10 November, 2007

Christianity in the Gulf

The UAE has recently exchanged ambassadors with Vatican City.

An estimated 35% of the population of the UAE is Christian.

Read it here.
Posted by John B. Chilton at 9:51 am
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6 comments:

BuJ said...

good move, but i guess it's a cost-cutting exercise by the italians too.. and gets the UAE some extra support up there :-)

10 November, 2007 15:20
Kyle said...

Although the Jebel Ali Catholic Church is close to where we live, we still drive down to the Saint Mary's for our Sunday on Friday service - LOL!

On a jovial note, the first question my wife asked when we landed here was 'which parish do we belong to?'. I guess her curiosity stems from hyper-involvement in parish activities back home on the East Coast.

So, this exchange of ambassadors will result in more churches or it's just a diplomatic gig?

11 November, 2007 08:11
hut said...

Kyle,
it's not a diplomatic gig, it's a gag.

11 November, 2007 09:31
rosh said...

For some reason, I like visiting the catholic (not that I care for parish sects) church in SHJ, especially during non-service hours. It's most serene & calm and the confession room is open, should you visit particular days in the afternoon.

A bit off topic.....if you've had the chance to visit, the newer SHJ church premises, there is much grandeur, in it's furnishings compared to it's predecessors. I remember, early in the decade, when the churches were being drawn up, there was much talk on some extravagant spending, such as Dhs 50-100K chandeliers amongst others. I've always felt such spending could have been put towards those many souls, who truly need basic necessities of life.

11 November, 2007 09:49
LDU said...

Does the government have any plans to curb this?

11 November, 2007 16:15
Geoff Pound said...

Many thanks for this link John and the thoughtful postings on your blog.

It is interesting to see the proportion of Christians living in the UAE. There is some significant growth in religious tolerance yet some challenges that are still to be addressed.

I wrote a post on this several weeks ago at:
http://experiencingtheemirates.blogspot.com/2007/10/religious-freedom-in-uae-commendable.html

Salaam

Geoff

11 November, 2007 18:45

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