A NEW Christian cemetery has been consecrated in Bahrain by the Bishop in Cyprus & the Gulf, to meet the needs of the large population of expatriates in the country.
The cemetery is the third Christian burial place in Bahrain. The first opened in 1901 and was almost full by 1966. The second is now nearly full, to: it has about 30 burials a year.
The Dean of St Christopher’s Cathedral, Bahrain, the Very Revd Dr Richard Fermer, said that the need for a third cemetery was urgent, and that, although its opening was celebrated this week, the site had yet to be finished. Further phases are planned. Later stages are to include the construction of a chapel of rest and a crematorium, and the introduction of solar-powered energy.
Dr Fermer said: “The cemeteries have always been open for the burial of any Christian, practising or nominal, and of any denomination. Christians of different denominations are buried alongside one another; there are no segregated areas for denominations in our cemeteries.
“The New Christian Cemetery is far from complete. We worshipped yesterday in a basic operational cemetery, the result of two phases of work, with boundary wall, gate and guardhouse. The most noteworthy and arresting architectural feature is the iron gate, designed by an architect from St Christopher’s Cathedral, Nicholas Bonaventure, that bears the Jerusalem Cross at its centre, and around its edge is decorated with a vine, a Biblical symbol of the eternal life of God’s People.”
Land for the site was donated by the Royal Family of Bahrain. The service was an ecumenical consecration service, attended by leaders from the Roman Catholic Church, the Egyptian Coptic Orthodox, Greek Orthodox, and Reformed Protestant churches.
More than half of Bahrain’s population — 54 per cent — are expatriates, the largest number coming from the Indian subcontinent. About 12 per cent of Bahrain’s population are Christian.
The planned crematorium will also serve Hindu communities as well as Christian, and those of no faith.
“On a relatively small island like Bahrain, which is 290 square miles, there are only ever going to be a limited number of cemeteries that one can build,” Dr Fermer said. “The option of cremation provides for greater sustainability and the plan for a crematorium has been supported by the Bahraini government.
“For me the truly wonderful thing about the Consecration, as I had never attended an Ecumenical Consecration before, was that here everyone was united by a common cause — we are one in death — even if the songs or chants and prayers of each denomination were different and sometimes in different languages. I never thought I would encounter Pentecost in a burial ground.”