First Catholic church opens in Qatar


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More than six thousand faithful worshippers came together for the inaugural celebration of the first Catholic church in the Arab Emirate of Qatar.

Presented by Philippe Simonnot, founder of Observatoire des Religions

More than six thousand faithful worshippers came together for the inaugural celebration of the first Catholic church in the Arab Emirate of Qatar.

Cardinal Ivan Dias, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, attended as Benedict XVI’s special envoy and presided over the celebration.

“It is an event of historical importance which, after 14 centuries of prohibitions, sees a place of worship for Catholics established in this country of the Gulf,” Vatican Radio explained.

The Church of Our Lady of the Rosary, which bears no crosses or bells, was built near the capital city of Doha, on land that was donated to the Church by Qatar’s Emir, Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, who is favorable to interreligious dialogue, Zenit Agency reported.

Qatar has a population of less than 800 thousand and first established diplomatic relations with the Holy See in 2003.

Observatoire des Religions

Observatory of Religions  The 21st century will be or not be religious. This Malraux prophecy is being fufilled: the impact of religion on political, economic, financial and social spheres is making front page news. Observatory of Religions’ (L’Observatoire des religions) perspective, that is; the observation, analysis and commentary of religious issues in a current affairs framework, is purely unreligious. L'Observatoir des Religions was created by Philippe Simonnot, economist and author of numerous works on history and economics.
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