Another church in Qatar for Indian Christian community

The addition of a new church in Qatar brings cheers to the Indian Christian community who just last month had celebrated the consecration of a Mar Thoma Church.

St Thomas Church of the Church of South India (CSI) denomination was consecrated last week at a ceremony at the Inter-Denominational Church Complex (IDCC), Mesaimeer.

Joined by priests and congregants from the CSI denomination, the church at the Arab emirate was opened by Rev Thomas Samuel, Bishop of Madhya Kerala Diocese.

Bishop Samuel thanked the Qatar government for permitting the construction of the IDCC complex spread over an area of 4800 square metres which houses the CSI place of worship.

The congregants of the church mostly belong to the states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu who together form the 70,000-member Christian community of Qatar.

Last month, June 11, according to The Christian Post, the Middle East nation witnessed the consecration of a new Mar Thoma Church in the IDCC complex.

The consecration was witnessed by over thousand faithful and was presided over by Metropolitan Joseph Mar Thoma, leader of the Marthoma church.

The first Christian church to open in the country was St. Mary's Catholic Church, inaugurated on March 16, 2008 in the same city.

While Gulf states like Kuwait, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates have allowed churches to be built, Saudi Arabia remains the only Gulf state still to ban churches.