1st Mass held in Gulf's largest cathedral in Bahrain

MANAMA, Bahrain

Bahrain’s largest Roman Catholic church held the first Mass on Sunday.

Father Saji Thomas led the Mass in “Our Lady of Arabia" church, which is located 20 kilometers south of the capital, Manama.

The church, the largest in the Arab Gulf region, was opened on Thursday at a cost of over $10 million.

According to the state news agency, the cathedral can seat up to 2,300 people and will serve the 80,000 Catholic Christians in Bahrain, who are mainly workers from India and the Philippines.

The Gulf's first Roman Catholic church, "The Sacred Heart Church", was opened in Manama in 1939.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar in Ankara