Bitogno
03-14-2008, 11:59 AM
DOHA, Qatar, (http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/03/13/africa/ME-GEN-Qatar-Catholic-Church.php#): This tiny, wealthy Arab Gulf country is opening its first Roman Catholic church, ending some 50 years of clandestine worship for tens of thousands of foreign workers here. The official consecration of the Church of Our Lady of the Rosary, planned for Saturday, appeared to be another sign of Qatar's efforts to open up to the West as it seeks a bid for the summer Olympic Games in 2016.
In a similar move, the oil-rich Emirate last month became the first Arab state to welcome an Israeli athlete for a competition, despite a regional boycott of Israel.
Qatar's emir, Sheik Khalifa Al Thani, personally donated the land to build the US$ 15 million church with 2,700 seats in the outskirts of the capital, Doha, church officials said.
"The opening of the church is an important event for the entire community," said Tomasito Veneracion, the priest for the new parish who is from the Philippines. "We are grateful to the Qatari authorities for having allowed its construction."
Qatar's ruler has also approved five churches for other Christian denominations, all under construction next to the Catholic one.
"It's simply a big event," said Archbishop Paul Hinder, the Apostolic Vicar of Arabia.
Hinder is the top Roman Catholic cleric in the Gulf, overseeing worshippers in Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
"Catholics in Doha finally have their home where they can gather in freedom and security," Hinder said on the telephone from Abu Dhabi, where he has been based for the past four years.
Qatar follows the rigorous Wahabi teachings of Sunni Islam, and like neighboring Saudi Arabia had not previously authorized Christians to practice their faith openly.
But a priest had operated in Qatar since the 1960s without official approval, Hinder said.
Some 150,000 Christians of all denominations live in the emirate, over 90 percent of them Catholic expatriate workers from the Philippines and other Asian nations, Christian community representatives say.
Attracted by a booming oil economy, expatriate workers make up at least 70 percent of Qatar's population of about 1 million.
Qatar's decision to allow open churches leaves Saudi Arabia as the only country in the region that still doesn't allow the building of churches for any Christian denomination, or any open worship.
U.S. government officials and private religious officials have often been sharply critical of Saudi Arabia's lack of religious freedom. Workers from the Philippines, for example, have in the past been punished or deported if caught practicing the Christian faith in worship services.
However Archbishop Hinder said "the climate" in Saudi Arabia, which is the birthplace of Islam, "has improved."
He said he was encouraged by last year's visit of Saudi King Abdullah to the Vatican, although the Saudi king's meeting with Pope Benedict XVI "does not mean we can go and build churches in Saudi Arabia tomorrow."
However, Hinder said he hoped the more than 1 million estimated Catholics living in Saudi Arabia — all foreign workers — "will be able to practice their faith in a way that does not scandalize others."
The first Catholic church in the Gulf was opened in Bahrain's capital, Manama, in 1939.
There are seven Catholic churches in the United Arab Emirates, four in Oman and three in Kuwait. Yemen has three old ones belonging to indigenous Christians, and four unofficial Catholic parishes around the country that meet for prayers in rented houses.
Out of respect for local sensitivities, the church in Qatar will not feature any religious symbols — neither a cross or a bell tower — that would identify the building as a place of Christian worship.
A handful of critics in Qatar have publicly condemned the ruler's decision to allow the building of Christian churches.
But many Qataris consider Sheik Hamad a progressive leader and credit him for social and economic reforms since 1995, when he overthrew his more-conservative father in a coup.
In the last three years, Sheik Hamad has put this immensely rich but traditional and deeply conservative Muslim society on a fast track to modernity. He has enacted a new constitution calling for an elected parliament and guaranteeing freedom of speech and worship.
But he also kept in place Islam's Sharia law, which forbids Muslims to convert to other religions.
Qatar is rich in oil and holds world's largest gas reserves.
The country's most ambitious move to open up to the world has come through sports. Each year, Qatar now hosts dozens of sporting events for men and women.
It is trying to win the 2016 summer Olympics, and held the 2006 Asian Games. A short list of candidate cities for the 2016 Olympics will be announced next June.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/03/13/africa/ME-GEN-Qatar-Catholic-Church.php
In a similar move, the oil-rich Emirate last month became the first Arab state to welcome an Israeli athlete for a competition, despite a regional boycott of Israel.
Qatar's emir, Sheik Khalifa Al Thani, personally donated the land to build the US$ 15 million church with 2,700 seats in the outskirts of the capital, Doha, church officials said.
"The opening of the church is an important event for the entire community," said Tomasito Veneracion, the priest for the new parish who is from the Philippines. "We are grateful to the Qatari authorities for having allowed its construction."
Qatar's ruler has also approved five churches for other Christian denominations, all under construction next to the Catholic one.
"It's simply a big event," said Archbishop Paul Hinder, the Apostolic Vicar of Arabia.
Hinder is the top Roman Catholic cleric in the Gulf, overseeing worshippers in Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
"Catholics in Doha finally have their home where they can gather in freedom and security," Hinder said on the telephone from Abu Dhabi, where he has been based for the past four years.
Qatar follows the rigorous Wahabi teachings of Sunni Islam, and like neighboring Saudi Arabia had not previously authorized Christians to practice their faith openly.
But a priest had operated in Qatar since the 1960s without official approval, Hinder said.
Some 150,000 Christians of all denominations live in the emirate, over 90 percent of them Catholic expatriate workers from the Philippines and other Asian nations, Christian community representatives say.
Attracted by a booming oil economy, expatriate workers make up at least 70 percent of Qatar's population of about 1 million.
Qatar's decision to allow open churches leaves Saudi Arabia as the only country in the region that still doesn't allow the building of churches for any Christian denomination, or any open worship.
U.S. government officials and private religious officials have often been sharply critical of Saudi Arabia's lack of religious freedom. Workers from the Philippines, for example, have in the past been punished or deported if caught practicing the Christian faith in worship services.
However Archbishop Hinder said "the climate" in Saudi Arabia, which is the birthplace of Islam, "has improved."
He said he was encouraged by last year's visit of Saudi King Abdullah to the Vatican, although the Saudi king's meeting with Pope Benedict XVI "does not mean we can go and build churches in Saudi Arabia tomorrow."
However, Hinder said he hoped the more than 1 million estimated Catholics living in Saudi Arabia — all foreign workers — "will be able to practice their faith in a way that does not scandalize others."
The first Catholic church in the Gulf was opened in Bahrain's capital, Manama, in 1939.
There are seven Catholic churches in the United Arab Emirates, four in Oman and three in Kuwait. Yemen has three old ones belonging to indigenous Christians, and four unofficial Catholic parishes around the country that meet for prayers in rented houses.
Out of respect for local sensitivities, the church in Qatar will not feature any religious symbols — neither a cross or a bell tower — that would identify the building as a place of Christian worship.
A handful of critics in Qatar have publicly condemned the ruler's decision to allow the building of Christian churches.
But many Qataris consider Sheik Hamad a progressive leader and credit him for social and economic reforms since 1995, when he overthrew his more-conservative father in a coup.
In the last three years, Sheik Hamad has put this immensely rich but traditional and deeply conservative Muslim society on a fast track to modernity. He has enacted a new constitution calling for an elected parliament and guaranteeing freedom of speech and worship.
But he also kept in place Islam's Sharia law, which forbids Muslims to convert to other religions.
Qatar is rich in oil and holds world's largest gas reserves.
The country's most ambitious move to open up to the world has come through sports. Each year, Qatar now hosts dozens of sporting events for men and women.
It is trying to win the 2016 summer Olympics, and held the 2006 Asian Games. A short list of candidate cities for the 2016 Olympics will be announced next June.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/03/13/africa/ME-GEN-Qatar-Catholic-Church.php