While I won’t call this action on the part of the Vatican, as reported in the UK’s The Guardian a non-starter, I certainly think it has a Sisyphean challenge. Even tolerant and moderate Saudis are going to have a hard time dealing with this as there are hadith—and perhaps the Quran itself—which strongly suggest to most Muslims that the ‘land of the two holy places’ (however geographically defined) are to be restricted to Muslims alone.
That said, I think there are some half-way measures that could be accomplished.
A lessening (or complete cessation) of harassment of non-Muslim religious practice would be helpful. In the long run, though, I think the most ecumenical solution would be for the Saudis to continue the Muslim-only restrictions on the sacred precincts of Mecca and Medina, and allow the construction of other places of worship outside those precincts. That would still face enormous opposition from most Saudis, however, not just the most religiously conservative.
Vatican in Saudi talks on building churches
John HooperThe Vatican has been holding secret talks with the Saudi Arabian authorities on building churches in Muhammad’s homeland, according to one of Pope Benedict’s most senior Middle East representatives. Archbishop Paul-Mounged El-Hashem said: “Discussions are under way to allow the construction of churches in the kingdom. We cannot forecast the outcome.”
But, speaking to the news agency Agence France-Presse, the Lebanese prelate, the Pope’s envoy in the Gulf, added: “There are around three or four million Christians in Saudi Arabia, and we hope they will have churches.”
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. However the construction of even one church on Saudi territory would outrage Islamist militants. Saudi Arabia – home to Islam’s holiest sites, at Mecca and Medina – is regarded by Muslims as sacred soil.
…
Here’s BBC’s report on the story: Vatican-Saudi talks on churches
RSS feed for comments on this post.
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
March:18:2008 - 10:25
Constructing a church in the holy land of Makka and Madina (Saudi Arabia) is quite uncalled for.We are totally against this moves and ew also wants to draw the attention of Saudi authorities to shun this moves .We totally disagree with this moves on behalf of the entire Muslim Ummah.
March:18:2008 - 10:25
QED
March:18:2008 - 10:25
Why would Saudi officials engage in such talks, I wonder?
March:18:2008 - 10:25
When I lived in Saudi I was always struck by comments about discrimination against Muslims in the west.
How about in Saudi? Why can’t people of other religions sit and worship together? Didn’t Mohammed allow this? Do Saudi’s feel threatened by having another religion celebrated within their own country? Is this some kind of “forced conversion” tactic, don’t let people satisfy their religious needs so that they convert to Islam?
People tell me stories of how Mohammed was so tolerant of other religions and Islam is a religion of tolerance and moderation.
Here is an opportunity to prove it is more than talk.
March:18:2008 - 10:25
Thanks for commenting. I have been hoping you would give your two cents. I am very excited by this.
March:18:2008 - 10:25
Solomon2: Who knows? Maybe just going through the motions is seen as useful.
Maybe it’s because some of the Saudi leadership recognizes that the current stance is hypocritical in the face of demands that Islam receive more respect in the West.
March:18:2008 - 10:25
the catholic church is dying, more than half of Europeans consider themselves atheists/agnostic. hence the pope is desperately trying to gain more followers/converts in an attempt to ‘evangelize’ the middle east.
March:18:2008 - 10:25
Part right.
The Catholic Church (and all other formal churches excepting Islam) are losing their hold and congregations in Europe.
They are growing, particularly the evangelical churches, in L. America, Africa, and Asia.
If you had read what was written instead of trying to read between the lines, you might have noted that the argument is about ‘reciprocity’. If Muslims can build mosques in every other country, why can’t Christians (and others) build places of worship in Saudi Arabia?
Care to provide a reasoned answer to that?