Church to be built in Persian Gulf state of Qatar

Originally at http://news.monstersandcritics.com/middleeast/article_1059350.php/Church_to_be_built_in_Persian_Gulf_state_of_Qatar

DOHA, Qatar (UPI) — 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 7th 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 free-standing 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, Sheik 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.

COUNTRIES IN THE PERSIAN GULF REGION

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