Churches packed out as worshippers celebrate Christmas

Christians celebrate at one of the many masses held in Dubai yesterday. St Francis of Assisi Church in Jebel Ali was the busiest. Satish Kumar / The National

DUBAI // Tens of thousands of worshippers converged on the city’s churches on Wednesday to celebrate Christmas.

The sheer number of visitors led to traffic tailbacks, a shortage of parking spaces and standing room only in the churches.

At St Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Jebel Ali, parish priest Eugene Mattioli said he was expecting at least 18,000 people on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

“During the week we normally get around 12,000 to 14,000 people,” Fr Mattioli said. “During Christmas it’s concentrated in one day and even in one evening.

“Christmas is a special day and everyone wants to celebrate it. Some people don’t come regularly but will certainly come at Christmas.

“A lot of the people work in special jobs, which means they can’t come regularly. But at Christmas they seem to have special permission so they come by in busloads.”

St Francis is one of six churches in the Jebel Ali area but by far the most popular.

To ease some of the burden the church held services at 6pm, 8pm and 11pm on Christmas Eve, then back-to-back services between 6am and 12.30pm, and 3pm and 8pm on Wednesday.

At the same time as the main English masses, there were smaller services in Arabic, French, Italian, Spanish, Korean, Tamil and Sinhala in the church’s community hall.

At the 11am service on Wednesday, the church was full.

“I tried to get here for 11am, but I was in a traffic jam until 11.45am,” said Simon Tranter, 34, from the UK.

“When I got here, I had to stand near the steps in the corridor because I couldn’t get into the church.”

Isaac Gomes, 38, from India, had to take his seven-year-old daughter out of the service because she fainted.

“I don’t know whether it was the incense or because there were so many people standing, but she collapsed about half way through,” Mr Gomes said.

After the service finished there was a celebratory atmosphere, with children writing messages on cardboard stars and hanging them on a Christmas tree in the courtyard.

A stall was set up selling religious paraphernalia and paintings for the festive season, while a large nativity scene took pride of place at the front of the church.

Joe Dadson, 46, from Ghana, said his family did not regularly attend the church but still considered themselves Christian.

“We don’t come all the time, because it’s not always possible because of work or other commitments,” Mr Dadson said. “But we try to come on the important occasions, like at Christmas. On Easter too, we come.”

He said he was celebrating the rest of Christmas with his brother-in-law’s family, who were visiting Dubai.

“My wife is cooking now while I take the kids out,” Mr Dadson said.

Peter Fiore, 27, from the US, said he had been in the UAE for five years and it was his first Christmas here.

“I always go to Christmas mass back home with my family,” Mr Fiore said. “Even though I’m not there and it’s not particularly Christmassy with the warm weather, I wanted to keep the tradition alive.

“Just because I’m not home doesn’t mean I should stop celebrating Christmas.”

Mr Fiore said he hoped to meet friends for a buffet dinner at Dubai Marina Yacht Club.

“I want to uphold another Christmas tradition and eat as much as I can,” he said.