Abu Dhabi: The Mar Thoma Church in Abu Dhabi, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary, is a testimony to how the Indian community lives in harmony with the local community in the UAE, Shaikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, said.
He was inaugurating the valedictory function of the church’s 40th anniversary on Friday evening at its premises in Musaffah.
Shaikh Nahyan recalled that the plot on which the church was built was granted by the UAE founder, Shaikh Zayed.
He stressed that under His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, the country promotes values of tolerance, understanding and dialogue in the wake of the wise policies outlined by the late Shaikh Zayed. Shaikh Nahyan added that Muslims are instructed by the Holy Quran to respect and tolerate others, whatever their religious values are.
“As you observe the 40th anniversary of Mar Thoma Church, we are also marking the 40th anniversary of establishment of the UAE,” Shaikh Nahyan said.
The church leaders, Reverend Dr Isaac Mar Philoxenos Episcopa, Diocesan Bishop, Chennai-Bangaluru diocese and Reverend Dr Joseph Marthoma Metropolitan who attended the function, hailed the cooperation, tolerance and mutual respect in the UAE, owing to the wise policies of the leadership.
M.K. Lokesh, Indian Ambassador to the UAE, who released a souvenir on the occasion of the church’s 40th anniversary, stressed the religious tolerance in the UAE. Sunney Varkey, founder and chairman of the Gems Group, and Reverend Andrew David Thomson of St. Andrews Church in Abu Dhabi also addressed the gathering.
The church began as a prayer group in the capital on January 12, 1971, and used to conduct prayers at St. Andrews Church since 1984.
The Abu Dhabi Government provided land for the church on March 28, 2004, in Musaffah and the new building was inaugurated on March 30, 2006.
The church has 6,000 members from 1,500 families.
The church is conducting year-long activities as part of its 40th anniversary celebrations and the main focus is on charity projects, church officials said.
The church gave financial assistance to 40 patients in India for surgeries. About 40 needy students pursuing professional courses in India were also given scholarships.
Financial support is being extended to 400 patients, especially old people, for cataract surgery. The funds were raised from church members and sponsors of various programmes.
As part of the charity drive, arrangements have been made to set up a dialysis unit to help kidney patients in Kerala.
The unit in Pathanamthitta district will provide dialysis free of cost to the most needy and at subsidised rates to others.
