ACI Prensa Staff, Aug 20, 2025 / 10:30 am (CNA).
The Vatican’s Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments approved the new regional calendar of the Apostolic Vicariate of Southern Arabia, thereby granting new patron saints for the Arabian Peninsula.
The vicariate is a territorial jurisdiction of the Catholic Church that encompasses the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Sultanate of Oman, and the Republic of Yemen. The vicariate is headed by Italian Bishop Paolo Martinelli with its seat in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE.
“This liturgical calendar reflects the religious history of the Church in a specific region, incorporating local saints of special significance,” the vicariate stated Aug. 19 on its official website.
Sts. Peter and Paul are the new patrons of the vicariate, and the Blessed Virgin Mary, under the title of Our Lady of Arabia, is now the patroness of all the Gulf countries. The newly approved calendar also honors other saints directly linked to the region: the sixth-century Yemeni martyrs Arethas and Companions (Oct. 24); the Ethiopian king Caleb (Elesbaan), who contributed to the Christianization of Yemen (May 15); and Blessed Charles Deckers, a missionary priest committed to interfaith dialogue in Yemen, who was martyred in Algeria (May 8).
The calendar also includes saints from the wider region connected with the spread of Christianity in Arabia. Among these are the third-century martyrs Cosmas and Damian (Sept. 26) and the fifth-century ascetic Simeon Stylite, whose witness brought many Arabs of the interior to the faith (July 27).
Every Nov. 5, the vicariate will commemorate all deceased missionaries who served in the region. With a view to fostering ecumenism and interreligious dialogue, the calendar includes the commemoration of St. Isaac, “originally venerated within the Assyrian Church of the East and added to the Roman Martyrology by Pope Francis,” every Oct. 9 alongside the patriarch Abraham.
Moses will also be celebrated every Sept. 4 and Job every May 10, but the latter will only be observed in Salalah, Oman. “They are all figures of profound significance both in Eastern Christianity and the other Abrahamic religions,” the vicariate noted.
In addition, the Vatican approved three special days of penance and prayer for the fruits of the earth and priestly vocations, called Ember Days, traditionally celebrated at the beginning of the different seasons.
“According to the calendar, the first Friday of March (during Lent) will be dedicated to praying for the needs of the Church in the Apostolic Vicariate of Southern Arabia, especially for peace and the increase of vocations,” the statement read.
“The first Fridays of June and November, marking the onset of summer and winter respectively, will be dedicated to thanksgiving for the gifts of creation, the fruits of the earth, petitions for favorable weather, and prayers for the responsible stewardship of the earth’s resources,” the vicariate added.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
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Scholarly speculation, both Western and Islamic, suggests that Mohammed’s wife (Kadijha) might well have been some version of Christianity. This could help account for their countercultural/monogamous marriage until her death in A.D. 620 (Muhammad’s 53rd year). The consensus is that she had at least two Christian cousins, one in Constantinople and one in Mecca (Waraqua ibn Naufal)…
In the 6th and 7th centuries, peripheral Arabia was quite a mixing zone of many influences including: local tribal blood feuds, Byzantine factionalism (Monophysitism, Nestorianism), Persian Zoroastrianism and, until Mohammed, dominant Meccan paganism with 360 deities housed in the Ka’ba. So, more thoughts, here, about the somewhat Christian influence. When Mohammed–at the age of forty–reported his sudden and troubling experiences at Mt. Hira, in A.D. 610, she referred him to her Christian cousin…
“Waraqua ibn Naufal, an Arabian monotheist [a hanif] and later a Jewish convert and then to Christianity. Because of the very central role of Gabriel to Mohammed’s message and to the Qur’an, a complete quote from Denny is provided here: ‘Waraqua knew something of the older scriptures and declared that what had come upon his cousin’s (Khadijha’s) husband was none other than what had previously descended upon Moses, the namus. This term seems to have been understood by the Arabs as meaning an angelic messenger, especially Gabriel, but it is a corruption of the Greek nomos, meaning ‘law,’ or Torah’ (Frederick Denny, An Introduction to Islam (New York: Macmillan, 1994, p. 64). Is it possible that Waraque correctly interpreted the visitations [?] as similar to the law, while from Waraque’s words Mohammed might just as easily have heard an additional reference to angels? The later Qur’an is based largely on the Law, the Pentateuch of the Old Testament delivered to Mohammed, it is believed, by the angel Gabriel. Recall of countless stories gathered on the trade routes to Mecca could have equipped Mohammed to recount the law with the help of a vivid memory thought to be the work of an angel [and as Western historians propose, the result of auditory recall during epileptic seizures].” (This from my independent/non-credential research: “Beyond Secularism and Jihad: A Triangular Inquiry into the Mosque the Manger & Modernity,” University Press of America, 2012.)
SUMMARY: From such possibly small and confused beginnings…
Having lived and worked in Abu Dhabi and Muscat for a time, this new emphasis of the Christian heritage of these lands is a Godsend. There exists within these middle eastern population centers a considerable Catholic presence. I was pleasantly surprised when I first arrived in Abu Dhabi that I could attend Mass on Sunday, even though it is a working weekday in the Middle East. Most people were accommodating to Christians, though one would encounter the occasional Jihadi-minded Muslim now and then.
Most natives in the area know little of Christianity but willingly accept them as neighbors and friends.
Introducing the Christian roots from their own past history to these people will undoubtedly help bring many peoples closer together.