Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Abu Dhabi (Agenzia Fides) – Prayers, celebrations, and pilgrimages. This is how the feast in honor of Saint Anthony of Padua, known as the "Doctor Evangelicus", is being celebrated this year in Ras Al Khaimah. This is a special celebration, since the church dedicated to the Saint has been designated by the Apostolic Vicar of Southern Arabia, Bishop Paolo Martinelli, as a Jubilee Church for this Holy Year.
It was Bishop Martinelli who presided over the celebration of the novena in honor of Saint Anthony in recent days, making a pastoral visit to the local Catholic community from June 12 to 16. In addition to the liturgies in honor of the Saint, the Bishop will also administer the Sacrament of Confirmation to the children of the parish.
A parish composed almost exclusively of migrants from over 20 countries. The parish church, whose construction began in 1999 (the current structure was completed in 2013, editor's note), is committed every day to the pastoral care, catechesis, and spiritual formation of a vibrant multicultural community. Suffice it to say that here the Holy Mass is celebrated in 10 different languages, including English, Arabic, Malayalam, Tamil and Tagalog.
This is also why the parish was chosen by Bishop Martinelli to inaugurate the Jubilee Year at a local level on January 5, 2025. Throughout the Holy Year, Jubilee events will be held in the building, every first and third Sunday of the month, to foster deeper understanding and participation among the faithful.
Among these initiatives is the traditional Jubilee pilgrimage, for which a special itinerary has been created: a "staged" journey that includes 11 stations: marked by a yellow line drawn on the ground, beginning in front of the Grotto of the Virgin Mary and ending inside the church. Each station is accompanied by prayers displayed on special signs. Pilgrims who set out on the journey also receive a booklet containing detailed information on the Holy Year, the history of the Jubilee, how to obtain indulgences, and how to share their prayer intentions. During the weekend, around a hundred volunteers provide service to assist pilgrims.
According to data provided by the Apostolic Vicariate, from January 5 to May 31, more than 13,000 people have already made the Jubilee pilgrimage to the Church of Saint Anthony. "You have a special role to play in this Holy Year. “Be, above all, a sign of hope by welcoming every pilgrim with a loving Christian smile,” said Bishop Martinelli during the homily that opened the pastoral visit. “Being a pilgrim,” he added, “means being on a journey toward a meaningful destination, a desired destination. I therefore invite you to use our condition as migrants as a means or channel to be pilgrims of hope.”
“We are not a collection of national Churches coexisting side by side here in the Gulf, ignoring each other. Nor are we an extension of our Churches of origin or our parishes in our countries of origin. Although it is good to remain in contact with one’s Church of origin, it is much more important to be living members of this Church, the Church in Arabia. We have different traditions, different languages, and we belong to different rites, but we form one Church with different spiritual gifts; "We form the only mystical body of Christ in the Gulf," concluded Msgr. Martinelli. (F.B.) (Agenzia Fides, 13/6/2025)
