by Dario Salvi

In the latest instalment of AsiaNews' reportage from the Vicariate of Northern Arabia, the testimony of the priest from Goa, a friendly face and memory of the local Christian community. He records every celebration and his intentions in a diary: to date, he has administered almost 8,200 baptisms and 750 marriages. Faith stronger than difficulties and critical factors. His desire? ‘A holy life and to continue in prayer.’

Kuwait City (AsiaNews) – The mission here is becoming increasingly challenging. “We have to keep a low profile, even when it comes to displaying visible signs of our faith, such as crosses, in public,” says Fr Dominic Santamaria (pictured centre), an Indian priest who has served in Kuwait for more than 52 years and is considered a living witness to the Church’s history in the country.

He tells AsiaNews that this mission must now be carried out “with faith and courage,” expressed more through “our behaviour than our words.” Today, he explains, “we can—and must—proclaim Jesus through our actions, through a gentle approach,” while remaining very mindful of “the language we use and the words we choose.”

“We must be courageous,” he adds, “staying firm even when faced with fear or danger,” and revealing “the face of holiness through our gentleness, never through force.”

Kuwait is part of the Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Arabia, a territory that also includes Bahrain, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

Within it, there are different realities with specific needs for each of the four parishes that comprise it: the Co-Cathedral of the Holy Family in Kuwait City, long the seat of the vicariate; the parish church of Our Lady of Arabia in Ahmadi; the parish of St. Teresa in Salmiya; and the parish of St. Daniel Comboni in Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh, better known as Abbasiya.

On 16 January, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Apostolic Vicar Monsignor Aldo Berardi led the Eucharistic ceremony for the elevation of the Church of Our Lady of Arabia to Minor Basilica. It was a cause for celebration for a community that the Vicar himself described as ‘suffering’, but one that has not lost hope and is characterised by a deep and fruitful faith, as confirmed by Fr Dominic, the first priest to be incardinated in this Latin vicariate.

We met him in the Co-Cathedral of the Holy Family in Kuwait City, his ‘home’ since the early days of the mission in the Arab emirate back in 1973. Today, the community is made up of more than a dozen priests from India, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and other countries, led by parish priest Fr Gaspar Fernandes, an Indian Capuchin, with its numerous rites: Latin, Syro-Malabar, Maronite and Coptic Catholic.

Born in Mapusa, a town in the district of North Goa, in the federal territory of Goa (India) on 17 April 1945, Fr. Dominic studied at the seminary of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem near Beit Jala (close to Bethlehem, in Palestine).

He was ordained a priest on 27 June 1970 by the then Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Monsignor Alberto Gori, at the Basilica of the Dormition in Jerusalem. His first assignment was to the Church of the Holy Family in Crater, Aden, Yemen. On 27 October 1973, he was transferred to the cathedral in Kuwait City, which remained the centre of his mission for the next 52 years and continues to be so today, even though his age and certain ailments have confined him to a wheelchair.

For remaining in the country even during the years of the Iraqi army invasion and the (first) Gulf War, he received his first recognition from St. John Paul II, followed on 30 November 2005 by the Cross of Honour “Pro Ecclesia Et Pontifice” awarded by Pope Benedict XVI.

The priest recounts some of the most significant events in the nation's recent history, marked by prolonged periods of tension and conflict, such as the First Gulf War between 1990 and 1991 following the invasion by the Iraqi troops of the then dictator Saddam Hussein.

‘I arrived in Kuwait for the first time on 27 October 1973, when I was 28 years old,’ says the priest. ‘I came from Yemen,’ he continues, ‘which at the time was part of the vicariate of Arabia, while Kuwait was a vicariate in its own right.’

In the early days, he adds, ‘there were not many Catholics, then the migration process began with the arrival of faithful of different rites. And from Masses in English only, we began to celebrate them in other languages with the arrival of new priests.’

On the subject of celebrations, the priest, originally from Goa, has kept a meticulous record over the years, which he updated in early December when we met him in the co-cathedral where he lives: ‘When I arrived, as I was the youngest of the priests,’ he says, "the then bishop [the Spanish Monsignor Victor León Esteban San Miguel y Erce, ed] entrusted me with the task of celebrating Masses and rites, such as baptisms and weddings. Since the day of my ordination, I have celebrated 8,124 baptisms and 748 weddings. I remember them all because I keep a diary in which I note the place, the date and the people.‘ When we ask him about Masses, he replies confidently: ’There have been 300,423 since the first day of my ordination... and they continue, with the intention written down each time."

Among the many celebrations, he mentions a ‘special baptism’ of a child who, at the end of the ceremony, ‘gave me a transistor radio that I still use today. I remember this person well,’ says Fr Dominic, "who died during the early stages of Covid-19. The last time I saw him, he was going to Mass with a smile on his face, then I heard of his death. Some time later, I met his wife, a family I carry in my heart and in my prayers.‘

Catholics in Kuwait ’are very active and involved, willing to make sacrifices in order to participate in celebrations, and the cathedral [together with the new Minor Basilica] is their point of reference. They often come from other parishes, where they encounter greater difficulties" in terms of rites and functions.

The critical issues do not dampen their enthusiasm and desire to live their faith, while remaining an integral part of the change in society and the country. ‘Today there are more controls, people have to be more careful,’ confides the priest, ‘and the relationship between locals and expats is also more complicated. Migrant workers turn to the church for help, including financial help, because their situation, especially economically, is more difficult. Politics, interreligious dialogue, references to certain states,’ he emphasises, ‘are sensitive issues today.’

Fr Dominic reserves one last reflection for the years he has spent in the Gulf: ‘On a personal level, I am not tired of this mission, but I live each day as it comes. I only ask,’ he concludes, ‘to be able to continue praying and to always maintain a holy life.’

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