UAE churches have rescheduled Sunday masses

The UAE’s new weekend was a gift for many expats who grew up going to church on Sundays back in their home countries.

Given the rise in the number of community members who can now attend Sunday masses, many churches either rescheduled their services or opened up more slots for the day.

At St Mary’s Church in Dubai, the number of mass-goers used to range between 1,000 and 2,500 on a Sunday. But from January 2 this year, weekend figures hit 10,000 to 15,000, with majority of people attending services on Sundays instead of Saturdays, according to parish priest Father Lennie J A Connully.

St Mary’s Church now holds masses every hour from 6am to 9.30pm on the new weekend. The Filipino mass, in particular, was moved from Friday to Sunday at 12.30pm.

Dubai Mar Thoma Church in Jebel Ali has shifted their masses to Friday, Saturday and Sunday. “We used to hold the mass on Thursday evening, Friday morning and Saturday morning. Now, for the convenience of our devotees, masses are held in line with the new workweek,” said Abraham George, secretary at Dubai Mar Thoma Church.

“We have a Malayalam mass on Friday evening, Saturday and Sunday mornings. The English mass is scheduled on Saturday and Sunday evening.”