The earliest form of contact between officials of both states was when the founder of the UAE, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, unofficially met Pope John Paul II in the 1980s.

[3] In 2008 the UAE sent a delegation led by Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair to meet the pope in what was the highest-level visit to the Vatican by Emirati officials since the time when links were commenced.

[1] In Abu Dhabi, the Centre for Information Affairs once organised a symposium with the theme "The Role of the Vatican in Spreading the Principles of Coexistence in the World and the Religious Tolerance in the United Arab Emirates."

The forum, which included key speakers such as Paul-Mounged El-Hachem and Bishop Paul Hinder, sought to encourage dialogue about the friendship between the two states and the role of religion in society.

On February 3, 2019, Pope Francis landed in the Abu Dhabi Presidential Airport at 9.47 p.m. local time where he was greeted by Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces and then Dr. Ahmed el-Tayeb, Grand Imam of Al Azhar University, which serves as the lead source for Sunni Islam education, and Chairman of the Muslim Council of Elders.