Kuwait: The Basilica of Our Lady of Arabia, a light illuminating a suffering church
Tomorrow, Cardinal Parolin and Bishop Berardi will lead the ceremony to elevate the historic place of worship in Al Ahmadi. In its latest report on the Vicariate of Northern Arabia, AsiaNews presents the day of celebration local Catholics enjoyed. For the parish priest, Father Fernandes, it is a point of reference in daily life, pastoral care, and spirituality. Challenges and critical issues face the local Church.
Kuwait City (AsiaNews) – Tomorrow, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Bishop Aldo Berardi, Apostolic Vicar of Northern Arabia,[*] will lead the Eucharistic ceremony for the elevation of the Church of Our Lady of Arabia in Al Ahmadi to a Minor Basilica.
This will be a day of celebration and a visible sign of the Christian presence in Kuwait and the Gulf region, in a land where Muslims are the majority and Catholic communities are largely composed of migrant workers from Asia.
Thousands of faithful are expected at the event, which represents a "milestone" in the history of the local Church. The Virgin venerated in Al Ahmadi, in fact, is a symbol of unity and a silent, yet tenacious presence rooted in faith.
What is more, its elevation to the status of a Minor Basilica implies a closer and more tangible relationship with the Apostolic See, as evinced by the papal signs.
In Kuwait, there is not a single Church, but rather various realities with specific needs in each of its four parishes: 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 Al Ahmadi, now a minor basilica; the parish of Saint Teresa in Salmiya; and the parish of St Daniel Comboni in Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh, better known as Abbasiya.
The first two are government-recognised places of worship; the third performs its services regularly despite its lack of external signs; while the fourth is more reminiscent of underground communities.
The Apostolic Vicar, Bishop Berardi, has described the situation as one of “suffering”, but not without hope, starting with the two parishes awaiting places of worship. For this very reason, discussions are underway.
“Talks are underway on the upcoming legislation on non-Muslim worship,” the prelate explained speaking to AsiaNews, “and the authorities have agreed to an ecumenical meeting of all the Gulf Churches" that should take place by the end of the month.
A vibrant community
Father Darel Fernandes, the basilica’s parish priest, introduced us to the church’s history. A Franciscan who hails from India, in the past few months he has been at the helm of one of the most important centres not only of the Vicariate of Northern Arabia, but of the entire Church in the Gulf.
This church is the first Catholic place of worship built in the emirate, dedicated to the Mother of God (along with Saint Elijah the Prophet and Saint Thérèse of Lisieux) and is considered the "mother church" of the Vicariate itself.
Al Ahmadi is a major oil hub, attracting many economic migrants, especially from India and the Philippines, who began settling in the area, initially (from 1948 to 1955) using a temporary chapel, blessed on 8 December 1948.
On that day, the devotion to "Our Lady of Arabia" was born, a devotion that has continued to this day, within a Catholic community that the priest describes as “vibrant”.
The foundation stone of the future basilica was laid on 8 September 1955, by Father Teofano Ubaldo Stella, the first Catholic priest resident in the country, who immediately worked to create a place of worship capable of welcoming the faithful.
The project was realised thanks to the contribution of the Kuwait Oil Company, which granted the building permits, followed by the construction of a bell tower and, more recently, a new hall built thanks to a donation from the Kuwaiti government.
Over the years, the shrine was renovated to house the statue of Our Lady of Arabia, a replica of the one on Mount Carmel, enthroned on 6 January 1950 and crowned on 25 March 1960.
A Church on the move
"According to accounts from that time," Father Fernandes said, "there was a strong desire for a place of worship where people could gather and pray, even though the situation was not easy for the early Christian communities, while today it is certainly better," despite some "restrictions. For example, processions or services cannot be held outside."
The place of worship is not used only by Catholics, the priest added, but is also open to other Christian denominations such as Copts and Orthodox, "who share it with us" in the spirit of harmony and good relations, even if "there are no particular interactions”.
At a community level, "we have different linguistic realities and different rites," he noted, and each “celebrates its own Masses and services” following the principle of “unity in diversity”.
Socially and economically, all Christians face the same challenges as in other regions of great migration, including “job loss, difficulties in finding new employment, wages that aren't always paid, and the high cost of living that impacts salaries.”
For Catholics in Kuwait, the church is not just a place of worship, but also a point of reference in daily life.
"We have various cultural programmes," the Indian priest noted, "anniversaries, celebrations, Jubilees (of Saint Arethas and the recently concluded Jubilee of Hope), and we have focused our work precisely on the theme of hope from a Christian perspective."
“The faithful,” Father Fernandes explained, “need spiritual guidance, and it is the priests' duty to be present and dedicate our time. The people who come to church perceive the value of freedom, which is why we want it to be open to everyone, without restrictions.” In pastoral care, "one of the future goals is to ensure that those who lost their connection with their parish can return."
The clergyman also hopes to see a church that increasingly “goes out" to those in need, to those who are even physically distant from their place of worship. “Here, it is the Church that must reach out to its people, not the people who go to church as in the West.”
Lights and shadows
The Minor Basilica of Our Lady of Arabia and the co-cathedral are the two “billboards” of the Catholic presence in Kuwait. However, there are two more, “hidden” if not "underground” entities that operate amid challenges and critical issues.
The first is the parish of Saint Teresa in Salmiya. Led by an Indian priest, Father Savio D'Souza, its church displays no visible sign on the outside, be it a cross, a bell, or a light, even during the Advent season in preparation for Christmas, when we visited.
This unassuming building is like many others from the outside, but inside it contains holy images, a tabernacle, an altar and pews for Mass, offices for priests, and spaces for prayer. “There is no name, no cross," Father D'Souza told AsiaNews, but “we have to pay close attention to the decorations.”
Still, upon entering, one observes a "happy, active, and engaged community, made up of different languages and nationalities,” quite commonplace in the Gulf, with Masses celebrated “in English, Tagalog, Tamil, Malay, Hindi, and more.”
Father Savio emphasised the great "collaboration" with the other parishes and priests in Kuwait, who "help us. In this sense, it is a warm, vibrant Church that expresses a sense of community.”
On holidays, there is a succession of religious services from six in the morning until evening, but the celebrations rarely combine all the rites or languages, if for no other reason than the lack of space.
Each person, observes the Mumbai-born cleric, has their own “requests and needs. Another important aspect is catechism, for some 1,700 children speaking different languages. We also have a school (dedicated to Don Giovanni Bosco), although we cannot use the name of God or speak of religion within it.”
Finally, there is the parish of St Daniel Comboni in Abbasiya, which is even more peculiar because it lacks a real permanent place of worship, with the faithful using the basements in certain buildings, alternating between them, to celebrate rites and services.
This is an underground church, in many ways similar to that of the catacombs, where faith and celebrations are going strong amid hardships and some fear, as noted by the parish priest, Father Sojan Paul, originally from Kerala (India), who is assisted by five other priests.
“Our situation is difficult to resolve,” admitted the priest, as he led me on a tour of two “underground churches” nestled among the streets and buildings, some dilapidated and showing obvious signs of deterioration, in the neighbourhood where the parish is located.
The underlying issue is not so much the violation of religious freedom, but rather “a differential treatment, red tape” that affect the daily lives of Catholics, starting in the workplace.
"Ninety-five per cent of the families," the parish priest explained, “come from India, then there are some Filipinos, and about 1 per cent from Africa. There is a sense of insecurity, of instability, which is certainly linked to being migrant workers," though there is also a sense of belonging to the country that welcomed them.
"Our situation," Father Paul admitted, "is hard to resolve, and we cannot predict what will happen," amid the obvious need for space and to be able to live the faith freely, not, as is currently the case, in private homes with a careful ear to the volume of the songs.
“Last year, we put up stars and other decorations outside for Christmas, but the police arrived and asked us to take them down,” he noted. “In Kuwait, we cannot speak of a persecuted Church; that's not the point, but of a different, unique reality, one that has different needs and requires assistance.”
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[*] Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia.
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15/01/2025 15:18
