Catholicism in Saudi Arabia is officially barred from being practised, though Catholics are allowed into the country for

temporary work Temporary work or temporary employment (also called gigs) refers to an employment situation where the working arrangement is limited to a certain period of time based on the needs of the employing organization. Temporary employees are sometimes ...

. There is a large expatriate

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

community in Saudi Arabia, many of whom are thought to be Catholics. There are no dioceses in Saudi Arabia, which comes under the jurisdiction of the Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Arabia. Saudi Arabia allows Catholics and Christians of other denominations to enter the country as foreign workers for temporary work, but does not allow them to practise their faith openly. As a result, Catholics and other Christians generally only worship in secret within private homes.International Religious Freedom Report 2008 - Saudi Arabia
/ref> Items and articles belonging to religions other than Islam are not prohibited, as long as they're just used privately. These include

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts ...

crucifix A crucifix (from Latin ''cruci fixus'' meaning "(one) fixed to a cross") is a cross with an image of Jesus on it, as distinct from a bare cross. The representation of Jesus himself on the cross is referred to in English as the ''corpus'' (Lati ...

es, statues, carvings, items with religious symbols, and others, although the government's stated policy was that such items were allowed for private religious purposes. The

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

Mutaween The Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice ( ar, هيئة الأمر بالمعروف والنهي عن المنكر, hayʾa al-ʾamr bil-maʿrūf wan-nahī ʿan al-munkar, abbreviated CPVPV and colloquially termed '' ...

(

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

: مطوعين), or Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice prohibits the practice of any religion other than Islam. Conversion of a Muslim to another religion is considered

apostasy Apostasy (; grc-gre, ἀποστασία , 'a defection or revolt') is the formal disaffiliation from, abandonment of, or renunciation of a religion by a person. It can also be defined within the broader context of embracing an opinion that ...

, which, along with proselytising by non-Muslims, is prohibited, and can lead to the death penalty. The government does not permit non-Muslim clergy to enter the country for the purpose of conducting religious services.

Situation

Catholics number almost 1.3 million, making up about 7% of the Saudi population. There is a substantial Catholic community in the country, made up exclusively of immigrant workers: mainly

Filipino Catholics Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

(about 1 million, 85% Catholics according to estimates of 2010) and

Indian Catholics The East Indians, also called East Indian Catholics or Bombay East Indians, are an ethno-religious Indian Christian community native to the Seven Islands of Bombay and the neighbouring Mumbai Metropolitan Area of the Konkan Division. Hist ...

, the number of whom is not known exactly. In Saudi Arabia there is no territorial jurisdiction of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

: the territory of the country is included in the apostolic vicariate of northern Arabia, based in Awali, Bahrain.

Relations between the Holy See and Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia and the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

do not have diplomatic relations. The pontifical representative of local Christians is the apostolic delegate in the Arabian Peninsula, who lives in Kuwait. A historical moment occurred on November 6, 2007, when

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the soverei ...

received King Abdullah in audience at the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum The Holy See * The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...

.press.vatican.va
/ref>

References

{{Asia topic, Christianity in

Christianity in Saudi Arabia Catholic Church in the Arabian Peninsula

Situation

Relations between the Holy See and Saudi Arabia

See also

References