KUWAIT: Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin led a Solemn Pontifical Mass celebrating Minor Basilica Status of Our Lady of Arabia in Ahmadi on Friday, making the church the first to bear such title in the Arabian Gulf region.
The ceremony gathered a large number of officials, notably Assistant Foreign Minister for Europe Affairs Sadeq Marafi, Vatican Ambassador to Kuwait Eugene Martin Nugent, Director of Public Relations Division at Kuwait Oil Company Mohammad Al-Busairi and head of KOC public relations team Yousuf Al-Kandari.
The church, founded by KOC in 1948, got the pontifical title of Minor Basilica Status due to its spiritual, historical and architectural significance in the Gulf region, according to a KOC statement.
The title of Minor Basilica is conferred on churches that hold special liturgical or pastoral importance, and that stand out for their historical, spiritual or architectural value. In his homily, delivered to the congregation including local Catholics, politicians, diplomats and representatives of the KOC, Cardinal Parolin described the occasion as “truly historic,” not only “for the Church in Kuwait, but for the Church throughout the entire Arabian Peninsula.”
“Built upon the sands of the desert,” the Cardinal said, “this Basilica reminds us that Mary herself once found refuge in those same desert lands, where she cared for, raised, and safeguarded the one Mediator between God and the human family, Jesus Christ (PBUH).”
True God and true man
Cardinal Parolin then reflected on the day’s Gospel reading, in which Jesus (PBUH) asks His disciples the “decisive question”: “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” Reflecting back on the recently-concluded Christmas period, the Cardinal stressed that “we cannot welcome the Child Jesus into our homes… unless we recognize His true identity and all that it implies.”
Christians now make up some 20 percent of Kuwait’s population, although almost all are migrant workers without Kuwaiti citizenship. The situation is similar in many other oil-rich Gulf countries, including Bahrain, the UAE and Qatar. Of these countries, Kuwait and Bahrain are unique in also having a small number of Christian citizens, almost all of them descendants of immigrants from Arab countries, such as Lebanon and Palestine, with sizeable Christian populations. — KUNA and Agencies
