An Arabic Catholic Church is opening in Pottsville on Palm Sunday, according to The Most Rev. Ramzi R. Musallam, bishop of the Archdiocese of St. James the Apostle, Clearfield County.

"It will be called St. Ann's Church. Whoever wants to come, our doors are open and it's a free country. If you want to be with us, you're welcome. Where the Holy Spirit leads you, you go," said Musallam, who resides in Houtzdale, Clearfield County.

St. Ann Church in Pottsville will have a congregation of about 40 to start.

"We have a community here with members from communities including Pottsville and Hazleton," Musallam said.

This would be the first Arabic Catholic Church in Schuylkill County. The closest ones to it are located in New Millport, Clearfield County, and Friedens, Lehigh County, according to the church website at www.arabiccatholic-archdiocese.org.

The archdiocese, which opened more than 20 churches since it formed in 2008, purchased the former German Reformed Church at 912 W. Market St. in January. It's in the process of transforming it into St. Ann's by cleaning the building and renovating the kitchen so it can open a food pantry this summer. The first service will be held at 10:30 a.m. April 17, Palm Sunday.

While Musallam is seeking a full-time pastor, he said he will be the celebrant at the first service.

A founder of the archdiocese, Musallam is also its first priest and first archbishop. He said he is also the first Arabic Palestinian priest to be ordained in the Polish National Catholic Church.

Born in Jerusalem, Palestine, in 1979, Musallam said he came to the United States in 1992. He graduated in 1997 from Jonathan Law High School in Milford, Conn., and in 2001 from the University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Ind., where he earned a bachelor of arts degree in theology. He graduated from Savonarola Theological Seminary of The Polish National Catholic Church, Scranton, in April 2004. He was ordained a priest in the Holy Mother of the Rosary Cathedral in Buffalo, N.Y., on April 14, 2004, by Prime Bishop Robert Nemkovich.

The Archdiocese of St. James the Apostle was formed in 2008 by Arabic Catholics who were members of the Polish National Catholic Church but wanted to form their own diocese.

On March 1, 2009, Musallam was named a bishop by the Holy Catholic Apostolic Church of Brazil. He was also accepted as a bishop by the Assyrian Church of the East. On March 28, 2009, at Christ the Redeemer Church at Houtzdale, Clearfield County, Archbishop David Bell of the Apostolic Church of Brazil named Musallam Archbishop of the Catholic Church of the East, Archdiocese of St. James the Apostle, Western Rite Liturgy.

"While we are under the Assyrian Church of the East, we hold liturgies which resemble the Western Rite, similar to the Roman Catholic Church," Musallam said.

The church will hold orthodox, "very traditional Catholic" services, in both English and Arabic, he said.

"Our faith is orthodox. What makes us orthodox is our faith, therefore as long as you're adherent to the faith then you are orthodox. For example, we don't allow eucharistic ministers on the altar. We don't allow anything that's not orthodox," he said.

A full description of the church's beliefs are listed on the church website.

The former First German Reformed Church, yellow-brick building which is a landmark on the 900 block of West Market Street, was built in 1859 and rebuilt in 1927, according to the cornerstone.

It was owned by First German Reformed Church and Parsonage from September 1962 until March 2003, when Joseph E. Loria and Derba Romano bought it and the 20-car parking lot at 920 W. Market St. for $30,000, according to the online Schuylkill Parcel Locator.

In January, Romano and Derba sold the church and a parking lot to the Arabic Catholic Church Diocese of the USA, Houtzdale, for $33,000, according to the parcel locator.