Are there churches in the UAE?
Yes. The United Arab Emirates has many churches, and this guide documents 26 places there: Catholic, Anglican, Coptic, Indian and Syriac Orthodox, Russian Orthodox and Armenian churches, most standing on land granted by the emirates’ rulers. The oldest Anglican foundation is Saint Martin’s in Sharjah, started by the Royal Air Force in 1926. Abu Dhabi’s first church was inaugurated on 19 February 1965 on land given by Sheikh Shakhbut. Much older is a Church of the East monastery on Sir Bani Yas island, evidence of Christianity there before Islam.
The candidates, and what each date means
| Place | Date | What the date refers to | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saint Martin’s, Sharjah (Anglican) | Started 1926 | Foundation date: a chapel for an air station, before the country existed | Summary of the Chaplaincy of Dubai, Sharjah and the Northern Emirates |
| Saint Joseph’s Cathedral, Abu Dhabi (Catholic) | First church 19 February 1965; present complex 25 February 1983 | Two buildings: the first on the Corniche, the present one after a move | Cathedral history |
| Holy Trinity, Dubai (Anglican) | Church 13 December 1970 | Shared compound used by more than 120 Christian groups | Summary of Holy Trinity Church, Dubai |
| Saint Philip, Sharjah (Russian Orthodox) | Crosses raised 2 June 2011 | Described as the first Russian Orthodox church built in Arabia | Moscow Patriarchate external relations department |
Churches on land granted by the rulers
Many of the churches documented here stand on land given by the emirates’ rulers. In Abu Dhabi, work on the first church began in October 1963 on the present Corniche, on land given by Sheikh Shakhbut, and the Capuchin Fr. Barnabas Maddii completed it; when the ruler decided the church and its schools should move, the present Saint Joseph’s complex was inaugurated in 1983, and the parish now serves more than 100,000 Catholics. In Dubai, Holy Trinity stands on land granted by Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum; the Anglican chaplaincy was instituted on 5 April 1970, and between ten and eleven thousand people worship in its compound in a week. In 2023 a Catholic church opened on Saadiyat Island as one third of the Abrahamic Family House, built with a mosque and a synagogue.
Christianity before Islam, and Christians today
Archaeologists found a monastery on Sir Bani Yas island in 1992, the clearest evidence that Christianity was practised in what is now the UAE before Islam; its community, believed to be of the Church of the East, stayed on for at least a century after Islam arrived. The island lay in Beth Qatraye, the Syriac name for the Christian region along the Gulf. Pew Research Center estimates ≈ 1,400,000 Christian residents in the UAE in 2020, 14.3% of the population, nearly all of them foreign residents; it is an estimate, not a census count.
Limits of this answer
This guide documents 26 places in the UAE that it could source, not every church or congregation. “Oldest Anglican foundation” and “first Russian Orthodox church built in Arabia” are descriptions from the cited sources, not measurements made here. Rules on worship can change, so this page gives no legal or travel advice.
Places mentioned
- Saint Martin's Anglican Church · United Arab Emirates · Show on map
- Saint Joseph's Cathedral · United Arab Emirates · Show on map
- Holy Trinity Church · United Arab Emirates · Show on map
- Saint Philip the Apostle Russian Orthodox Church · United Arab Emirates · Show on map
- Saint Francis Church · United Arab Emirates · Show on map
- Church and Monastery of Sir Bani Yas · United Arab Emirates · Show on map
Related questions
Sources
Main book references
- Lucas Van Rompay. “Beth Qaṭraye”. Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage, ed. Sebastian P. Brock, Aaron M. Butts, George A. Kiraz and Lucas Van Rompay; electronic edition. Gorgias Press (print, 2011); Beth Mardutho (electronic edition), 2011/2018. Entry “Beth Qaṭraye”.
Data and supplementary sources
- “About us”. Saint Joseph’s Cathedral, Abu Dhabi. Saint Joseph’s Cathedral, Abu Dhabi, n.d.. Source cited on the place profile.
- “Chaplaincy of Dubai, Sharjah and the Northern Emirates”. Wikipedia. Wikipedia, 2026. Source cited on the place profile.
- “Holy Trinity Church, Dubai”. Wikipedia. Wikipedia, 2026. Source cited on the place profile.
- “Church of Saint Philip in Sharjah”. Moscow Patriarchate, Department for External Church Relations. Moscow Patriarchate, Department for External Church Relations, 2011. Source cited on the place profile.
- “St. Francis Church, Abu Dhabi”. Wikipedia. Wikipedia, 2026. Source cited on the place profile.
- “Global Religious Change, Appendix B”. Pew Research Center. Pew Research Center, 2025. Appendix B, 2010 and 2020 estimates.
Encyclopedia entries were read in full in their electronic editions; each is credited to its author. Page and column references appear only where the source prints them; the Gorgias dictionary is cited by entry title.