Bishop Paolo Martinelli opened his Easter message this year not with a pastoral routine, but with an acknowledgment of rupture. “We arrive at this day after a Lent marked by the outbreak of a new war affecting our countries,” he wrote, addressing the Catholic faithful across the UAE, Oman, and Yemen under his jurisdiction as Apostolic Vicar of Southern Arabia.
For the first time in recent memory, Dubai’s two Catholic parishes — St Mary’s in Oud Metha and St Francis of Assisi in Jebel Ali — remained physically inaccessible to worshippers on Easter Sunday, April 5, the holiest day in the Christian calendar. Both churches had shuttered on April 3, Good Friday, following safety directives from UAE government authorities, with no reopening date announced.
The closures are a direct consequence of an ongoing military conflict. Iranian missile and drone attacks have targeted the UAE since February 28, with the Jebel Ali district — home to one of the two affected parishes — among the areas struck. The government ordered crowd-heavy venues, including houses of worship, to suspend in-person gatherings as a precautionary measure.
St Mary’s moved its Good Friday services to its YouTube channel, broadcasting the 3pm and 6pm liturgies online. St Francis of Assisi took a stricter approach, announcing neither in-person services nor a livestream alternative. Worshippers at both parishes were formally asked to stay away from church grounds.
The closures extended beyond Catholic institutions. Dubai’s Shri Krishna Temple, the BAPS Hindu Mandir — which had already closed on March 9 — the Gurudwara, and St Thomas Orthodox Cathedral in Oud Metha all suspended services. The Abrahamic Family House in Abu Dhabi has been closed since the conflict began. Mosques across Dubai have remained open, though outdoor prayer areas have been shut and congregants directed indoors.
Churches in Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah were unaffected. The Apostolic Vicariate of Southern Arabia confirmed that no changes had been made to service schedules in those emirates.
In his Easter statement, Bishop Martinelli invoked Pope Leo, who has called repeatedly for peace in the region, and thanked local authorities for measures taken to protect residents. “Nothing can ever separate us from the love of Christ — we belong to him,” he wrote, framing the disruption as part of a longer spiritual journey rather than a crisis of faith. He closed with a prayer attributed to St Francis of Assisi: “Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.”
Despite the church doors remaining locked, some parishioners gathered outside the compound walls to pray.
