The Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi visited Pope Francis in 2016, and in February 2019, he welcomed the Pope Francis to the UAE, marking the first papal visit to the Arabian Peninsula. Pope Francis's arrival coincided with a conference entitled “Global Conference of Human Fraternity,” hosted under the patronage of Mohamed bin Zayed. The conference featured talks and workshops about how fostering tolerance and mutual understanding could help prevent conflict and extremism. As part of this visit, Pope Francis held the first Papal Mass to be celebrated in the Arabian Peninsula at Zayed Sports City in which 180,000 worshippers from 100 countries, including 4,000 Muslims, were present.