greek orthodox expanding the faith in uae
Monday 7 July 2025
Last Updated : GMT 05:17:37
Emiratesvoice, emirates voice

Greek Orthodox expanding the faith in UAE

Emiratesvoice, emirates voice

Emiratesvoice, emirates voice Greek Orthodox expanding the faith in UAE

Greek Orthodox Christians
Abu Dhabi - WAM

Greek Orthodox Christians are building a church in Mussaffah to accommodate the hundreds of worshippers living in the capital.
In addition to the 700 Abu Dhabi families registered with the church, Father Stephanos Neaimeh believed there were 300 to 400 more unregistered families in the emirate.
"The Saint Nicholas Orthodox Church isn't very big,” said the Lebanon native. "It fits about 300 worshippers, sitting and standing. Sunday and Friday masses are usually full and we have 700 families, so we don't have much space. We sometimes use the salon upstairs with a screen and we place chairs outside too. During Easter and Christmas we never have space.”
The Saint Andrew's Centre, an Anglican compound with more than 40 Christian worshipping groups, was built in 1975. The church has worshippers from seven Arabic nationalities, mostly Palestinian, Syrian and Lebanese.
"There are also Romanians, Russians, Ukrainians, Serbians and Georgians,” Father Neaimeh said.
"If they need to pray, we give them the church with their own priest. Otherwise, they can pray with us using their books. We use the Greek and Arabic languages and we're thinking in the future to prepare a book using English and French because some people don't understand Greek and Arabic.”
The compound in Al Mushrif was a donation to the British embassy from Sheikh Zayed, the founding President.
"The Greek Orthodox church then bought a plot of land from the British to build their church,” said the 65-year-old clergyman. "We have been treated very well and we always pray for the late Sheikh Zayed's soul to rest in peace because he founded a country that is open to anyone. He turned the desert into paradise and those who hadn't lived in his days don't know how wonderful it was.”
The new church, Saint Elia, will house about 1,250 worshippers sitting. "It will be much bigger than the current one.”
Its construction started in May and it should take 18 months.
Ornaments for the church are being brought from Greece. "Every year I fly to Greece to ship crosses, icons and religious books for the church and I have never once been stopped or questioned,” he said. "The local population is very polite with us, well-mannered and very hospitable.”
Father Neaimeh, who arrived in the UAE in 1989, said he valued his time in the country. "I'm not surprised I stayed this long because in the Orthodox Church the priest is like a father to the congregation – he stays with them and takes care of them for as long as he is supposed to,” he said.
"I am happy here in Abu Dhabi because the priest is like the soldier, he serves the people like his family. We don't differentiate between rich and poor and all people are the same in the church.”
The UAE includes three Orthodox churches, including one in Jebel Ali.
"We organise bazaars and dinners to raise funds for the church,” said Gloria Mina Chahine, a member of the church's 30-person committee. "I've loved church ever since I was a child. I was always in Sunday school and the choir back in Lebanon and I go to church every Friday. I like to pray and I feel a special feeling towards God. When I came to Abu Dhabi with my husband 20 years ago we joined the church. It's a nice habit and I really found my family in the church.”
Nabil Al Zahlawi, a Syrian-Canadian who has lived in Abu Dhabi for 20 years, said the aim of the committee was to bring the best to the Greek Orthodox community and support the church's activities. "We have a lot of work to do with the new church,” he said. "We always face problems in the current church because it's too small. But now that we own the land officially we can do a lot of work without any problem.
"My family is very close to the church. My brother is a bishop in the US. My cousin is a bishop in Brazil and my other cousin a priest in Germany.”

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

greek orthodox expanding the faith in uae greek orthodox expanding the faith in uae

 



Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

greek orthodox expanding the faith in uae greek orthodox expanding the faith in uae

 



GMT 10:31 2014 Tuesday ,23 December

Mirages of failure: Lebanon cannot wait

GMT 05:17 2024 Wednesday ,07 February

Amazon to open first cashierless shop

GMT 11:14 2017 Saturday ,22 July

Smiley face found on ancient pot in Turkey

GMT 00:49 2017 Friday ,13 January

Meet Cats choreographer Gillian Lynne

GMT 09:57 2016 Tuesday ,08 November

Marks and Spencer: To shut 100 stores in overhaul

GMT 06:37 2012 Wednesday ,21 March

Toxins found in cheap jewellery

GMT 10:30 2015 Monday ,02 March

Designer to the stars dresses disabled catwalk

GMT 08:57 2017 Wednesday ,10 May

Counter terrorism strategies should be compliant

GMT 20:48 2017 Wednesday ,22 March

Sisi reiterates Egypt's support for Lebanon

GMT 06:59 2017 Sunday ,22 October

Philippines' Duterte says he will shoot criminals

GMT 19:57 2018 Tuesday ,23 January

Farm-fresh from Kerala to the UAE, in just one day

GMT 09:36 2018 Wednesday ,10 January

Iran investigates death of young man in custody

GMT 08:51 2017 Tuesday ,15 August

HAAD implements next stage of healthcare reforms

GMT 20:22 2017 Monday ,27 November

Army attacks Saudi-paid mercenaries’ sites in Marib

GMT 08:56 2017 Thursday ,13 July

Reasons of price increase of services

GMT 08:13 2017 Sunday ,13 August

Abdul Hussain Abdul Redha passes away
 
 Emirates Voice Facebook,emirates voice facebook  Emirates Voice Twitter,emirates voice twitter Emirates Voice Rss,emirates voice rss  Emirates Voice Youtube,emirates voice youtube  Emirates Voice Youtube,emirates voice youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2025 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2025 ©

emiratesvoieen emiratesvoiceen emiratesvoiceen emiratesvoiceen
emiratesvoice emiratesvoice emiratesvoice
emiratesvoice
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
emiratesvoice, Emiratesvoice, Emiratesvoice