Bahrain church project cements Gulf region’s reputation for tolerance

Bahrain church project cements Gulf region’s reputation for tolerance

Bahrain church project cements Gulf region's reputation for tolerance

Bahrain church project cements Gulf region's reputation for tolerance

Bahrain church project cements Gulf region's reputation for tolerance

Our Lady of Arabia is expected to open to the public in May. (Supplied)

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Bahrain church project cements Gulf region's reputation for tolerance

Cathedral of Our Lady of Arabia, being built on a plot donated by King Hamad, is expected to open to the public in May 2021

Shape of the cathedral is meant to resemble a tent where Prophet Moses is believed to have met with people

Updated 24 December 2020

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DUBAI: It all started when the monarch of Bahrain donated a plot of land to the kingdom's Catholic community seven years ago. Officially taking matters a step further, in 2014 King Hamad Al-Khalifa met with Pope Francis at the Vatican, reassuring him of Bahrain's commitment to coexistence and presenting him with a detailed three-foot-long model of a proposed cathedral and its surroundings.

Next year, Bahrain will inaugurate the largest Catholic cathedral in the Gulf region, the latest testament to its longstanding tradition of openness and tolerance. The Cathedral of Our Lady of Arabia, expected to open to the public in May, sits on a complex of approximately