The Arabian peninsula finally has a basilica, months after Pope Leo XIV announced that Our Lady of Arabia in Ahmadi, Kuwait, would be given the status.
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican's secretary of state, traveled to Kuwait on Thursday, to officially confer the status of "minor basilica" on the church in a Mass on Friday, January 16. Kuwait is a small country along the Persian Gulf, and borders Iraq and Saudi Arabia. The Secretary was scheduled to spend two days in the area.
The vast majority of Kuwaitis are Muslim, and Islam is the country's official state religion. While Kuwait's native Christian population is about 300, there are a significant number of non-citizen Christians who live in Kuwait.
Those non-citizen Christians were the ones who, in 1948, built what would become the Basilica of Our Lady of America. The then-chapel was constructed by people who had moved to Kuwait to work in the oil industry.
Friday, said Cardinal Parolin in his homily, was "truly history," for both "the Church in Kuwait, but for the Church throughout the entire Arabian Peninsula."
“Built upon the sands of the desert,” said the cardinal, “this Basilica reminds us that Mary herself once found refuge in those same desert lands, where she cared for, raised, and safeguarded the one Mediator between God and the human family, Jesus Christ.”
What is a minor basilica?
There are more than 1,800 minor basilicas, and four "major" basilicas. The major basilicas -- St. Peter’s, St. John Lateran, St. Paul Outside the Walls, and St. Mary Major -- are all located in Rome.
Aside from conferring the title of basilica on Our Lady of Arabia, Cardinal Parolin met with Kuwaiti's civil authorities, and visited the country's Catholic community at the Holy Family Co-Cathedral in Kuwait City.
Status of the Church in the Arabian Peninsula
Kuwait, along with Bahrain, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, make up the "Vicariate of Northern Arabia."
The vicariate is led by Bishop Aldo Berardi, O.SS.T.
Speaking to Vatican News, Bishop Berardi offered praise of Our Lady of Arabia and the role the church played in the lives of Catholic migrant workers.
“It is a shrine of great devotion,” he said. “It is noteworthy that here, in a predominantly Muslim region where such representations are forbidden, there is the presence of a Marian image. I find this profoundly meaningful.”
“This church is a ‘flower’ in the area,” said Bishop Berardi. “Even during the war between Iraq and Kuwait [in 1990, ed.], the image of Our Lady remained as guardian of that small church and protector for all those who could not flee.”
