History & Milestones
Ahmadi, Kuwait · 1945 – 2026
None like to thee; Mother of meekness, spotless Virgin to the Carmelites a favour impart, 'Star of the Sea.'"
The Church of Our Lady of Arabia is the "mother church" of our Vicariate — the first Catholic Church built on Kuwait soil. It is dedicated to the great Mother of God, Mary most Holy, and also to St. Elias the Prophet and St. Thérèse of Lisieux.
Since the very beginning, the Carmelite Church in Ahmadi has played a fundamental part in the life of Catholics here and a very important role in the Church history of the State itself.
Ahmadi being the centre of oil production, scores of people — mainly migrant workers — began to settle here. The Catholics worshipped in a provisional Chapel from 1948 until 1955. This Chapel was previously a Nissen hut on the Ahmadi Ridge, which had housed a power station and was later abandoned.
The Chapel was blessed on 8th December 1948. On that day, devotion to "Our Lady of Arabia" started.
It was the dream of Rev. Fr. Teofano Ubaldo Stella OCD, the first resident Catholic priest and later the first Bishop in Kuwait, to have a decent-sized Church for his faithful. Fr. Stella approached the Kuwait Oil Company management and permission was granted for a new Church to be built in central Ahmadi. On 8th September 1955, the cornerstone was laid by Bishop Elect Monsignor Stella.
On 20th November 1952, Fr. Stella and a few members of the Carmelite Mission in Kuwait went on pilgrimage to Aylesford, Kent in South England to collect a cornerstone for the new Church — unearthed from the ruins of an old Dominican abbey in which the Carmelite Monks had taken refuge after their flight from Palestine during the Crusades. On 12th December, Fr. Stella's group were given audience by H.H. Pope Pius XII. At the very moment the Pope blessed the stone, the bells of Saint Peter's Basilica began ringing the Angelus, and His Holiness knelt down by the stone to recite the prayer.
"To the Glory of Lord, this CornerStone, taken on November 20th, 1952 from the ruins of the Church of the Assumption, built by M. Simon Stock at Aylesford and blessed by His Holiness Pope Pius XII on December 12th 1952, was solemnly laid with proper ceremonies by the Right Rev. Msgr. T.U. Stella, OCD, Bishop Elect of Autaerpolis and Vicar Apostolic of Kuwait, for the Church — in honour of OUR LADY OF ARABIA, St. Elias the Prophet and St. Thérèse — which the Kuwait Oil Company is generously building, that its employees and workers might find in the house of God, peace, joy and contentment and might pray for the prosperity of His Highness Sir Abdulla Al Salim Al Sabah, Ruler of the country, for anyone coming here from afar, and for the people of Kuwait."
On Easter Sunday, 1st April 1956, H.L. Bishop Stella blessed the new Church of Our Lady of Arabia in Ahmadi. His Eminence Alexander Cardinal Verde signed the document granting the Church of Our Lady of Arabia the same indulgences as for visiting the Papal Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome.
The present-day simple, yet beautiful Church is a generous gift from the Kuwait Oil Company to the Catholic faithful. Built of stone with an attached bell-tower, the Blessed Sacrament Chapel (inside the Church) houses the cornerstone. The sanctuary was re-designed to accommodate the statue of Our Lady of Arabia, occupying a central position high above the altar.
The Statue is a replica of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, venerated on Mount Carmel. It was formally enthroned on 6th January 1950 and crowned on 25th March 1960. The day-long Eucharistic Adoration every First Friday is well-attended by Catholics from across Kuwait. The "little" Church in Ahmadi will always be a centre of pilgrimage for all Marian devotees.
In November 1996, the Vatican Foreign Minister Archbishop Jean-Louis Tauran laid the foundation stone for a new hall annexed to the Church. After initial setbacks, H.L. Bishop Francis Micallef and the parishioners persevered with prayers and faith until, in August 2000, the hall was sanctioned.
Milestones · 1945–2026
