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Groundbreaking is occurring all across Qatar as
the construction boom continues in this thriving
Gulf country. A groundbreaking of a different sort
took place last November, as the sight for the future
Church of the Epiphany was inaugurated in the capital
city of Doha.
The first Christian church in Qatar since the arrival
of Islam in the 7th century is to be built in this
modernizing Muslim state, which is led by a reform-minded
Emir, HH Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani.
The $7 M development of this Anglican Church along
with a conference center and meeting rooms will
begin this year on land donated by the Emir. The
church will not have a spire or a freestanding cross.
Bishop Clive Handford, the Anglican Bishop in Cyprus
and the Gulf, said: "We are there as guests
in a Muslim country and we wish to be sensitive
to our hosts."
Within the church property, however the walkways
and grounds of the church will have crosses and
flower motifs resembling those used in early Christian
churches. "We hope that the center can be a
base for ongoing Muslim-Christian dialogue,"
said the Bishop.
Qatar’s Anglican community, estimated to number
between 7,000 and 10,000 people, has held services
in an English-language school in Doha for decades.
The new site has been leveled and a quarter of the
US$7 million needed has already been raised by the
Anglican community in Qatar, with the rest to be
met by fundraising abroad. The church will be run
by Ian Young, a Scottish pastor who has served as
Doha’s chief Anglican priest since 1991.
Christianity disappeared from most Gulf Arab states
within a few centuries of the arrival of Islam in
the 7th century. But Christian expatriates have
migrated to the region in increasing numbers over
the past 100 years, particularly since the discovery
of oil.
Qatar now counts some 70,000 Christians, including
20,000 Anglicans and 50,000 Roman Catholics, according
to the World Christian Database. Qatar’s Anglican
community is the oldest, dating to 1916, the database
says.
Some Gulf States have already allowed churches
to be built, including Kuwait, Bahrain, and the
United Arab Emirates, where Western-friendly governments
have sought to provide amenities to attract skilled
expatriates. But in Qatar’s neighbor, Saudi
Arabia, the birthplace of Islam, non-Muslim religious
practice is banned.
Bishop Handford accepts that some Qataris might
not be happy with these developments. "In the
conservative Muslim world you’d expect it,"
he said. "You would get the same in the conservative
Christian world where mosques are being built."
He added, "We haven’t experienced any
problems or difficulties with local people. They
have been welcoming and felt that it was right."
The congregation will take security precautions
but no "dramatic" measures are planned.
"We are pretty confident in the local security,"
Bishop Handford said.
Qatar, home to huge gas reserves and enjoying an
unprecedented economic boom prides itself on its
security. With a population totaling fewer than
one million and centered mainly in Doha, the Qatari
authorities portray a sense of confidence that any
potential problems are being monitored and will
be contained.
In March, 2005, a terrorist attack occurred when
an Egyptian engineer detonated a car packed with
explosives outside a theater popular with Westerners,
killing a British man and injuring 12 other people.
But this was roundly viewed as an isolated occurrence,
as it was the country’s only known suicide
bombing.
These events are unlikely to impede Qatar’s
progress. For example, there are plans for several
more church buildings serving Catholics, Egyptian
Coptic Christians, and a multi-denominational church
serving Indian Christians. This is proof positive
that Qatar has changed from being a secluded, conservative
country to one that is much more open to the outside
world and to the needs of its increasingly diverse
expatriate work force.
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Qatar
