Catholicism in Saudi Arabia is officially barred from being practised, though Catholics are allowed into the country for temporary work. There is a large expatriate Filipino 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.[1] Items and articles belonging to religions other than Islam are not prohibited, as long as they're just used privately.[2] These include Bibles, crucifixes, 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 Arabian Mutaween (Arabic: مطوعين), or Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice prohibits the practice of any religion other than Islam.[1] Conversion of a Muslim to another religion is considered apostasy, which, along with proselytising by non-Muslims, is prohibited, and can lead to the death penalty.
The government permits non-Muslim clergy to enter the country for the purpose of conducting religious services.[2]
In 2018, it was reported that the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (Saudi Arabia) had stopped enforcing the ban on Christians religious services in the Kingdom. It was also reported that a Coptic Mass was openly conducted for the first time in Riyadh during the visit of Ava Morkos, Coptic Bishop of Shobra Al-Kheima in Egypt.[3][4] Morkos had been formally invited to Saudi Arabia by Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman in March 2018.[4]
^ abInternational Religious Freedom Report 2008 - Saudi Arabia
^ abUS State Dept 2022 report
^Coptstoday.com, December 1, 2018.
^ ab"For First Time Ever, Christian Mass Held Openly In Saudi Arabia (Special dispatch 7795)". memri.org. 6 December 2018. Archived from the original on 6 May 2019. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
and 27 Related for: Catholic Church in Saudi Arabia information
Catholicism inSaudiArabia is officially barred from being practised, though Catholics are allowed into the country for temporary work. There is a large...
difficult to obtain inSaudiArabia, but there are approximately 2.1 million Christians inSaudiArabiain 2020. Christians inSaudiArabia are reported to...
Islam is the state religion of SaudiArabia. The government of SaudiArabia has been criticized for its restrictions on religious freedom. Boston University’s...
The Apostolic Vicariate of Arabia (Latin: Vicariatus Apostolicus Arabiæ) was an apostolic vicariate of the CatholicChurch with territorial jurisdiction...
The Kingdom of SaudiArabia is an Islamic absolute monarchy in which Sunni Islam is the official state religion based on firm Sharia law. Non-Muslims...
Orthodoxy inSaudiArabia is a Christian minority consisting of people of various nationalities that are adherents of the Eastern Orthodox Church. The percentage...
See in Oman Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Arabia – Catholic missionary jurisdiction CatholicChurchin the United Arab Emirates CatholicChurchin Oman...
Northern Arabia. It was inaugurated on 9 December 2021 by His Majesty Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, the King of Bahrain. It is the largest Catholicchurchin the...
The CatholicChurchin Kuwait is part of the worldwide CatholicChurch, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome. In 2020, Christians made up...
of Arabia located in Awali is the largest Catholicchurchin the Arabian Peninsula. The land for the church is being provided by King Hamad bin Isa Al...
Northern Arabia, in Kuwait City, which covers all of Kuwait, Bahrain, SaudiArabia and Qatar. There is no Eastern Catholic jurisdiction on the Arabian Peninsula...
The CatholicChurchin the United Arab Emirates is part of the worldwide CatholicChurch, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome. In 2020 there...
The CatholicChurchin Japan is part of the worldwide CatholicChurch, under the spiritual leadership of the pope in Rome. As of 2021, there were approximately...
ash-Sheikh; born 30 November 1940) is a SaudiArabian scholar who is the current Grand Mufti of SaudiArabia. As such he is head of the Council of Senior...
The CatholicChurchin South Korea (called Cheonjugyo, Korean: 천주교; Hanja: 天主教; lit. Religion of the Lord of Heaven) is part of the worldwide Catholic Church...
Sanafir, was ceded officially to SaudiArabia as part of a maritime border agreement between Egypt and SaudiArabia. The agreement was subsequently approved...
in the death of more than 2,000 individuals, many of whom were suffocated or crushed, during the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Mina, Mecca, SaudiArabia,...
as inSaudiArabia and Iran, to none at all as in Greenland, Denmark, England, Iceland, and Greece (in Europe, the state religion might be called in English...
The official teachings of the Catechism of the CatholicChurch promulgated by Pope John Paul II in 1992 oppose all forms of abortion procedures whose...
The Italian CatholicChurch, or CatholicChurchin Italy, is part of the worldwide CatholicChurchin communion with the Pope in Rome, under the Conference...
The Spanish CatholicChurch, or CatholicChurchin Spain, is part of the CatholicChurch under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome, and the Spanish...
Muslim monarchies. Absolute monarchs remain in Brunei, Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, SaudiArabia, and the United Arab Emirates and are classified...
Global Information
Catholicism portal