S. Arabia, Vatican in talks over churcheshttp://www.dawn.com/2008/03/19/top16.htm
Mike Ghouse: 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 Filipion 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
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