VISITA IGLESIA:Catholic Churches in UAE part 3

...the last part of the journey.

We departed Sharjah and proceeded to another Emirate State to visit another church which is in Ras Al Kaimah, The St. Anthony de Padua Catholic Church.

St. Anthony de Padua Church in RAK

The Church situated at the back side of a general merchandise store. The church is slightly smaller than other churches we visited but enough to cater the spiritual needs of every Catholic residing around the emirates of Ras Al Kaimah. 

We commemorated the 9th and 10th station of the cross and made some individual prayers and after that we checked out the vicinity for photo opportunity of the church.

The group decided to take lunch first before we embark to a long journey going to our next destination. We settled in a parking lot in one of the mall there and ate our lunch. The spirit of sharing was noted during the feast as foods and beverages were being shared and passed on to everybody like one big happy family, not to mentioned we ate inside the coaster.

After we ate we embarked in a long journey towards Fujairah were the Church of Mother Perpetual Help is located. Along the way we had the opportunity to see God's marvelous creations of mountains which decorated the scenic view of the way. It was a 3 hour travel going to Fujairah but you will never get bored as scenic beauty unfolds during the travel.

The mountains surrounding the road to Fujairah

We arrived at Our Mother of Perpetual Help Church past 4 in the afternoon. The group then commemorated the 11th and 12th station and proceeded with a short prayer.

The church is slightly bigger than the one in RAK and also a bit spacious, we saw a lot of parishioners inside the church from different countries. Blessed that they can exercise their faith in this Arab Country.

The ground of the church

The entrance of the church

Visita Iglesia: Catholic Churches in UAE

Me and my wife had the opportunity to join the Visita Iglesia on Good Friday organized by the elders of the Couple for Christ here in Abu Dhabi. Without hesitation we joined the said event to make it as our way of doing sacrifice in this lenten season and of course the opportunity to see all the churches of the seven emirates of UAE. Catholics in this country is very lucky and grateful that the ruler of this middle east sheikdom allowed Christians to exercise their faith as well as giving space to build churches for prayers.

The said trip also followed the way of the cross that our Christ suffers up to crucifixion as we remembered and prayed. Two stations of the cross in every church we visited.

We kick off the said event around 6am in the morning starting with the first and second stations in our very own St. Joseph Cathedral here in Abu Dhabi. 

The facade of the Cathedral upon entering on its compound

According to their site this Parish has over 100,000 expatriate Catholics from all over the world.

With the growing economy within the region, the Church has also witnessed a steady increase in the number of faithful. Masses are celebrated in a number of different languages and the Church is generally seen packed to full capacity at most services.

Inside the St. Joseph Cathedral during a mass celebration

 After commemorating the first and second station of the cross we hurriedly boarded to our assigned buses that would bring us to our next church to be visited. There were seven buses with approximately 30 faithfuls in each bus. 

We boarded bus number 5, with us is our co-participants of the CFC-Christian Life Program, our couple DGL, our CFC Elders and some CFC members. 

Our convoy of buses getting ready at the break of dawn for the Visita Iglesia

  

Our next stop: St. Francis of Assisi church

The St. Francis of Assisi Church is located just off of Sheik Zayed road beside the village of Jebel Ali, in the emirates of Dubai. It is near the Ibn Batuta Mall and The Gardens in Jebel Ali interchange.

The St. Francis of Assisi church was inaugurated in November 2001 as part of the Vicarate of Arabia, presently pastored by Bishop Paul Hinder. It is a parish comprised of many nationalities from around the world. We are diverse communities united in one body of Christ

The entrance to the church of St. Francis of Assisi, Jebel Ali Dubai

To GOD be the glory....

The Grotto inside the church compound.

Inside the St. Francis of Assisi Church

Inside the compound of the church.

We stayed at St. Francis church approximately 30 minutes. We prayed and did the third and fourth station of the cross. After that we were given 10 minutes to take pictures and check out the church vicinity before we leaved to our next church destination.

 ... to be continued  --->>>   jump to PART 2