Overview
- Cardinal Pietro Parolin presided at Mass in Ahmadi on January 16 to celebrate the church’s formal proclamation as a Minor Basilica.
- The Church of Our Lady of Arabia is Kuwait’s oldest Catholic church, with an original chapel from 1948 and the current structure completed in 1957.
- The designation is the first Minor Basilica in the Arabian Peninsula, recognizing the site’s historical and spiritual significance.
- Parolin’s January 14–16 visit includes an official round of talks with Prime Minister Sheikh Ahmad Abdullah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah to reinforce bilateral relations established in 1968.
- During meetings with clergy and faithful, Parolin urged priests to serve with humility, called religious to be ‘prophets of peace and unity,’ and encouraged the community to be witnesses of hope in a diverse society.