers from over 200 other countries. These folks man the oil rigs, serve cocktails in Dubai nightclubs and do everyone's laundry. Since we're talking about eight million people here, it's important to keep them happy when not working. So the sheikh brashly decided to reward them with a massive mass, with the Pope presiding!

Next, let's look at who attended the event. In addition to the 100,000 Filipinos, people from over 100 other countries filled up the stadium. This included a curious mix of Nigerians, French, Australian and a couple Americans. Also standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the Christians were an estimated 5,000 Muslims. While media on both sides of the religious divide love to stoke the centuries-old fires of hate, the feelings inside Zayed Stadium were decidedly different.

Today, Pope Francis is back home at the Vatican. He is receiving numerous texts and statements from around the world...even one from the Saudi King. Likewise, Sheikh Zayed is also being celebrated for his ambitious Year of Tolerance campaign. To judge all of Islam by the acts of ISIS is like judging all of Christianity by the acts of the KKK. We here at the DUNER BLOG challenge Fox News and Al-Jazeera to start making stories like this Papal Visit top headlines. Or should we all just spend the NEXT thousand years fighting?