Christians account for 13 percent of the total population of the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

, according to a ministry report, which collected census data. The government recognises various

Christian denomination A Christian denomination is a distinct religious body within Christianity that comprises all church congregations of the same kind, identifiable by traits such as a name, particular history, organization, leadership, theological doctrine, worsh ...

s. Christians are free to worship and wear religious clothing, if applicable. The country has

Catholic 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 ...

Eastern Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai *Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 *Eastern Air Li ...

and

Oriental Orthodox The Oriental Orthodox Churches are Eastern Christian churches adhering to Miaphysite Christology, with approximately 60 million members worldwide. The Oriental Orthodox Churches are part of the Nicene Christian tradition, and represent o ...

along with

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

churches. Although Christian women can marry Muslim men freely, marriage between Muslim women and non-Muslim men is forbidden. The importation and sale of religious material is allowed; however, attempts to spread Christianity among Muslims are not permitted. Non-Muslim religious leaders reported that customs authorities rarely questioned the entry of religious materials such as Bibles and hymnals into the country. Conversion from Islam is not permitted.United States Department of State
/ref> In spite of this, a 2015 study estimated some 200 believers in Christ from a Muslim background, though not all of those are necessarily citizen of the UAE. Public schools have no Christian

religious education In secular usage, religious education is the teaching of a particular religion (although in the United Kingdom the term ''religious instruction'' would refer to the teaching of a particular religion, with ''religious education'' referring to te ...

. On December 25, 2007, the President's Religious Affairs Advisor Al Sayyed Ali al-Hashemi participated in Anglican Church celebrations of Christmas.

History

In pre-Islamic times, the population of Eastern Arabia consisted of Christianized Arabs (including

Abd al-Qays The Abd al-Qays ( ar, عبد القيس) was an ancient Arabian tribe from the Rabi'a branch of the North Arabian tribes. History Origins The name of the tribe means 'servant of the odQays'. It belonged to the tribal groups originally resident ...

) and

Assyrian Assyrian may refer to: * Assyrian people, the indigenous ethnic group of Mesopotamia. * Assyria, a major Mesopotamian kingdom and empire. ** Early Assyrian Period ** Old Assyrian Period ** Middle Assyrian Empire ** Neo-Assyrian Empire * Assyrian ...

Christians among other religions.

Syriac Syriac may refer to: *Syriac language, an ancient dialect of Middle Aramaic *Sureth, one of the modern dialects of Syriac spoken in the Nineveh Plains region * Syriac alphabet ** Syriac (Unicode block) ** Syriac Supplement * Neo-Aramaic languages a ...

functioned as a

liturgical language A sacred language, holy language or liturgical language is any language that is cultivated and used primarily in church service or for other religious reasons by people who speak another, primary language in their daily lives. Concept A sacre ...

. Serjeant states that the Baharna may be the

Arabized Arabization or Arabisation ( ar, تعريب, ') describes both the process of growing Arab influence on non-Arab populations, causing a language shift by the latter's gradual adoption of the Arabic language and incorporation of Arab culture, aft ...

descendants of converts from the original population of Christians (Aramaeans), among other religions at the time of Arab conquests. Beth Qatraye which translates "region of the Qataris" in

was the Christian name used for the region encompassing north-eastern Arabia."Nestorian Christianity in the Pre-Islamic UAE and Southeastern Arabia"
Peter Hellyer, ''Journal of Social Affairs'', volume 18, number 72, winter 2011, p. 88 It included Bahrain,

Tarout Island Tārūt Island ( ar, جزيرة تاروت) is an island in the Persian Gulf belonging to the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, connected by two causeways to Qatif. It is six kilometers from the coast, and is the longest island in the Persian Gu ...

, Al-Khatt,

Al-Hasa Al-Ahsa or Al-Hasa may refer to: * Al-Ahsa Governorate, a governorate in Saudi Arabia * Al-Ahsa Oasis, an oasis region in eastern Saudi Arabia * Hofuf, also known as Al-Ahsa, an urban center in the Al-Ahsa Oasis * Al-Ahsa International Airport, Hof ...

, and Qatar. Oman and the United Arab Emirates comprised the

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, pro ...

known as Beth Mazunaye. The name was derived from 'Mazun', the

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

name for Oman and the United Arab Emirates.

Sohar Sohar ( ar, صُحَار, also Romanized as Suḥār) is the capital and largest city of the Al Batinah North Governorate in Oman. An ancient capital of the country that once served as an important Islamic port town, Suhar has also been credited ...

was the central city of the diocese. In 2014, 25% of the

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

residents were Christians.

Catholicism

The

Catholic Church in the United Arab Emirates The Catholic Church in the United Arab Emirates is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome. There are nearly 1,000,000 expatriates in the UAE who are Catholics, representing around 11% of the t ...

is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome. Expatriates in the country who are Catholics are largely

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 ...

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;;;;; ...

ns (

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

ns, Pakistanis,

Bangladeshi Bangladeshis ( bn, বাংলাদেশী ) are the citizens of Bangladesh, a South Asian country centered on the transnational historical region of Bengal along the eponymous bay. Bangladeshi citizenship was formed in 1971, when the ...

s and

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

ns), South Americans, Lebanese,

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

ns,

Italians , flag = , flag_caption = The national flag of Italy , population = , regions = Italy 55,551,000 , region1 = Brazil , pop1 = 25–33 million , ref1 = , region2 ...

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...

Ukrainians Ukrainians ( uk, Українці, Ukraintsi, ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. They are the seventh-largest nation in Europe. The native language of the Ukrainians is Ukrainian language, Ukrainian. The majority ...

and other

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

ans. The United Arab Emirates forms part of the Apostolic Vicariate of Southern Arabia and the Vicar Apostolic Bishop

Paul Hinder Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...

is based in

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the capital and second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the centre of the Abu Dhabi Metropolitan Area. ...

. There are currently 9 Catholic churches in the region: *

St. Joseph's Cathedral, Abu Dhabi St. Joseph's Cathedral is the seat of the Apostolic Vicar of Southern Arabia and is one of the four Catholic churches in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi besides St. Paul's Church in Musaffah, St. Mary's Church in Al Ain and St. John the Baptist Churc ...

, * St. Mary's Catholic Church, Dubai, * St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church, Jebel Ali, *

St. Michael's Catholic Church, Sharjah St. Michael's Church in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, is a Roman Catholic church situated in Halwan Suburb of Al Yarmook area of Sharjah, founded in 1971. the church is headed by Fr. Savari Muthu .for detailed location sethe church website/ref> ...

, *

St. Mary's Catholic Church, Al Ain ST, St, or St. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Stanza, in poetry * Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band * Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise * Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy an ...

, *

St. Paul's Catholic Church, Musaffah ST, St, or St. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Stanza, in poetry * Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band * Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise * Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy ...

, *

St. Anthony of Padua Church, Ras Al Khaimah ST, St, or St. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Stanza, in poetry * Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band * Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise * Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy an ...

, *

Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church, Fujairah Our or OUR may refer to: * The possessive form of " we" * Our (river), in Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany * Our, Belgium, a village in Belgium * Our, Jura, a commune in France * Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR), a government utility regulato ...

, *

St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, Ruwais ST, St, or St. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Stanza, in poetry * Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band * Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise * Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy ...

, *Sub Centres in

Kalba Kalba () is a city in the Emirate of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It is an exclave of Sharjah lying on the Gulf of Oman coast north of Oman. Khor Kalba (Kalba Creek), an important nature reserve and mangrove swamp, is located south ...

Khorfakkan Khor Fakkan ( ar, خَوْر فَكَّان, Khawr Fakkān) is a city and exclave of the Emirate of Sharjah, located on the east coast of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), facing the Gulf of Oman, and geographically surrounded by the Emirate of Fuja ...

Dibba Dibbā ( ar, دِبَّا) is a coastal area at the northern tip of the eastern Arabian peninsula on the Gulf of Oman. Political administration Dibba is politically divided into three segments: * Dibba Al-Fujairah, ruled by the Emirate of Fuj ...

and

Madinat Zayed , settlement_type = , translit_lang1_type = , translit_lang1_info = , image_skyline = File:Madinat Zayed - United Arab Emirates 1 - panoramio.jpg , image_caption = , image_flag = , image_coat ...

Eastern Orthodoxy

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or "canonical") ...

Christians in UAE traditionally belong to the jurisdiction of

Eastern Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch ( el, Ελληνορθόδοξο Πατριαρχείο Αντιοχείας), also known as the Antiochian Orthodox Church and legally as the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East ( ar ...

. Eastern Orthodox parishes in

and

were organized in 1980 by late Metropolitan

Constantine Papastephanou Constantine Papastephanou ( el, Κωνσταντίνος Παπαστεφάνου; born 1924, Damascus, State of Damascus – 17 April 2016, Athens, Greece) was an Eastern Orthodox hierarch and long serving (1969-2014) Metropolitan bishop, Metropoli ...

of Baghdad and Kuwait (1969–2014), who also had ecclesiastical jurisdiction over Eastern Orthodox in UAE. Since 1989, parish in Abu Dhabi was administered by priest Stephanos Neaimeh. After the retirement of Metropolitan Constantine in 2014, the Holy Synod of Eastern Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch decided to establish an Exarchate for Eastern Orthodox in UAE. In the same time, auxiliary Bishop Gregorios Khoury was appointed head of the newly established Exarchate, subjected directly to Patriarch

John X of Antioch Patriarch John X ( ar, البطريرك يوحنا العاشر ; born Hānī Yāzijī ; January 1, 1955) is primate of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All The East. Life Hani Yazigi, a native ethnic Arab was born in Latakia, Sy ...

who personally visited UAE in the spring of 2014 and inaugurated the construction of new Eastern Orthodox Cathedral of Saint Elias in Abu Dhabi.

Protestantism

Among the Protestant denominations in the country are the

Christian Brethren The Open Brethren, sometimes called Christian Brethren, are a group of Evangelicalism, Evangelical Christianity, Christian churches that arose in the late 1820s as part of the Assembly Movement within the Plymouth Brethren tradition. They origina ...

, the

Coptic Evangelical Church The Evangelical Church of Egypt (Synod of the Nile) (also called the Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Egypt, Egyptian: الكنيسة الإنجيلية المشيخية ''El-Kenisa El-Engileyya El-Mashyykhia'') is a Protestant church that starte ...

and the Evangelical Alliance Church. Other denominations are the Arab Evangelical Church of Dubai,

Dubai City Church The Dubai City Church is a church in Emirate of Dubai. History It was founded in 1999. It now comprises more than 1,000 people from different nationalities, meeting in the Holy Trinity Church Compound in Dubai every Saturday evening. Église É ...

, Fellowship of the Emirates, and the

United Christian Church of Dubai The United Christian Church of Dubai (UCCD) is an Evangelicalism, evangelical church. First established in 1962 as a fellowship of expatriate workers in the United Arab Emirates, Emirate, 1,000 people from over 50 nationalities attend the weekly s ...

. The

Anglican Communion The Anglican Communion is the third largest Christian communion after the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Founded in 1867 in London, the communion has more than 85 million members within the Church of England and other ...

is represented by the

Diocese of Cyprus and the Gulf The Diocese of Cyprus and the Gulf is one of four dioceses in the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East, a province in the Anglican Communion. It covers Cyprus and the Arabian Peninsula, Iraq and Yemen. The bishop in Cyprus and the Gu ...

of the

Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East The Episcopal Church of Jerusalem and the Middle East is a province of the Anglican Communion. The primate of the church is called President Bishop and represents the Church at the international Anglican Communion Primates' Meetings. The Centra ...

. The large number of migrants from the South Indian state of

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

follow Christianity, predominantly from the Christian belt of Central Kerala. The denominations represented by this community includes the

Mar Thoma Syrian Church The Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church, often shortened to Mar Thoma Church, and known also as the Reformed Syrian ChurchS. N. Sadasivan. A Social History of India'. APH Publishing; 2000. . p. 442. and the Mar Thoma Syrian Church of Malabar ...

Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church (MOSC) also known as the Indian Orthodox Church (IOC) or simply as the Malankara Church, is an autocephalous Oriental Orthodox church headquartered in Devalokam, near Kottayam, India. The church serve ...

Jacobite Syrian Christian Church The Jacobite Syrian Christian Church (JSCC), or the Malankara Archdiocese of the Syrian Orthodox Church in India also known as Malankara Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church, the Jacobite Syrian Church, and the Syriac Orthodox Church in India, ...

Knanaya The Knānāya, (from Syriac: ''Knā'nāya'' (Canaanite)) also known as the Southists or Tekkumbhagar, are an endogamous ethnic group found among the Saint Thomas Christian community of Kerala, India. They are differentiated from another part of t ...

Pentecostalism Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement

(including

Indian Pentecostal Church of God The Indian Pentecostal Church of God (IPC) is the largest Pentecostal Christian Denomination in India. It has over ten thousand congregations around the world. Its organisational headquarters is at Hebronpuram, Kumbanad, Kerala, India. IPC chu ...

Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee) The Church of God, with headquarters in Cleveland, Tennessee, United States, is a Holiness Pentecostal Christian denomination. The Church of God's publishing house is Pathway Press. History Origins (1886–1902) R. G. Spurling (1857–1935), ...

Assemblies of God USA The Assemblies of God USA (AG), officially the General Council of the Assemblies of God, is a Pentecostal Christian denomination in the United States founded in 1914 during a meeting of white Pentecostal ministers at Hot Springs, Arkansas (with e ...

, among others) and numerous other evangelical and non-denominational independent groups. Sharjah houses a church district in Al Yarmook Area which includes places of worship for Coptics, Armenians, Keralites, Filipinos, etc. Since 2006 there are also an independent Afrikaans Churches in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Al Ain. Most of the members ad here from the Afrikaans speaking Reformed and Evangelical Churches in South Africa.

Evangelical & Pentacostal Churches

Over 100 Evangelical and Pentacostal churches meet every week in the Holy Trinity Church Complex, Oud Metha (near the St.Marys Church). The Dubai City Church is one of several churches meeting here, since 1999.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

formally began holding church services in

in 1982. The services grew from a small group of less than ten people to a

stake Stake may refer to: Entertainment * '' Stake: Fortune Fighters'', a 2003 video game * ''The Stake'', a 1915 silent short film * "The Stake", a 1977 song by The Steve Miller Band from '' Book of Dreams'' * ''Stakes'' (miniseries), a Cartoon Netw ...

organized by

apostle An apostle (), in its literal sense, is an emissary, from Ancient Greek ἀπόστολος (''apóstolos''), literally "one who is sent off", from the verb ἀποστέλλειν (''apostéllein''), "to send off". The purpose of such sending ...

Jeffrey R. Holland Jeffrey Roy Holland (born December 3, 1940) is an American educator and religious leader. He served as the ninth President of Brigham Young University (BYU) and is a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of L ...

in 2013. The stake currently has 6 congregations: 5

wards Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a priso ...

and 1

branch A branch, sometimes called a ramus in botany, is a woody structural member connected to the central trunk (botany), trunk of a tree (or sometimes a shrub). Large branches are known as boughs and small branches are known as twigs. The term '' ...

. On April 5, 2020, church president

Russell M. Nelson Russell Marion Nelson Sr. (born September 9, 1924) is an American religious leader and retired surgeon who is the 17th and current president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Nelson was a member of the LDS Church ...

announced that the government of the United Arab Emirates had invited the church to construct a

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

in Dubai. According to the church, the temple will be constructed in District 2020 after

Expo 2020 Expo 2020 ( ar, إكسبو 2020) was a World Expo hosted by Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, from 1 October 2021 to 31 March 2022. Originally scheduled for 20 October 2020 to 10 April 2021, it was postponed due to the COVID-19 ...

has concluded.

References

Sources

* * * * *

External links

Indian Orthodox Church, DubaiDubai City ChurchDubai Evangelical Church CentreChrist Church Jebel Ali - Anglican Church of DubaiUnited Christian Church of Dubai WebsiteKing's Revival Church INT'L MinistriesChurch of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints
{{Asia topic, Christianity in Religion in the United Arab Emirates