New Delhi (CBCI News): A new Catholic Church has opened its doors just north of Dubai in the city of Ras Al Khaimah. The parish's name is St. Anthony. It marks the eighth Catholic Church in the seven Arab emirates.
The first Mass was celebrated by Cardinal Fernando Filoni, who serves as the Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.
There are about 2 million Catholics in the UAE. Some of the Catholics attending the Mass made a special trip to take part in the celebration, which included faithful from different parts of the world.
There was a huge outpouring of faith and devotion as more than 8,500 worshippers from across the United Arab Emirates celebrated the first Mass at the emirate’s new Catholic Church on Friday the 14th June 2013.
Residents from Dubai and Abu Dhabi, many of whom had taken the bus with family and friends, arrived an hour before the 10am mass to find a place in the 1,200-seat basement auditorium.
Hundreds of others queued up in the aisles, sat on the staircase and stood in the shaded grounds to listen to the prayers and hymns being relayed on a large screen.
The ceremony was led by Cardinal Fernando Filoni, Prefect of the Congregation for Evangelisation of Peoples at the Vatican; Archbishop Petar Rajic, Apostolic Nuncio to the Arabian Peninsula, and Bishop Paul Hinder, from the UAE."I was a little bit afraid when I saw the plan of this church," said Bishop Hinder. "I thought it was big for Ras Al Khaimah, but at least today it is too small."
The congregation was welcomed by Cardinal Filoni, who gave a message from the Pope, after which worshippers sang with the choir the hymn Praise to the Lord.
"This is a historic moment," said the Cardinal. "It is a wonderful day, the day God prepared for us."
He reminded parishioners about living in harmony.
"We come from different nationalities, but here we are as one."
The Dh18.5 million complex has been built on land that was donated by the RAK government to the community in 2007. The 7,000 Catholics in the emirate had been attending mass, conducted in English with occasional services in Malayalam, Tagalog, Tamil, Konkani, Arabi and Sinhalese, at a chapel in Al Nakheel, built in 1999.
(Rome Reporters and other Sources)