Christmas spirit has grown from within at Dubai Catholic church
▶ Residents compare past festivities at St Mary’s with the celebrations of today, writes John Dennehy
Two long-time parishioners of St Mary’s Catholic Church in Dubai have reflected on how Christmas celebrations have changed over the years. Emolyn Bucsit and Joseph James have attended festive services at the emirate’s oldest Catholic church for decades and have had front-row seats to the major transformations in that time.
Up to 20,000 people are expected at midnight mass on Sunday and tens of thousands will arrive at the church on Monday, Christmas Day, but both worshippers can recall a simpler time when crowds were smaller and festivities much more humble.
“Christmas in Dubai in those days was celebrated within the walls of the church. There were no festivities outside,” said Mr James, who moved to the UAE from India in 1977.
Mr James, 72, recalls a small town with two main landmarks – Deira’s Clock Tower and Dubai World Trade Centre, which was not yet open.
“Outside there were no Christmas trees or decorations,” he said.
“Even the FM radio station didn’t mention it. There was no tree in the compound, but in the church we had a crib.”
St Mary’s was built in the late 1960s to cater for the increased number of Catholics who were coming to the city.
Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed, Ruler of Dubai at the time, granted the land for the church and a plaque there today highlights how he also donated the church’s bells in a spirit of tolerance that underpins the UAE to this day.
St Mary’s was rebuilt in the 1980s on the same site in Oud Metha to cater for the arrival of foreign residents, but Christmas services continued to be limited to within the church.
But by the time Ms Bucsit arrived in Dubai from the Philippines in 1990, Christmas was beginning to be celebrated more widely and offered some comfort to those living and working away from home.
“My first Christmas was a homesick Christmas,” said Ms Bucsit, 67.
“I came not expecting to have a church here. But the church was active.”
By the late 1990s, Christmas celebrations became more common across the city and, while not “grand” like today, Ms Bucsit said the “church was vibrant with the choir singing Christmas carols”.
Cribs were displayed outside the church, along with a tree.
“When you enter the gates of the church, you know there is a festival,” Mr James said.
“You can see the giant Christmas tree. You can see the decorations all around. A festival look is there.”
The number of worshippers has increased since those early days, in line with the rise in Dubai’s population.
From a modest number of attendees that Mr James remembers from the early days, the crowd at St Mary’s for midnight mass on Christmas Eve alone has grown significantly.
Worshippers throng the church, school and halls and spill outside to the football pitch and church compound.
Tens of thousands of people are also expected on Christmas Day and TV screens have been installed to allow the devoted outside to watch the service.
About 20 masses will be celebrated over the two days in several different languages.
“I don’t think there will be any other place in the world where you can celebrate Christmas with so much security and so much happiness,”
Mr James said. With instability across the wider region, particularly with the Israel-Gaza war, general prayers for peace are also expected at the church’s Christmas services.
“In the [Christmas Day] service there is a place where we pray for the entire world,” Mr James said. “We pray for the
Rulers. We pray for the people of the UAE. We pray for peace in the world. We pray where there are problems, peace is established.”
At St Mary’s on Thursday, the finishing touches were being applied to the decorations.
People took pictures with the large Christmas tree, festive lights were put up and tinsel draped the walls.
“It has been a huge change from a very small number,” Ms Bucsit said. “Sometimes you don’t feel homesick because you are happy and as if you are at home.”