Jakarta, IO – As host of the 2022 World Cup, Qatar is in the spotlight, including its freedom of religious. Epitomising this is the Our Lady of the Rosary catholic church located together with churches from other Christian denominations in the “religious complex” called Abu Hamour.
Our Lady of the Rosary is the first Catholic church built in the country since the Muslim conquest in the 7th century.
According to the church’s official website, it was built at a cost of around Rp284 billion on land donated by Emir of Qatar Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani. To comply with Islamic law in Qatar, the church does not display Christian symbols such as crosses, bells or minarets on its exterior.
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The church is part of the Apostolic Vicariate of North Arabia and has around 200,000 devotees, mostly migrant workers from the Philippines, India, South America, Africa, Lebanon and Europe. It has been especially crowded during the World Cup as many football fans from overseas go there to worship. (rr)