QATAR:THOUSANDS OF Catholics attended the consecration in Doha on Saturday of the Church of Our Lady of the Rosary (St Mary's), the first Christian place of worship in the Gulf state of Qatar which adheres to the puritan Wahhabi practice of Islam.
The congregation spilled out of the church into the street outside as three dozen bishops and priests gathered to celebrate a Mass conducted in English with prayers in Hindi, Arabic, and Tagalog, the language of the Philippines.
Cardinal Ivan Dias presented the church with a chalice donated by Pope Benedict XVI and Bishop Bernardo Gremoli, the former vicar of Arabia who launched the project, provided a relic of Padre Pio.
The church, which cost some €13 million, was built on the southern outskirts of the capital on land donated by the emirate's ruler, Shaikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani.
It serves Doha's growing Catholic community, which makes up about 90 per cent of the city's 150,000 Christian expatriates. In line with restrictions set by the authorities, the building is adorned with no crosses and has no steeple or bells. Proselytising is banned.
"We have complied and intend to keep complying with every regulation set by the government," said Archbishop Paul Hinder, current apostolic vicar of Arabia.
Meanwhile, construction is under way on a complex containing Anglican, Coptic and Greek Orthodox churches and of an inter-denominational centre housing 11 Indian churches.
Qatari nationals, who comprise one-third of the one million residents of the emirate, generally approve of the introduction of churches which encourage foreign workers to seek jobs in Qatar. Before the new church opened, Catholic congregations held services in halls. "The church will send a positive message to the world," said Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah, the minister of energy and industry.
Qatar is a rapidly modernising country and hopes its adoption of religious tolerance will help its bid to host the 2016 summer Olympics.
Saudi Arabia, the font of conservative Wahhabism, now remains the only Muslim Arab state to prohibit public worship by religions other than Islam. However, Christians hold low-profile services in homes and halls.
Ultra-conservative Wahhabi scholars argue that the prophet Muhammad banned the practice of Christianity in Arabia when he said that "no two religions will come together in the Arabian peninsula". Others contend that Christians existed in Arabia in his time and that he called on Muslims to respect the "People of the Book" - adherents of Christianity, Judaism, and, some say, Zoroastrianism.
Oman, Kuwait, and Bahrain have long allowed church construction and public Christian worship. The constitution of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) provides for freedom of worship while proclaiming that Islam is the state religion. In the UAE, there are Hindu temples and Sikh gurdwaras which provide for spiritual wellbeing while also donating food.
