Vatican City: The Vatican and the Sultanate of Oman have established diplomatic relations to promote mutual understanding and further strengthen friendship and cooperation. In a joint statement, the two sides said they want to promote mutual understanding and further strengthen friendship and cooperation between the Vatican and Oman.
The statement said it was convinced that the establishment of diplomatic relations served the common interests of the Vatican and Oman and would be guided by the principles of sovereign equality, independence, territorial integrity and the avoidance of undue interference.
Archbishop Gabriel Cassia, Permanent Observer of the Vatican to the United Nations and Ambassador of the Sultanate of Oman to the United Nations for the Sultanate of Oman H.E. Mohammad Al Hasan also signed the agreement.
Based on the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 18 April 1961, it was decided to establish full diplomatic relations with the Sultanate of Oman by establishing an embassy in the Vatican and the Vatican with an Apostolic Office in Oman.
The announcement on February 23 came as no surprise. Last November, during Pope Francis’ visit to Bahrain, there was an intervention to establish relations between the Vatican and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Oman.
75 percent of Oman’s population is Muslim. There are 55,000 believers including Malayalis in the country with four Catholic parishes. The local congregation in Oman is under the Apostolic Vicariate of South Arabia based in Abu Dhabi.
Bishop Paolo Martinelli is leading the activities here. With the establishment of full diplomatic relations with the Vatican, it is hoped that the Catholic Church in Oman will be able to participate in the Sultanate’s social welfare through priests and religious.
The Vatican now has diplomatic relations with 184 nations around the world, including Oman. In 2017, Myanmar became the latest country to establish diplomatic relations with the Vatican.
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