Eastern Orthodoxy in Saudi Arabia
Topic: Religion
From HandWiki - Reading time: 2 min
Eastern Orthodoxy in Saudi Arabia is a Christian minority consisting of people of various nationalities that are adherents of the Eastern Orthodox Church.
The percentage of Saudi Arabian citizens who are Christians is officially zero.[1] The Saudi Arabian Mutaween (Arabic: مطوعين), or Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (i.e., the religious police) prohibits the practice of any religion other than Islam.[2] The Greek Orthodox have some numerical strength.[3] Major nationalities in Saudi Arabia include Egyptians, Syrians, Palestinians and Lebanese.[4]
In 2018, it was reported that the religious police had stopped enforcing the ban on Christians religious services. 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.[5][6] Morkos was originally invited to Saudi Arabia by Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman in March 2018.[6]
References
- ↑ Central Intelligence Agency. "Saudi Arabia". The World Factbook. https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/saudi-arabia/.
- ↑ International Religious Freedom Report 2008 - Saudi Arabia
- ↑ Kjeilen, Tore. "Greek Orthodox Church". http://i-cias.com/e.o/greek_orth.htm.
- ↑ United States Department of State 2009 report
- ↑ Coptstoday.com, December 1, 2018.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "For First Time Ever, Christian Mass Held Openly In Saudi Arabia (Special dispatch 7795)". memri.org. 6 December 2018. https://www.memri.org/reports/coptic-bishop-holds-first-ever-mass-in-saudi-arabia.
See also
- Christianity in Saudi Arabia
- Protestantism in Saudi Arabia
- Roman Catholicism in Saudi Arabia
- Human rights in Saudi Arabia
- Freedom of religion in Saudi Arabia
- Christianity in the Middle East
- Christianity in Eastern Arabia
- Arab Christians
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