President Dr. Michael Bates and Principal Mr. Joseph A. Waler will visit Abu Dhabi and Dubai from November 15-23 as guests of the U.S. Embassy of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
While in the UAE, Dr. Bates and Mr. Waler will meet with various UAE officials as well as the local Catholic bishop and superintendent of Catholic schools. They will also visit the Embassy of the United States of America as well as the Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi.
During our visit, we will explore possible interreligious, cultural, and educational exchange opportunities that flow from our school's mission as well as from Pope Francis' call for solidarity in Human Fraternity for Living Together and World Peace," Mr. Waler explained.
The pope signed the Human Fraternity document during his historic visit to the UAE in February. A few weeks later, a mutual friend introduced Dr. Bates to the UAE's U.S. ambassador, who shared how the pope's visit truly inspired him. "In the spirit of friendship flowing from the pope's visit, the ambassador offered to support our work of Catholic education with a generous donation of $250,000 toward NDCL's classroom renovation project," Dr. Bates said.
Last
month a delegation from the UAE Embassy in Washington, DC, visited NDCL
to tour our campus and meet with our students and teachers. The visit
included a screening of The Peace Visit, a National Geographic documentary chronicling the pope's visit to the UAE.