In a press release to the Catholic faithful of Northern Arabia, His Lordship Bishop Camillo Ballin, mccj, Apostolic Vicar of Northern Arabia announced that the headquarters of the Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Arabia will shortly be relocated to Bahrain. Presently, the office and residence of the Bishop are in Kuwait.

The decision to transfer the Vicariate's headquarters is due to Bahrain's geographical location in the Vicariate, as it is more central and easily accessible for meetings and conferences of church officials. The Vicariate of Northern Arabia oversees the spiritual well-being of more than 2 million Roman Catholics in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

H.L. Bishop Camillo Ballin also expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the King of Bahrain His Majesty King Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa and the ruling family for their magnanimous gesture of goodwill to the Catholic community of Bahrain in granting 9,000 square metres of land. The land will be used to build a larger church in Awali and will also serve as the apostolic headquarters of the Vicariate.