Monday, March 17, 2008

Vatican Plans to Open Church in Saudi Arabia

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Breaking news from the Vatican concerning the building of a church in Arabia proper. This may be the first church built in Arabia proper ever since Muhammad expelled the Christians to the fringes of Arabia in 630-632 A.D. and executed those that remained. The story is being reported by London's Daily Telegraph correspondent from Rome Malcom Moore.
The Vatican is in negotiations with Saudi Arabia to open the first Catholic church in the kingdom. Archbishop Mounged El-Hachem, the papal envoy to Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Yemen and the United Arab Emirates said talks had started a few weeks ago, in the wake of King Abdullah’s visit to Pope Benedict last November. Currently, all Saudi citizens are required by law to be Muslim, and the Mutaween, or religious police, strictly prohibits the public practice of non-Muslim religions. The last Christian priest was expelled from the kingdom in 1985. However, the Vatican’s relationship with the Muslim world is improving rapidly, and Qatar opened its first Catholic church on Sunday. Mgr El-Hachem said a church in Saudi Arabia would be an important sign of “reciprocity” between the faiths. Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, the Vatican's head of relations with Islam, has established a permanent body for dialogue between the religions. However, he criticised the Archbishop of Canterbury for going too far in suggesting elements of Sharia law would inevitably be incorporated into the British legal system.
Dar al-Islam here we come! To read the rest of the story click here.
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7 comments:

Joe of St. Thérèse said...

Let us hope that a Church is built there.

3/17/2008 9:48 PM
Tito Edwards said...

I agree. It's not a done deal until I see a church built in Mecca.

Tito

3/18/2008 5:49 AM
Anonymous said...

NO way a church could never be build in Makkah, there is a difference between building a church in Makkah and Saudia Arabis... In Makkah no way... out of the question...

3/24/2008 3:39 AM
Anonymous said...

Be it anywhere, religious worship places should be erected irrespective of other religions. If Makkah would have been within four walls, there could have been violation of erecting other worship places inside the compound. As long as there are no communial spirit on the brains of people, there wont be fight. I remember church was erected in the desert of Saudi during the Gulf War.

3/24/2008 5:03 AM
Tito Edwards said...

Anon,

I can understand your assesment of a church in Mecca. I know the difficulty involved, but with God, all things are possible.

Maybe not in our lifetime, but someday there will be, THAT I am sure of.

Tito

3/24/2008 7:20 AM
Anonymous said...

i hope the church is built in saudi be it anywhere, in jeddah, in riyad or in dhahran. there is a big population of filipinos who cannot practice their religion. lets all pray that this big step comes into reality

3/30/2008 4:29 PM
Anonymous said...

WHY IS EVERY BODY CONCENTRATED IN MECCA.......LET US HOPE FOR A CHURCH IN SAUDI ARABIA!!!!!

5/13/2008 4:09 AM
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