The church serves about 300,000 Catholics in Qatar.
Our Lady of the Rosary church. It celebrates all the Catholic Rites present in Doha, including the Maronite, the Syro-Malabar, and the Roman.
The Maronite Church is an Eastern Catholic church based in Lebanon.
The Syro-Malabar Church, on the other hand, is an Eastern Catholic church based in India.
Both churches have Francis as their pope.
Following the Muslim occupation of the Arabian Peninsula in the 7th century, Qatar built its first church, Our Lady of the Rosary.
The Muslims conquered the Arabian Peninsula in the 7th century, including Qatar.
Long before Mohammad's rise, Christianity was already on the peninsula.
In adherence to Islamic law, Our Lady of the Rosary has no Catholic symbols on the exterior. No crosses, no bells, no towers.
Qatar prohibits the public worship of non-Islamic faiths. The religious complex is the exclusive venue for carol singing during Christmas and other Catholic festivities.
Islam is the state religion in Qatar. In 2020, more than 65 percent of its population belonged to Islamic religions, and more than 14 percent were Christians.
The church, which is located in Abu Amour's Religious Complex, can accommodate 2,700 people at a time.
Other Christian denominations are also located in the same religious complex.
Abu Amour, a part of the Doha Metropolitan Area, is known as the Wholesale Market District.
The Emir of Qatar, Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, donated land for church construction. The construction cost amounted to $20 million.
Catholics in the Arabian Peninsula donated the money.
Our Lady of the Rosary church was consecrated on March 15, 2008.
Its parish is part of the Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Arabia, which includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia.
The church serves about 300,000 Catholics in Qatar.
The Catholics in this Arab country are mostly migrant workers from the Philippines, India, Africa, Lebanon, and parts of South America and Europe.
The church also offers catechism to foreign communities.
People say the Christmas and New Year Masses in a variety of languages, including English, Arabic, Tamil, Mayalayam, Indonesian, Filipino, French, and Urdu.
Our Lady of the Rosary is also the first church in an Arab Muslim Emirate.
Instead of Sundays, people celebrate mass on Fridays.
Before it opened in 2008, Catholics and other Christians of different denominations would meet in groups in houses to pray and worship.
Qatar banned non-Islamic religious practices after the Iranian Revolution.
In 1995, Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the new Emir at the time, granted non-Islamic faith freedom of worship.
The Qatari government forbids non-registered religious groups. But it tolerated them practicing their religion in private.
Our Lady of the Rosary is the first Catholic church authorized in Qatar.
Putting no crosses and other Catholic symbols on the church's exterior is also a demonstration of respect for Qatar's people, who mostly practice Islam.
Fr. Xavier Marian D'Souza, OFM Cap, is an Indian priest and, currently in charge of Our Lady of the Rosary parish.
