ASIA/BAHRAIN - The King of Bahrain donates land for the construction of a new Coptic church

Thursday, 13 October 2016 oriental churches   religious minorities   civil society  

Bahrain News Agency

Manama (Agenzia Fides) - Coptic Orthodox priest Royce George, engaged in the pastoral care of the Orthodox Coptic community in Bahrain, has confirmed the donation of land by King Hamad bin Isa al Khalifa for the construction of the second Coptic church in the Kingdom. The new building of Christian worship will rise in the capital, Manama, and will become a point of reference for the liturgies and pastoral activities that will involve approximately 1,500 Coptic families resident in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. The donation was announced after the meeting which took place in late April between the King of Bahrain and Coptic Orthodox Patriarch Tawadros II, on the occasion of the monarch's visit to Egypt.
At the time, during the meeting with the Patriarch, the Sovereign had exalted the "religious tolerance" of his Kingdom, criticized by international organizations for the Kingdom’s discrimination against the Shia majority.
In 2013 the Catholic Church received an area of 9 thousand square meters in the municipality of Awali from the King of Bahrain, where in the spring of 2014 work began on what will become the Catholic Cathedral of the Kingdom, dedicated to Our Lady of Arabia. (GV) (Agenzia Fides 13/10/2016)


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