News - January 2025 RSS Feed

Bp Paolo inaugurated the program on the Nicene Creed at St. Joseph's Cathedral Abu Dhabi on January 19 with the first catechesis on the Creed and its significance to our Christian faith.

The Holy Father has appointed today Rev. Fr. Diego Sarrió Cucarella, M. Afr., currently serving at Sts Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Muscat and collaborating with the Interfaith & Ecumenical Dialogue Office of the Apostolic Vicariate of Southern Arabia, as the Bishop of the diocese of Laghouat, Algeria, that comprises the entire Algerian territory south of the Atlas Mountains.

The Gulf Churches Fellowship (GCF) that gathers the leaders of the Christian Churches recognized in the Gulf, had its annual meeting during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity in St Michael's Catholic church, Sharjah.

Bp Paolo reflects on the Jubilee Year 2025 emphasizing in particular its theme “Pilgrims of Hope” and the characteristic of our Church in the Gulf, a Church of migrants, always on the move.

Our patroness guards us on the journey. Because Mary was totally docile to the work of the Holy Spirit, her intercession will help you to receive the sacrament of confirmation, so that you too may be docile to the action of the Holy Spirit and may live every day of your life in joy and love, faithful to your vocation and mission.

Bp Paolo who declared Ruwi parish a pilgrimage center for all the faithful of Oman, invited the parishioners to help the priests to accompany the pilgrims who will come to find peace and mercy, to be a sign of hope for everyone, the true hope that sustains us in tribulations, to be witnesses of Jesus.

Bp Paolo started his pastoral visit 2025 to all parishes of the vicariate, from the parish dedicated to the patron saints of the Vicariate, Sts Peter and Paul, in Ruwi, Oman.

Jesus does not have his own sins to be purified. Rather, he immerses himself in the Jordan River to take upon himself our sins. Let us never forget our baptism, this immense gift that has made us children of God forever. The Holy Spirit descends also on the Church and each of us, through the sacraments and charisms, calling us to be witnesses.

Bp Paolo opened the Jubilee in St. Anthony of Padua in RAK which is the official shrine for all the faithful in the United Arab Emirates, on the Epiphany Feast day. "Let us imitate the Magi, let us go to meet Christ. Let us allow the encounter with him to change our hearts. Be pilgrims of hope, recognize Jesus as the Savior of the world. Bring the friendship of Jesus to everyone."

Jesus manifests himself as the light of the world, the Gospel is for everyone. Jesus overcomes all divisions and barriers and wants to make all nations, the kingdom of God, a kingdom of peace and justice.

We must imitate Mary in considering the events of Jesus and keeping them in our hearts. The Mother of God helps us to grasp the connection between all the events that happened in our life in which Jesus makes himself mysteriously present.

Let us thank the Lord for the gift of the past year and ask for blessings in the new year in which we may experience reconciliation with God and among people, beginning with our hearts, our families and our communities.

"I think especially of those who feel downtrodden, burdened by their past mistakes, oppressed by the judgment of others and incapable of perceiving even a glimmer of hope for their own lives. Upon everyone I invoke hope and peace, for this is a Year of Grace born of the Heart of the Redeemer!"