S
.
Arabia, Vatican in talks over churches
Three article follows my comments.
I have lost track of a Saudi minister who had
asked me to put together an interfaith meeting
with about 20 people, comprising Jews, Christians
and Muslims. I fought with him to include all
faiths, but finally agreed to work in stages, from
familiar to unfamiliar ones. It was some where
around 2005. I am pleased to see at least a
dialogue is emerging between Vatican and Saudi's.
Neighboring Dubai has just opened up a mega church
this month.
I recall some Mormon friends of mine who had a
congregation in Saudi Arabia way back in 1978-80
headed by a Houstonian by name Norman Powell, and
of course my buddy Everett Blauvelt of Richardson
was a Mormon as well, who first went to Saudi in
early 40's and had worked there for nearly 30
years and made a come back in late seventies.
There were several others who attended the Baptist
and Catholic mass on Sundays. The Indian,
Pakistani and Filipino Christians groups had their
own gatherings as well.
### Now the article
LONDON, March 18: The Vatican and the Saudi
Kingdom are holding secret talks on lifting the
age-old ban on building churches in Saudi Arabia,
the Guardian reported on Tuesday.
The newspaper quoted one of Pope Benedict’s most
senior Middle East representatives, Archbishop
Paul-Mounged El-Hashem, as saying: “Discussions
are under way to allow the construction of
churches in the kingdom. We cannot forecast the
outcome.”
There are said to be around three or four million
Christians in Saudi Arabia.
At the Vatican, the Pope’s spokesman, Father
Federico Lombardi, said: “If we manage to obtain
authorisation for the construction of the first
church, it will be an outcome of historic
dimensions.”
The opening last Friday of the first church in
Qatar left Saudi Arabia as the only country in the
region that still bans the building of churches
and all forms of open Christian worship.
Diplomats in Rome said talks on the building of
churches would be consistent with recent
developments.
Saudi Arabia is among the few countries that do
not have diplomatic links with the Vatican, but
sources in Rome say the Saudis are keen to
establish formal relations.
In Qatar last Saturday, some 15,000 people
attended an inaugural mass at the country’s first
church. Our Lady of the Rosary in Doha is one of
five Christian places of worship planned in the
state.
Addressing the reciprocity issue, Qatar’s deputy
prime minister, Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah,
said: “We are enjoying the construction of mosques
and Islamic centres in the West, so we must be
fair (to Christians).”
The Pope is expected later this year to meet
representatives of 138 Muslim scholars who wrote a
letter to Christian leaders last October calling
for peace between the two religions.
First Catholic church for Saudi Arabia
Published: March 18, 2008
Negotiations are underway to build the first
Catholic church in Saudi Arabia with King
Abdullah lending his support for its
construction.
Vatican Radio reports the Vatican and the
Saudi government are currently in talks to
allow the church despite the kingdoms ban on
allowing the construction of any non-Muslim
place of worship.
No religion other than Islam is allowed to
schedule public services, and even the
possession of bibles, rosaries, and crucifixes
is forbidden.
Saudi Arabia is the only country on the
Arabian Peninsula without a Catholic church
despite the 800,000 Catholics - virtually all
of who are foreign workers.
While Saudi Arabia does not have formal
diplomatic relations with the Holy See, King
Abdullah became the first reigning Saudi
monarch ever to visit the Vatican last
November.
Commenting after his meeting with the Pope
Vatican officials confirmed the Pontiff
pressed for permission to open a Catholic
church in the kingdom.
Holy See spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi said
that opening a Catholic parish in the Islamic
land would be "a historic achievement" for
religious freedom and a major step forward for
inter-religious dialogue.
The apostolic nuncio to Kuwait, Qatar, Yemen,
the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain,
Archbishop Paul-Mounged El-Hachem, is
reportedly the lead Vatican negotiator in
talks with Saudi officials.
http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=6247
Vatican-Saudi talks on churches
Archbishop Hashem discussed the Saudi talks
whilst visiting Qatar
The Vatican is holding talks with Saudi Arabia
on building the first church in the kingdom,
where some 1.5m Christians are not allowed to
worship publicly.
Archbishop Paul-Mounged el-Hachem, one of Pope
Benedict XVI's most senior Middle East
representatives, said the discussions had
begun a few weeks ago.
But the archbishop cautioned that the Vatican
could not predict the outcome.
The discussions come in the wake of King
Abdullah's historic meeting with the Pope at
the Vatican last November.
A Catholic-Muslim Forum was also set up by the
Pope two weeks ago to repair relations between
the two faiths after the crisis caused by a
speech he gave in Germany in 2006, in which he
appeared to associate Islam with violence.
'Reciprocity'
The disclosure of talks between the Vatican
and Saudi Arabia, which do not have diplomatic
ties, came soon after the first Roman Catholic
church in the Qatari capital, Doha, was opened
in a service attended by 15,000 people.
Archbishop Hachem, the Apostolic Nuncio to
Kuwait, Qatar, Yemen, Bahrain and the UAE, who
attended the inauguration, said he hoped there
would soon be a similar church for the many
Christians in neighbouring Saudi Arabia.
If we manage to obtain authorisation for the
construction of the first church, it will be
an outcome of historic dimensions
Father Federico Lombardi
Spokesman for Pope Benedict
"Discussions are under way to allow the
construction of churches in the kingdom," he
said.
Although he made clear the outcome was
uncertain, the archbishop added that a church
in Saudi Arabia would be an important sign of
"reciprocity" between Muslims and Christians.
The Vatican has noted that Muslims are free to
worship openly in Europe and demands religious
freedom as a condition for the opening of
diplomatic relations.
About a million Catholics, many of them
migrant workers from the Philippines, live in
Saudi Arabia.
They are allowed to worship in private, mostly
in people's homes, but worship in public
places and outward signs of faith, such as
crucifixes, are forbidden.
The last Christian priest was expelled from
the kingdom in 1985.
Christians complain that rules are not clear
and that the Saudi religious authorities, who
enforce the kingdom's conservative brand of
Islam, Wahhabism, sometimes crack down on
legitimate congregations.
The authorities cite a tradition of the
Prophet Muhammad that only Islam can be
practised in the Arabian Peninsula.
A spokesman for Pope Benedict, Father Federico
Lombardi, said: "If we manage to obtain
authorisation for the construction of the
first church, it will be an outcome of
historic dimensions."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7302378.stm
The Times
March 17, 2008
Saudi Arabia extends hand of friendship to
Pope
Richard Owen in Rome
The Vatican is believed to be holding talks
with Saudi authorities over opening the first
Roman Catholic church in the Islamic kingdom,
where Christian worship is banned and even to
possess a Bible, rosary or crucifix is an
offence.
The disclosure came the day after the first
Catholic church in Qatar was inaugurated in a
service attended by 15,000 people and
conducted by a senior Vatican official.
The Vatican and Saudi Arabia do not have
diplomatic relations. However, Archbishop
Paul-Mounged El-Hachem, the Papal Nuncio to
Qatar, Kuwait, the UAE, Yemen and Bahrain, who
attended the Doha inauguration, said that
moves towards diplomatic ties were under way
after an unprecedented visit to the Vatican
last November by King Abdullah. This would
involve negotiations for the "authorisation of
the building of Catholic churches" in Saudi
Arabia, he said.
The move would amount to a potential
revolution in Christian-Muslim relations,
since Saudi Arabia adheres to a hardline
Wahhabi version of Sunni Islam and is home to
Mecca and Medina, the most holy sites of the
religion. No faith other than Islam may be
practised.
Related Links
Analysis: Saudi Arabia and the Vatican
Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican
spokesman, said that he could not confirm that
the two sides were in negotiations. However,
he added: "If, as we hope, we reach an
agreement authorising the construction of the
first church in Saudi Arabia, it will be a
step of historic importance."
Saudi religious police search the homes of
Christians regularly; even private prayer
services are forbidden in practice. Foreign
workers have to observe Ramadan but are not
allowed to celebrate Christmas or Easter.
La Stampa, the Italian daily, said that the
talks would have been "unthinkable" until
recently. The way was paved by King Abdullah's
talks with the Pope and by the recent setting
up of a permanent Catholic-Muslim forum to
repair relations between the two faiths after
the Pope's controversial remarks on Islam at
the University of Regensburg in 2006.
The Pope said that his apparent reference to
Islam as inherently violent had been
misunderstood and he made amends by praying at
the Blue Mosque in Istanbul soon afterwards.
Of the Saudi Arabian population, 94 per cent
are Muslim and less than 4 per cent - nearly a
million people - Christian, nearly all of them
foreign workers. The last Christian priest was
expelled from Saudi Arabia in 1985.
Qtar, which hopes to bid to host the Olympic
Games in 2016, has approved five churches for
other Christian denominations, including the
Anglican Communion.
Land of one faith
— Saudi laws do not recognise or protect
freedom of religion. Non- nationals are
severely restricted in practising different
faiths
— Missionaries are banned and face
imprisonment if caught. Sunni Muslims face
severe repercussions from the Mutawwain, or
religious police, for breaking Muslim law
— The official policy of allowing non-Muslims
to worship freely at home is not reliably
enforced
— In the courts, once fault is determined, a
Muslim receives all of the amount of
compensation determined, a Jew or Christian
half, and all others a sixteenth
Sources: US State Department; Conference of
Catholic Bishops
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article3571835.ece
