Posted on 11/04/2005 11:14:35 PM PST by nickcarraway
DOHA -- A Christian church will be built in the Persian Gulf state of Qatar, the first in a Muslim state since the advent of Islam in the seventh century.
Construction on the Church of the Epiphany - which is expected to cost about $7 million - will begin early next year, but the structure will not have a spire or freestanding cross, reports The Times of London.
The land for the facility in the capital, Doha, has been donated by the reform-minded Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani.
"We are there as guests in a Muslim country and we wish to be sensitive to our hosts ... but once you're inside the gates it will be quite obvious that you are in a Christian center," said the Rev. Clive Handford, the Nicosia-based Anglican Bishop in Cyprus and the Gulf. "We hope that the center can be a base for ongoing Muslim-Christian dialogue."
Qatar's Anglican community, estimated to number between 7,000 and 10,000 people, has had services in an English-language school in Doha for decades.
Anyone taking odds as to if it will ever be finished and if it is, how long it will take to be blown up?
Well .. I wouldn't be investing in that building! The hatred of the Muslims will probably destroy it before it's even finished.
"Construction on the Church of the Epiphany - which is expected to cost about $7 million - will begin early next year, but the structure will not have a spire or freestanding cross, reports The Times of London."
Welllll, it depends. Dhimmi regulations seem to be being followed here (no spire ect.), and Quatar is really pretty reasonable for the region. Even in places like Iraq, there are churches and Christians. As long as they keep a very low profile, and don't visibly grow it can be ok.
That said, if there are any kind of successful missionary activity (or even persistant rumors of them) this Church is rubble. I'd give it about a 25-50% chance of not being leveled. It all depends on the security assistance the government of Quatar decides to provide, and activities the local Christians are prepared to undertake.
A fatwa will be issued any minute calling for its destruction, and for death to the infidel Emir.
Ummm... I think Morocco is a Muslim state and I have attended Mass there, and the church certainly didn't look 1300 years old to me.
This is possible, but it was for sure a brave decision of the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani since he will be the target of all those fanatic idiots. Therefore we all should be thankful for this gift and help him as good as we can.
I don't know how we could find better friends anywhere in the Arab states. Qatar just gets better and better. How the mullahs must hate them!
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