A Sign of Hope?  
First church in Qatar in 14 centuries, expected to be inaugurated in February 2008

Qatar will witness the inauguration of Our Lady of Rosary Church next February, constructed  as reported by Magalorean.com, a cost of $15 million.  Qatar, a majority Muslim country, is home to 100,000, largely expatriate, Christians.

Mangalorean.com reports that the land for the church was donated by the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani. The Church center will include conference facilities, temporary living accommodations, a library, and a cafe. Permission to build a church, to be located on the southern outskirts of the capital city of Doha, had been sought for  the last 20 years. Its construction was earlier opposed by the Wahabi majority who saw it as an extension of the Holy Land. 

Missionaries brought Christianity to the Gulf in the second half of the 5th century but it disappeared for the most part from most Gulf Arab states with the arrival of Islam in the 7th century.  For the last fourteen centuries the Christians in this area have been without a place of worship. Oil rich Qatar's economic boom has attracted the Christian expatriates to migrate to the region, chiefly from from India, Philippines and Lebanon.  Up until now they have been conducting their activities in schools.

The church will not have a spire or freestanding cross, since Christians are forbidden to display crosses in the Arab Gulf states. The government permits freedom of worship to the Christian but prohibits conversions.

Mangalorean.com reports that "for Christianity, which has been facing a backlash losing their members to other faiths and also the dwindling of congregations across Europe and United States, the increasing profession of Christian faith in the Gulf is welcomed sign. But that apart the religious tolerance in a largely Muslim country argues well for a world tore apart by religious infighting."