__NOTOC__

The Catholic Church of Our Lady of the Rosary ( ar, كنيسة سيدة الوردية) is a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the coun ...

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

. It is located, along with churches of other Christian denominations, at the Religious Complex in Abu Hamour. It is the first church built in the country since the Muslim conquests in the 7th century. The church was constructed at a cost of around $20 million on land donated by the

Emir Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cerem ...

of Qatar,

Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa bin Hamad bin Abdullah bin Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani ( ar, حمد بن خليفة الثاني; born 1 January 1952) is a member of the ruling Al Thani Qatari royal family. He was the ruling Emir of Qatar from 1995 ...

. Due to the laws in

Islamic Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the mai ...

Qatar, the church displays no

Christian symbols Christian symbolism is the use of symbols, including archetypes, acts, artwork or events, by Christianity. It invests objects or actions with an inner meaning expressing Christian ideas. The symbolism of the early Church was characterized by bei ...

like crosses, bells, or a steeple on its exterior. The church was dedicated on 14 March 2008, by Cardinal

Ivan Dias Ivan Cornelius Dias (14 April 1936 – 19 June 2017) was an Indian cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He was Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples from 2006 to 2011, Archbishop of Bombay from 1996 to 2006, and befo ...

, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation, in a ceremony attended by Qatari Deputy Prime Minister

Abdullah Bin Hamad Al-Attiyah Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah ( ; ar, عبدالله بن حمد العطية, born 1952) is the former deputy prime minister of Qatar and the head of the Emir's court. From September 1992 to January 2011, Attiyah was Qatar's Minister of Energy ...

; Archbishop Mounged Al Hachem, the ambassador of the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome ...

to the Gulf; Bishop Paul Hinder,

Apostolic Vicariate of Arabia The Apostolic Vicariate of Arabia ( la, Vicariatus Apostolicus Arabiæ) was an apostolic vicariate of the Catholic Church with territorial jurisdiction for Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen. The ...

; Archbishop Giuseppe Andrea, former

nuncio An apostolic nuncio ( la, nuntius apostolicus; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international or ...

of the

to the region; and several Qatari officials. The church is part of the

Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Arabia The Apostolic Vicariate (or Vicariate Apostolic) of Northern Arabia ( la, Vicariatus Apostolicus Arabiæ Septentrionalis Arabic: النيابة الرسولية العربية الشمالية) is a Catholic apostolic vicariate (exempt pre-dioces ...

and serves around 200,000 Catholics in Qatar, most of them

migrant worker A migrant worker is a person who Human migration, migrates within a home country or outside it to pursue work. Migrant workers usually do not have the intention to stay permanently in the country or region in which they work. Migrant worker ...

s from the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, India, South America, Africa, Lebanon and Europe.

References

External links

Official website

Official Arabic website
* Catholic Blog

{{Coord, 25.2126, 51.5219, display=title, region:QA-RA 2008 establishments in Qatar Roman Catholic churches completed in 2008 Churches in Qatar Catholic Church in Qatar Roman Catholic churches in Qatar Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Arabia

See also

References

Further reading

External links