UAE: Consecration of New Catholic Church in Ras Al Khaimah, on June 14

By Alex Crasta
Bellevision Media Network

Ras Al Khaimah, 03 Jun 2013:  Friday June 14,  2013 will  be  a  red letter Day in  the history of Ras Al Khaimah (RAK)  Catholic community,  because,  on  this  day,  their newly  constructed  Church  will be  consecrated.  The previous day, a brief official inauguration ceremony will be held in the presence of local dignitaries.

 

The Church is dedicated  to  Saint Anthony of Padua  and  one  could not have chosen  a better time  for consecration / inauguration,  as it coincides  with  the  patron  Saint’s  Feast  on June 13.

 

The consecration  of  the  church  will be  solemnized   by the Papal representative  His Eminence  Cardinal Fernando Filoni, Prefect of  the Congregation for Evangelization of Peoples, His Excellency  the Most  Reverend Arch Bishop  Petar Rajic, Apostolic Nuncio  to the Arabian Peninsula and  His Excellency Bishop Paul Hinder  Vicar  Apostolic of Southern  Arabia,  in the presence of dignitaries  from Vatican, Provincials, Vice-Provincials, Priests , religious  and faithful from the RAK   and neighboring  parishes  within  the  UAE & GCC  countries.

 

 

 

 

Ras Al Khaimah is one of the seven   Emirates of UAE Federation located in the north closer to the Strait of Hormuz, the entry point to the Gulf. The long  time catholic  residents of RAK have sweet  memories  of  how they kept  their  faith alive  in  the initial  years of their  living. Sky  was the  roof  of the RAK church those  days,  as  masses  were held   in  an open  air compound and  at times,  in  private  villas or homes,  in  the absence of  permission from  the authorities. The church services were occasional - fortnightly or monthly conducted   by visiting priests from the neighbouring Dubai and Sharjah parishes. Thanks to the   dedication and commitment of the priests from these parishes. After many years of open air compound, villa or home masses, the venue shifted to a fixed place, shared by different Christian denominations. Thanks to  the benevolence and understanding of the Anglican church  leaders  for   sharing  the place allotted  to them  with other  Christian denominations, including  Catholics.

 

It  was  in 1999  the Catholic community managed to  build  their  first  place of  worship,   a chapel  on   a  rented  plot of  land, in  the  busy market  area,  Al Nakheel,  but it took   6  more  years to use this  chapel as  a place of  worship,  due  to   permission issues. It  was  on  December 17, 2005  this chapel  was  consecrated   by  the  current  Bishop Paul Hinder and  since then,  the  community  has  been having  services  at a  fixed place,  exclusively dedicated  to the  Catholic community. Notwithstanding the chapel being ready, church, services   continued to be   weekly or fortnightly,   depending upon the availability of priests from Sharjah or Dubai. However this improved to daily   from   November 2006 onwards, after the appointment of a full- time   Parish Priest.

 

The chapel which can accommodate approx. 500 faithful, currently spiritually nourishes over 5000 Catholics of diverse nationalities with regular services in English and occasional services in other ethnic languages like Malayalam, Tagalog, Tamil, Konkani, Arabic and Sinhalese.  The place is   increasingly becoming inadequate to provide comprehensive church services i.v.o. the rapidly growing catholic population estimated to be approx.  7000. 

 

The  local Government  being  fully  aware   of the  growing needs and in line  with  their  policy of locating all  churches  in  one  area, allotted plots of  land in 2007 to  different denominations (currently ten) in Al Jazeera and  Al Hamra  area   to  build larger/own  places of  worship. 

 

Fr. John Van Deerlin the 1st Parish Priest (2006-2007) did the initial   ground work. Fr. Mathew Fernandes, (2007-2009)   who followed him, took the cause forward by having the foundation stone laid.  The actual construction however started only in Sept 2011 by Fr.Thomas Ampattukuzy ofm, Cap, the current Parish Priest since Aug 2009. With the  strong  support from  the  Vicariate Bishop, Paul Hinder and  the  Parish community  as well as other  UAE churches, the new  church is getting  ready  for inauguration. 

 

The new church location is approx.  30 km south from current place and is well connected by road to the neighboring Emirates viz. Umm Al Qwain, Ajman & Sharjah.   A modern   state-of—the-art construction which has a seating capacity of 1200 and can accommodate up to 1500 faithful. It also has a basement hall to accommodate other church activities. Two other  buildings  are  constructed in the same compound for  offices, accommodation of Priests  and  support  staff, besides provision  for  prayers, meetings  and catechism  classes.

 

The Vicariate Pastor Bishop Paul Hinder sensing the increasing spiritual needs of the community has very recently appointed Fr. Maxim Pinto, ofm, Cap from Mangalore to assist the Parish Priest.

 

The Parish  Priest , the Asst. Priest  and the Catholic Community of RAK  are  all  excited about this  upcoming,  rare and one-in-a-lifetime  event  in the  history of  the Parish. All are working tirelessly to make the Consecration a memorable event.