Critics say it was a show of appeasement to the Islamic world. But make no mistake, Pope Francis’s trip to the Arabian Peninsula was a monumental game changer in Christian-Muslim relations. Johnnie Moore, head of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom and a member of President Trump’s Evangelical Advisory Board, was on the ground in Abu Dhabi, The United Arab Emirates, and spells out exactly how historical this moment was for the leader of the world’s Catholic Church, the Bishop of Rome, the Vicar of Christ to say a public Mass in a region considered to be the cradle of Islam. So what will be the impact moving forward? What will be the overall effect on Islamic extremism and the Middle Eastern countries propping up extremists through funding and tacit approval? Moore states that the UAE has sent a powerful message to its neighbors, “Get on the right side of history. Religious tolerance is the future!”
