Church in the Desert

100,000!  Can you picture that many people?  Sanford stadium holds just over 92,000 people.  The largest city in my home state doesn't even have 40,000 people in it!  Cobb county schools has about 106,000 students.  That's a lot of students!  That is 50% more than the number of people living on American Samoa.  20% of the population of Wyoming, and almost as many people as living on the US Virgin Islands.

The point is, 100,000 people is a ton of folks.  Now picture that there are over 100,000 expatriate Catholics in one place.  Must be St. Peter's in Rome, right?  Nope. St. Peter's holds about 60,000 people at one time!  St. Pat's in NYC?  St. Pat's is the largest Catholic Church in the US.  It only holds about 2,500 people at a time though.  Guess again.  Alright, I know you don't have to guess.  St. Joseph's Cathedral in Abu Dhabi, UAE is home to over 100,000 expat Catholics. 

One of the first things we considered before embarking on this little sojourn was the issue of worship.  We excluded a number of places because of the overt anti-Christian and specifically the anti-Catholic sentiment found in those places.  We wanted our kids to be safe, but to be in a place where their faith might have to be a bit of a struggle.  The founders of the Church ALL had to struggle with their expressions of their faith.  I don't mean that they came by thier faith in a difficult manner, but more that they were persecuted for their beliefs and practice of their faith.  It is indisputable that the early Christians were having a rough time of things.  It isn't really know how many people were persecuted and martyred for their unerring FAITH.

We certainly didn't want our kids to face a life and death decision about their faith, but we wanted them to see a glimpse of the struggle our fore-fathers faced. (How's that for alliteration?)  To me, it seemed that one such place would be an Arab nation.  Arab nations are typically dominated by adherents to Islam.  As far as I have seen, in the States, not very tolerant of any other religious tradition, faith, or following.  We knew, after research, that other religions were tolerated here in the UAE.  We also knew there would be a large faith-based community that believes as we do.  We expected that we would be challenged by Muslims on all fronts, trying to convert us from our infidel ways.  (Please insert a chuckle here).  So far.... not one person has tried to convert me or any of my family.

The overwhelming response of the Muslims I have met is inquiry.  Asking what I believe.  They share what they believe and try to explain as best they can.  The language barrier is quite significant.  I explain Christianity and, specifically, Catholicism as best I can.  Did you read the part about the significant language barrier?  Every, and I mean EVERY, Muslim I have met is concerned with how I, as a Christian and as an American, view them.  They are exceptionally concerned with how Muslims as a whole are perceived by the West.  I think that is why they share so much about their religion.  Not once have I, nor Christians, nor Catholics been denounced and sentenced to Hell because of my/our beliefs.  They accept that we believe differently. 

That being said... on more than one occaision, my beautiful, peaceful wife has been told she is going to rot in Hell for practicing idolatry.  We, as Catholics, have been called whore worshippers.  That happened in the good ole U S of A.