The Catholic Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared in Dubai thanks to the will of the late Sheikh Saeed Al Maktoum, who allocated land for the construction of this church in 1966. The church itself opened on April 7, 1967, but now a new building has been erected on the site of the church built under Sheikh Saeed Al Maktoum.
Before the church opened, 500 Christian parishioners attended Holy Trinity Anglican Church. Today, St. Mary's Catholic Church welcomes significantly more parishioners of different nationalities: Ukrainians, Cypriots, Greeks, Russians, and Syrians, and services are held in three languages — Arabic, Russian, and Greek. On major holidays, about three thousand people gather in the church.
The main religion of the UAE is Islam, but the residents of the emirates are understanding toward representatives of other faiths.
