‘Pope Francis visit a dream come true’

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

The visit of Pope Francis will be a dream come true for many Christians in the Gulf Arab country, but especially for Najla Uchi, whose father helped build the first Roman Catholic church in the island state.

Lighting a candle at her home altar lined with religious icons, 78-year-old Najla Uchi said she had been saying a daily prayer for Pope Francis.

“Many people didn’t even dream that they could see the Pope here,” she told the media.

“When I go to church, they don’t believe it, they are all getting excited.”

Uchi’s father Salman was the main contractor for the Sacred Heart Church, built on a plot of land gifted by the ruling emir.

Its bells first rang on Christmas eve 1939, according to its website.

Her father came to Bahrain from Iraq and was later granted Bahraini citizenship.

Uchi was born in Bahrain and is a citizen.

Christians in the Kingdom make up about 14.5 per cent of the population.

Bahrain has had a native Christian community for many centuries, with the first recorded presence dating back to the 12th century.

Expatriate Christians, however, make up the majority of Christians in Bahrain, while local Christian Bahrainis (who hold Bahraini citizenship) make up a much smaller community.

Alees Samaan, the former Bahraini Ambassador to the United Kingdom is a native Christian.

There are hundreds of Christians who hold Bahraini citizenship.

They belong to Catholicism and Eastern Orthodox Church.