Kuwait’s oldest Catholic church in Al-Ahmadi, the country’s second city, was elevated to the status of a Minor Basilica on Friday during a ceremony presided over by the Vatican Secretary of State, Pietro Parolin.
According to Vatican News, the title of Minor Basilica is granted to "churches that hold special liturgical or pastoral importance, and that stand out for their historical, spiritual, or architectural value".
Known as Our Lady of Arabia, the Kuwaiti church has become the first to bear the title in the Arabian Gulf.
The church, originally built as a small chapel, was founded in 1948 with the help of the Kuwaiti Oil Company (KOC) after several Catholic foreigners arrived in the country to work in the booming oil industry.
The full building of the church was later completed in 1957.
The ceremony was attended by several Kuwaiti government officials, representatives of the KOC, and local Catholics, with Cardinal Parolin describing the event as "truly historic".
"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," the Cardinal said during the congregation.
Christians constitute approximately 20 percent of Kuwait’s population, the majority of whom are migrant workers without Kuwaiti citizenship.