Cardinal Fernando Filoni, the prefect of the Congregation for the
Evangelization of Peoples, has traveled to the United Arab Emirates to
consecrate a new church that will seat 1,500. Masses will be celebrated in English, Malayalam, Tagalog, Tamil, Konkani, Arabic, and Sinhalese.
“The ground for the new church was made available for free by the Emir [of Ras al-Khaimah, one of the nation’s seven emirates] for the various Christian communities,” said Bishop Paul Hinder, the vicar apostolic of Southern Arabia, who oversees the pastoral care of Catholics in Oman, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.
“The vicariate in the last two years built the structure, thanks to the solidarity of the faithful from all over the world.”
During his five-day visit to the United Arab Emirates, which began on June 11, Cardinal Filoni will visit a Catholic school and the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi, the nation’s capital.
The nation of 5.3 million is 11% Catholic, most of whom are Asian resident workers; 32 priests and 38 sisters serve in eight parishes.