AL AIN // A new church built to accommodate an increasing number of parishioners opened its doors for the first time this week.
St Mary's Catholic Church, near Oasis Hospital, officially accommodates 1,550 worshippers.
But on Tuesday, 2,500 of the 4,000 congregation squeezed into the Dh15 million (US$4m) church to celebrate its inaugural Mass.
The capacity of the original church, built 40 years ago, was 250. It was demolished last year to make way for the new building.
Tuesday's service, at which the new church was consecrated, was held by Bishop Paul Hinder, the Vicar Apostolic of Arabia.
Before the Mass, St Mary's parish priest, Father Anthony Puthenpurakkal, 39, recalled the limitations of the old church.
"For many years, worshippers had to gather outside when the building couldn't accommodate the number of parishioners attending the services. The original building was just too small," he said.
The deeds were first signed over to the Catholic community by Sheikh Zayed, the late President of the UAE, in 1969. St Mary's was constructed in the same year under the guidance of the then parish priest, Father Barnabas Madii.
On Monday, the new church was officially opened by Sheikh Hazza bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan, the under-secretary of the Royal Court and the Ruler's Representative for the Eastern Region. The ceremony was attended by Bishop Hinder, Father Anthony, St Mary's parish councillors and other church and government dignitaries.
"Sheikh Hazza was gracious to come," said the parish councillor Matthew Keenan, 54, an American who lectures at UAE University.
"His coming and sitting next to the Bishop was a symbol of tolerance and understanding."
Contributions from Catholic communities within the GCC and local parishioners, plus a bank loan, paid for the new church. Construction began in October last year.
"That the church was completed in the given time frame of just over a year was nothing short of a miracle," Father Anthony said.
"There was tremendous support from the Government and the Catholics in the [region]," Bishop Hinder said.
"Otherwise, I don't think the community in Al Ain would have been able to do it by themselves. But that is what is wonderful in our church - that the solidarity all over the country is always playing a key role." The new church was designed and built by the local civil engineering company Nael General Contracting.
It features floor-to-ceiling stained glass windows. The ground floor seats 750 worshippers and the basement holds 600. There is seating for a further 200 on the first-floor balcony.
There is also a choir room, facilities for mothers and babies, and two confessionals. A lack of funds meant the planned vicarage has been put on hold.
Santush Matthias, 28, a banker in Dubai who comes from Bangalore, India, attended the ceremony on Tuesday night.
"The old building was too congested but people dealt with it," he said. "This new building looks very good. I love the stained glass windows. I had never seen that before."
The church holds two daily services during the week. On Saturdays and Sundays, four services are held each day, two in Arabic, one in English and one in Urdu.
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In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
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