SW News: For the Catholics in the Sultanate of Oman, all of whom are migrant workers from Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas, Monday, March 25, was a day of exultation. For the Catholic community, which comprises nearly 60,000 faithful, the first priestly ordination in the history of the local Church took place on that day. Deacon Dickson Eugene, the son of Indian expatriates, was ordained a priest by Bishop Paul Hinder of the Vicariate of Southern Arabia, who is also the Apostolic Administrator of the Vicariate of Northern Arabia.

The ordination ceremony was held in the Church of Most Holy Apostles Peter and Paul in Ruwi in the capital Muscat in the presence of resident priests and a large number of believers. A Salesian religious belonging to the province of Bangalore in south India, Fr Eugene grew up in Oman.

Migrant workers, particularly from Southeast Asia, especially, India and Sri Lanka, and from the Far East, mostly Filipinos, constitute the bulk of the Catholics in the Sultanate. There are also small communities of believers from Africa, the Middle East, the US, Europe, Latin America and Down Under.

The flow of migrant workers began in the 1970s following the modernization of the country under its then new ruler His Majesty Sultan Qaboos Bin Said and the commercial exploitation of its oil reserves.

Oman is a part of the Vicariate of Southern Arabia, which encompasses Yemen, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). In the Sultanate, there are four parishes, namely the Church of St Anthony of Padua in Sohar; the Church of the Most Holy Apostles Peter and Paul in Ruwi, Muscat; the Church of the Holy Spirit in Ghala, Muscat and the Church of St Francis Xavier in Salalah.

Last year, during the consecration of the Cathedral of Our Lady of Arabia in Manama, Bahrain, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, made a heartfelt appeal to young expatriates to consider the priesthood and religious life. Our Lady of Arabia is the largest Catholic cathedral on the Arabian Peninsula.