Cathedral of our Lady of Arabia blessed by Cardinal Tagle

(Awali, Bahrain).

Today, during the solemn mass celebrated at 10.00 am in Awali, the newly constructed Cathedral of Our Lady of Arabia was blessed by His Eminence Louis Antonio Cardinal Tagle, the Prefect of the Congregation of the Evangelization of Peoples.



Among the concelebrants were His Excellency Bishop Paul Hinder, Apostolic Administrator of Northern Arabia, His Grace Archbishop Eugene Martin Nugent, Apostolic Nuncio to Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the Apostolic Delegate to Saudi Arabia, Fr. Jeremias dos Santos, Vicar-General of the Comboni Missionaries, Fr. Peter P. M., Custos of the Capuchin Custody of Arabia and twenty seven other missionaries who serve in Bahrain and other countries in the Arabian peninsula.

Also present at the celebration were the Sisters of the Apsotolic Carmel, who serve in the parish of Sacred Heart Church, Bahrain. With special permissions from the government, 1,200 parishioners from Bahrain could take part in the celebration within the premises, occupying spaces both inside the church building and outside in the church compound. The Grand Choir led by Fr. Darel Fernandes, and composed of singers and musicians from the parishes of Sacred Heart, Manama and Our Lady of Visitation, Awali imparted joy and beauty to the liturgical celebration. The function of the master of ceremony of the celebration was carried out by Fr. Franco Pereira SDB. A large and dedicated team of ushers and volunteers helped to ensure that the whole programme went in a smooth and orderly fashion from start to finish.

At the very beginning of his homily, Cardinal Tagle thanked the Ruler of the Kingdom of Bahrain, His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa, who graciously donated the land for the Cathedral to the late Bishop Camillo Ballin, former Apostolic Vicar of Northern Arabia. The Cardinal reminded the faithful that the church was not just a building built by stones, but the House of God, a “home” where parishioners were always welcome. Based on the reading from the Epistle of St. Peter, Cardinal Tagle emphasized the need for each member of the faithful to ensure that he or she was indeed a “living stone” making up the church, and not “a “dead or a cold stone". To be “alive”, one would need to “be close to the Living Cornerstone, Jesus Christ”. “Daily reading of the Word of God", "giving up oneself in sacrifice" and "the service of charity” are three concrete steps which would help maintain one’s heart as "a heart of flesh" and not a "stony or hard heart”, the Cardinal added.

After the homily, the rites of anointing, incensing, covering and lighting of the altar by Cardinal Tagle followed. The anointing with chrism makes the altar a symbol of Christ, who, before all others, is, (and is called) ‘The Anointed One”. Incense is burned on the altar to signify that Christ’s sacrifice ascends to God as an odor of sweetness and also to signify that the people’s prayers rise up, pleasing and acceptable, reaching the throne of God. The covering of the altar indicates that the Christian altar is the altar of the eucharistic sacrifice and the table of the Lord; around it priests and people celebrate the memorial of Christ’s death and resurrection and partake of his supper. Finally, the lighting of the altar, which is followed by the lighting of the church, reminds us that Christ is ‘a light to enlighten the nations’; his brightness shines out in the Church and through it in the whole human family.

In his thanksgiving speech, Bishop Paul Hinder, Apostolic Vicar of Northern Arabia, thanked Cardinal Tagle who accepted the invitation to come to Bahrain. A prolonged round of applause broke out as Bishop Paul asked the Cardinal to convey the love, greetings and gratitude of the faithful of Bahrain to His Holiness Pope Francis. The bishop reminded the faithful to prize the gift of unity as one Body in Christ, which would truly reflect the spiritual meaning of the newly consecrated cathedral becoming "a temple made up of living stones”.

Fr. Saji Thomas, the Bishop’s Delegate to Bahrain and Parish Priest of Awali Church, who also led the project team which oversaw the completion of the project, remembered the late Bishop Camillo Ballin, who envisioned the project and approached the King with the request for the land, and also mobilized the resources for the project. Fr. Saji also thanked all the many benefactors both from within the country and abroad, and the executors of the project - the architects, consultants, project managers and engineers who worked hard to complete the construction of the church in spite of the challenges imposed by the pandemic. 

At the end of the celebration, Cardinal Tagle read out the decree which announced that the newly blessed church dedicated to Our Lady of Arabia would be the cathedral church of the Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Arabia while the Church of the Holy Family would henceforth be the “co-cathedral”.

After acknowledging in gratitude the many unnamed workers and technical staff who worked with dedication and skill to build the temple of God, the Cardinal concluded the mass with a prayer and the wish that the living stones of the Catholic Community would contribute to solidarity, unity and fraternity in the Kingdom of Bahrain.