I see from Fr. Justin at Nova et Vetera that the first ever Catholic Church in Qatar is to be built, dedicated to our Lady of the Rosary. The Emir Amir Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani contributed the land, having been involved in talks with the Holy See over many years.A common response, when the building of a mosque is mooted, is "Oh yes, they want a mosque, but will they let us build churches over there?"
In many Islamic countries the answer would be "No," so the news from Qatar is encouraging. And I do not believe that the dedication of the church to Our Lady of the Rosary is a coincidence...
Our Lady of the Rosary, pray for us.
Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us.
Encouraging news and a step in the right direction. Would be nice if the rest of the Middle East would just stop persecuting, torturing and killing Catholics (Christians)let alone actually build a Catholic Church.
ReplyDeleteThe dedication of the Church to Our Blessed Lady is indeed interesting. There are many who believe that our Moslem brothers and sisters will, one day, be led to Jesus through Mary as they have a particular devotion to and tremendous respect for her. And of course Our Blessed Mother always points the way to her Son.
Archbishop Fulton Sheen had much to say on this 'topic for our times'.
Yes indeed - Our Lady of the Rosary and Our Lady of Fatima pray for us.
Fatima was the name of a daughter of the prophet Mohammed.
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