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Christians in Arab Gulf face hurdles to worship
KUWAIT/DUBAI |
KUWAIT/DUBAI (Reuters) - Every Friday in the Muslim Gulf Arab state of Kuwait, 2,000 Christians cram into a 600-seat church or listen outside to the mass relayed on loudspeakers, prompting their Catholic bishop to worry about a stampede.
"If a panic happens, it will be a catastrophe ... it is a miracle that nothing has happened," said Bishop Camillo Ballin.
These churchgoers represent only the tip of the iceberg. Ballin reckons his flock in Kuwait numbers around 350,000 out of a total of half a million Christians in the country.
At least 3.5 million Christians of all denominations live in the Gulf Arab region, the birthplace of Islam and home to some of the most conservative Arab Muslim societies in the world.
The freedom to practice Christianity -- or any religion other than Islam -- is not always a given in the Gulf and varies from country to country. Saudi Arabia, which applies an austere form of Sunni Islam, has by far the tightest restrictions.
"In the Gulf, excluding Saudi Arabia, government attitudes are more religious tolerance than religious freedom," said Bill Schwartz, canon of the Church of the Epiphany in Doha, Qatar, an Anglican church serving Protestants of various denominations.
Christians in the Gulf are almost all expatriate workers, mostly Catholics from the Philippines and India.
Christian leaders fret that their ability to worship is often compromised by lack of access or space, an issue they will raise at the Vatican next week during a synod of bishops called to discuss the fate of Christian minorities in the Middle East.
VARYING FREEDOMS
The welfare of Christians in Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter and a close U.S. ally, is a pressing issue for church leaders, but progress is slow as the Saudi monarchy tussles with its powerful religious establishment over reforms.
Almost all the kingdom's clerics follow the strict Wahhabi school of Islam, and some believe non-Muslims should be barred from the Arabian peninsula, a view shared by al Qaeda which has threatened attacks against Christians in the region.
In Saudi Arabia, home to Islam's holiest sites, any form of non-Muslim worship takes place in private. Converting Muslims is punishable by death, although such sentences are rare.
Services and prayer meetings are often held in diplomats' homes, but access to these is very limited, so Christians meet to worship in hotel conference rooms -- at great risk.
This week, Saudi media said 13 Filipinos had been charged with proselytizing after a raid on a Riyadh hotel where nearly 150 people had been attending a private Roman Catholic mass.
Diplomats say priests regularly visit Christians in Saudi Arabia. Even though their visas do not state their purpose, the authorities are aware of their presence.
The hypocrisy of the Islamic world pointing it’s finger at the West and accusing it of being “disrespectful” of Muslims is galling in view of the way other religions are treated on their turf.
Why should anyone respect their disrespect? Why should any of us tolerate their intolerance?
This is also one of the rare times Reuters has attempted to write about the plight of Christians in Muslim lands. Usually they are crying about PC garbage about Muslims and how ‘terribly’ they are treated in the west.
As a Christian based in Dubai, I have no difficulty in practising my faith. Having a building which we name as a church is not the actual church the bible teaches us. The church is the body of christ and all people who believe and live according to the infalliable word of God ie. THE BIBLE are part of this body. The reason why we should respect the disrespect of our enemies and why we should tolerate their intolerance can be seen as you go thru the scriptures Mat 5: 44 where Jesus says “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That you may be the children of your father who is in heaven.”
I am grateful to God almighty for the tolerance given to the administration of UAE for giving us the freedom to practise our faith without any hinderance or persecutions whatsoever. I pray that God will open their minds and give them all the peace and prosperity they need.
Shame on you clergy-men who do not work with your hands instead rise up some controversies like this and lead your flock into the burning pit of hell.
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