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
