Relationship dossier
Vatican City
Bahrain
Relationship assessment
High-level engagement and support for Catholic institutions underpin cooperative Holy See–Bahrain ties
Vatican City toward Bahrain
+45The Holy See has engaged Bahrain through high-level dialogue and Pope Francis’s visit in November 2022, which included participation in an interfaith forum.
Bahrain toward Vatican City
+45Bahrain provided land for the Our Lady of Arabia Cathedral, consecrated in 2021, and received Pope Francis during his 2022 visit. King Hamad also met Pope Francis at the Vatican in 2014.
Overall relationship
+40The relationship includes sustained high-level engagement and concrete support for Catholic worship in Bahrain, notably the land provided for the Our Lady of Arabia Cathedral. Papal and royal visits, together with interfaith dialogue, reinforce cooperation. The scale of other bilateral arrangements and the continuity of these initiatives are less clear.
How to read these scores
Scores are rough judgments, not objective measurements or current verification. Directional scores describe government policy and conduct, not public opinion. The overall score is an independent estimate, never an average.
- −100
- Extreme sustained hostility
- −50
- Substantially adversarial
- 0
- Mixed or neutral, supported by knowledge
- +50
- Substantially cooperative
- +100
- Exceptionally close sustained partnership
“Not assessed” means there is no recorded score. Pair existence makes no claim about diplomatic recognition or established relations.
Relationship context
Overview
Vatican City’s external relations are conducted through the Holy See. The Holy See and Bahrain have engaged through high-level visits and interfaith dialogue. Bahrain provided land for the Our Lady of Arabia Cathedral, consecrated in 2021, and Pope Francis visited Bahrain in 2022. These are concrete signs of cooperation, though the breadth of ongoing bilateral arrangements is unclear.
Key developments
King Hamad met Pope Francis at the Vatican.
Bahrain’s Our Lady of Arabia Cathedral was consecrated after Bahrain provided land for its construction.
Pope Francis visited Bahrain and participated in an interfaith forum.
Major uncertainties
- The scope of continuing bilateral cooperation beyond high-level visits and religious dialogue is unclear.
- Details of implementation and follow-up from interfaith initiatives are limited.