MANILA, March 5, 2008—Filipino priest will head the first Catholic Church dedicated to the Blessed Mother Mary in Qatar, in an Arab emirate.

Indian Cardinal Ivan Dias, prefect of the Vatican's Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, is scheduled to lead the dedication ceremony on March 14 in Doha, the capital of Qatar, according to church sources.

Fr Tomasito Veneracion, a priest from the Philippines, will head the new parish. Reportedly more than half of Qatar's 800,000 inhabitants are migrant workers, including about 45,000 Filipinos. The oil-rich Persian Gulf state established diplomatic relations with the Holy See in 2003.

The church in Doha was built on land donated by Emir Amir Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, ruler of Qatar, who in recent years has become a supporter of interreligious dialogue despite maintaining Islamic law, which forbids Muslims to convert to other religions.

Archbishop Paul Hinder, apostolic vicar of Arabia, will join Cardinal Dias for the dedication. (Santosh Digal)