Negotiations are underway to build the first Catholic church in Saudi Arabia

[Guest guest]

Negotiations are underway to build the first Catholic

church in Saudi Arabia with King Abdullah lending his support for its

construction. Archbishop Hashem discussed the Saudi

talks whilst visiting Qatar

 

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.

 

Vatican-Saudi talks on churches 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. "

Story from BBC NEWS: