Christianity in Qatar

The Christian community in Qatar is a diverse mix of European, North and South American, Asian, Middle Eastern and African expatriates.

[7] In the fifth century AD, Beth Qatraye was the main center of the Nestorian Christian Church of the East, which ruled the southern shores of the Persian Gulf.

[8] Isaac of Nineveh, a 7th-century Syriac Christian bishop regarded as a saint in some churches, was born in Qatar.

In 674, the bishops of Beth Qatraye stopped attending synods; although the practice of Christianity persisted in the region until the late 9th century.

[10] In May 2005, representatives of Christian churches in Qatar signed an agreement with the Qatari Government for a fifty-year lease on a large piece of property in Mesaimeer on the outskirts of Doha on which they intended to erect six churches at their own expense.

In December 2005, the foundation stone for the Catholic Church was laid and the ground-breaking took place at the end of April 2006.

In 2023, there were about 350,000 Catholics in Qatar (including nine priests),[16][15] under the jurisdiction of the Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Arabia.