Church Built in Qatar

A Catholic church has been built in Qatar, a strict islamic country. However, the parish is concerned about a backlash against Christians because of it. The church has no cross, no steeple and no bell so not to attract any attention to it. No why should the parish be afraid? Fox News

DOHA, Qatar — Qatar's first Christian church has no cross, no bell and no steeple.

And when 5,000 faithful flock to Our Lady of the Rosary to celebrate its historic consecration this weekend, they pray no one will notice.

Father Tom Veneracion, the parish priest, is worried about a backlash.

"The idea is to be discreet because we don't want to inflame any sensitivities," he says. "There isn't even a signboard outside the church. No signs at all."

Qatar's fledgling Catholic community considers its sprawling $15 million saucer-shaped facility a victory. A 15-minute drive into barren desert, it has been built with the blessing of the nation's emir.

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But some people in this Muslim country have branded it an offense; one prominent politician has called for a national referendum to determine its fate.

And as the church lookd forward to its first Easter service, the controversy is getting considerable attention among this gas-rich country's press.

"The cross should not be raised in the sky of Qatar, nor should bells toll in Doha," wrote Lahdan bin Issa al-Muhanada, a leading columnist in Doha's Al-Arab newspaper.

But Abdul Hamid al-Ansari, the former dean of the Islamic law school at Qatar University, disagrees. He wrote that having "places of worship for various religions is a fundamental human right guaranteed by Islam."

Sitting in his sparse office in the portable building that has served as a makeshift chapel for his congregation for the last six years, Veneracion said he was bewildered by the dispute.

"It is confusing to us," said the priest, a soft-spoken man from the Philippines who seemed genuinely caught off guard by the controversy.

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When Our Lady of the Rosary opens its doors, it will make Saudi Arabia the only Gulf state that still bans churches.

But it remains unclear if Qataris will accept the church, or whether a backlash will force it to close its doors.

Rashed al-Subaie, a Qatari engineer, wrote in a letter to the Al-Watan newspaper that Christians should practice their faith only "in line with public morals without being given licenses to set up places of worship."

Christians should "worship their God in their homes," he wrote.

Where did he get that idea from?