1st Mass held in Gulf's largest cathedral in Bahrain

2 years ago

A woman takes pictures of the Our Lady of Arabia Cathedral in Awali, south of the Bahraini capital Manama, on December 8, 2021. - The church, which cost more than 14.5 million US Dollars (BD 5.5) and can seat up to 2,300 people, is the largest Roman Catholic cathedral in the Arabian Peninsula. It will serve as the center of pastoral services in the whole Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Arabia which covers Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Mazen Mahdi / AFP) (Photo by MAZEN MAHDI/AFP via Getty Images)

Bahrain’s largest Roman Catholic church held the first Mass on Sunday, Anadolu Agency reported.

Father Saji Thomas led the Mass in “Our Lady of Arabia” church, which is located 20 kilometres south of the capital, Manama.

The church, the largest in the Arab Gulf region, was opened on Thursday at a cost of over $10 million.

According to the state news agency, the cathedral can seat up to 2,300 people and will serve the 80,000 Catholic Christians in Bahrain, who are mainly workers from India and the Philippines.

The Gulf’s first Roman Catholic church, “The Sacred Heart Church”, was opened in Manama in 1939.

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