On March 15, 2008, a miracle occurred. Mass was held for the first time in the first church in Doha, Qatar. Our Lady of the Rosary Roman Catholic Church is the first Christian church in the predominately Muslim country. Qatar is in an area famous for religious injustice. Its biggest neighbor, Saudi Arabia has no religious freedom. Islam is the official religion, and those from other religions are not allowed to worship publicly. Other surrounding nations carry laws or policies that “protect” non-Muslim religions, but do not act when groups discriminate or abuse those of other faiths.
Less than twenty-five years ago, Qatar was like Saudi Arabia. Those caught worshipping publicly were jailed, tortured, and/or deported. This amazing change started on September 28, 1987.
In 1985, Joseph Ghougassian was appointed as the U.S. ambassador to Qatar. In his book, The Knight and The Falcon, he describes his actions on September 28, 1987: “I had just returned to my office after the morning embassy country team meeting and was reading through the folders of traffic cables… [M]y executive secretary, Ms. Margaret…rush[ed] into my office and announc[ed] that a British national was in the lobby downstairs, insisting on seeing me right away on an urgent matter.”Father Leszek Winniewski came to Ghougassian looking for protection from secret police who would expel him from the country. After hearing the priest’s plight, he said he “sat quietly in my office mulling over how I could help Father Leszek and, beyond that, how I might work to effect changing the religious persecution in Qatar… I knew I would need to rely upon my knowledge of the psychology of human behavior, the philosophy of logical reasoning, the law of human rights, and the skills and temperament of diplomacy to engage my friends in the Qatar government. The process would be long and fraught with many risks. I had to be cautious, tolerant, and patient if I was to succeed; every trait of my diplomatic temperament would have to be summoned to help me with this task.”
Over the next year, Ghougassian met with Qatari leaders and officials. He would hold “philosophical and theological exchange[s]” that focused mostly on Islam. One particular day, however, he says, “will stand out in my mind as a breakthrough day.” On June 6, 1988, he met with the Vice President of the Sharia Court—Shaykh Abdulrahman Bin Abdullah Bin Zaid Al-Mahmood. “I began our discussion by getting straight to the point. ‘My reading of the Holy Koran tells me that the Prophet, may peace rest on him, taught that the ‘people of the Books’ should not be molested by Muslims or forced to convert to Islam. These people would be Christians and Jews…’ ‘You are correct,’ Abdulrahman said. ‘Islam respects the faiths of Jews and Christians… Islam complements the other two religions and does not seek to proselytize their faithful. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are the three monotheistic religions.’ ‘… If Islam teaches you to respect Christian religion, would that imply toleration of the ways Christians worship Allah?’ ‘Absolutely.’ ‘Well, why is it that you do not allow Christians in Qatar to worship Allah as Christians?’ Abdulrahman looked at me, puzzled. He knew I had opened a forbidden door. Slowly I had led him on a path that deep down he knew was legitimated in questioning the longstanding and historical policy of forbidding Christians in Qatar to publicly practice the tenets of their faith. He did not respond to my question. I did not press the issue. I let the question simmer in his mind. I knew I was slowly planting the seeds for change, although I couldn’t predict where it would all lead.”
In September of 1988, Ghougassian “felt [he] had developed strong enough ties with” the government officials he had been meeting with “to change my tactics and try something daring: the shotgun diplomacy approach.” On September 10th, he took Father Leszek to meet with the shaykh. He explains the event: “I played in my mind different scenarios for how I would disclose Leszek’s identity… On the spur of the moment an idea flashed in my mind. ‘Tell me, Shaykh Abdulrahman, do some of those people downstairs come to you and plead that you intercede on their behalf in front of Allah?’ ‘I have people asking me all the time to pray for their soul or to ask for favors from Allah for them.’… Pointing with my finger toward Leszek I [said], ‘…Whenever I have a problem and want favors from Allah, I go to this man to intercede on my behalf in front of my Creator.’ Without hesitation Shaykh Abdulrahman looked at me and uttered five simple words. ‘You brought me the Khoury (priest)!’ The silence was deafening and seemed to last an eternity… I did not react or respond, merely sat motionless. The shaykh’s realization that he had the priest in his inner sanctuary might have signaled the beginning of a diplomatic crisis. Worse, he might call the guards to take Father Leszek away. I prayed I hadn’t misjudged my progress with Abdulrahman. Addressing Father Leszek in his traditional Arabic, the shaykh said, ‘What can I do for you, Mr. Priest? Welcome to my office!’” Speaking for Father Leszek, Ghougassian asked that Christians could meet publicly together. After Ghougassian set the time and place, the shaykh agreed.
Ghougassian says, “Friday, September 13, 1988, will long be remembered in the history of Qatar, the history of the Catholic Church in Qatar, and the history of all Christian denominations in Qatar. For the first time since the seventh century AD, the days when Prophet Mohamed converted Qatar to Islam, the first ever Catholic Holy Mass and Christian service was publicly celebrated.”
Heather Latham is an intern at the American Journalism Center, a training program run by Accuracy in Media and Accuracy in Academia.
