* Middle Eastern media has reported a deal between Saudi Arabia and the Vatican
* The supposed deal would see the Saudi government help Christian worshippers
* Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran has visited Saudi Arabia and met the royals this year
Saudi Arabia has agreed a deal with the Vatican to build churches for Christian worshippers in the Arab country, it is claimed by Middle Eastern media.
If confirmed, the supposed agreement between Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran and Mohammed bin Abdel Karim Al-Issa of the Muslim World League would mark a historic first in Saudi history.
Read more ....
Update #1: Saudi Arabia to build churches for christian citizens (Egypt Independent)
Update #2: Saudi Arabia, Vatican reportedly agree to build Christian churches in the Kingdom (FOX News)
WNU Editor: You cannot be a Saudi citizen if you are a Christian. So why do a deal with the Vatican to build a few churches? This sounds more like a PR move to me.
8 comments:
I never thought I would see the Berlin Wall torn down. I never thought I would read of such a bomb dropped in one of the more conservative muslim[?] countries on this earth.
Roger
I think it is a PR move.
Expats from around the world can finally worship in a church in Saudi Arabia.
But Saudi Arabians will not be allowed to convert. There is no 100% reciprocity.
Still maybe it is a good thing.
The Saudi Arabians will also have some trouble protecting the churches from Al Qaeda.
Car bombs or parishioners being followed into a public bathroom and then murdered, which happened in the UAE.
Is there a mkltiplex angle to this?
Many of MBS's moves are PR stunts, but they do represent minor reforms to the system. Whether real reform becomes substantial really depends on what happens in the future.
Still, foreigners (guest workers) make up a third of Saudi Arabia's population, and at least 1-2 million of them are Christians (primarily Filipino) or crypto-Christians. They presumably will be the ones attending any churches.
In defense of the Saudis and a few of the royal family can be defended honestly ... maybe very few ... the take over of the Grand Mosque in Mecca was a shock.
To defend themselves the royal family, the king, gave a section of their society the right to set up the morality police and other such measures. These measures have prevented the Saudi society from liberalizing. Cardinal Ratzinger got rid of limbo with canonical law arguments and this was important although it might not seem so. Likewise letting women drive have jobs outside the house, not having to be chaperoned and having churches might be the opening moves for a better Saudi Arabia. I am pessimistic, but we will see.
In Turkey there was a snap back under Erdogon. Turkey or some elements of it had been vigorously liberalizing, but that tend go stopped in 2012 and a is in reverse. We'll see what the crown prince does. His buying of a 500 million house in France and shaking down other princes afterwards was beyond a major disappointment.
While probably a PR move, I think it is a "baby step" in the right direction. They will have trouble protecting these churches. If Al Qaeda attacks them, this will be bad PR on their part but I'm not sure they care.
The thing about minor reforms, baby steps if you will, is they have a tendency to gain momentum and lead to bigger reforms. There are several factors that will likely determine if this leads to major reforms. 1.) If security can be supplied for the ex-pats who are attending service, I believe these reforms will become more substsntial. 2.) If security is unable to be supplied, non Arabs will begin suffering major casualties. This will lead to major blowback against Al Qaeda and others responsible to a degree they haven't experienced before. In this case the substsntial reforms will occur but it may take longer.
I think president Trump deserves a great deal of credit for this change. When he first assumed office, he made it clear that continued US support would be problematic unless changes of this type took place. Also, while DJT did not invent fracking and this precedes him, he has leveraged this very well.
Furthermore he has demonstrated a sympathy for Christians that no US leader of influence has shown in decades. As such, I think he would push the Saudi leadership in this direction. He is the only new variable to this equatuon. The chances of them doing this of their own accord is virtually nill. The changes will not occur overnight but I predict they will occur faster than most people expect.
Fred,
Other than being confused and posting to the wrong story, let's discuss it.
Regular church goers have called up the Rush Limbaugh program and said they realize that Trump was not the most moral man. Yet the acknowledge he has done a great many good things. So they vote for him.
What were they going to do instead? Vote for Crooked Hillary? The Woman, who gallantly led the Clinton White House Bimbo eruption Squad. Hillary was so ethical & brave that Linda Tripp got a pay out.
Are they instead to sit out all elections from now until kingdom come? You would like that.
I can't find the transcript but I heard at least once and maybe twice callers speak to the fact that Trump is not the best person, but he has done a good jib as president and they are sticking with him. I wish I could finds the transcript, but maybe you can find it your self at rushlimbaugh.com
Since about a 1/3rd of women and 2/rds of men cheat on their spouses at some time, you can expect me to still vote for Trump.
At least Trump is not hanging around teenage girls like Bill Clinton.
Poor Bob,
1) We know the press such as the New York Times (NYT) covers for Democrats.
The NYT had the Weinstein story a decade before it broke and it sat on it.
A whole F___ing DECADE!
There are lots of quotes by Democrats that the press embargo.
The LA Times still has embargoed the Khalidi/Obama tapes.
2) So Trump had extra-marital sex. You probably think the earth will stop spinning on its axis. People do take care of this things.
- In churches it is a period of ostracism or shunning.
- Or it may be a filing for divorce.
- Or it may be the doghouse.
Melania is giving Trump Hell over it. He is thinking if going with the prostitute Daniels was worth it.
Trump might not be pure, but unlike Clinton he did not take the Lolita express to Orgy Island.
I'll take Trump over the Clintons any day.
3.) A lot of Washington D.C. people go to prostitutes. Bob since you are a Canadian Leftist, concern troll, who is so caught up and worried about thew U.S. here is a little info for you.
- Have you heard of the DC Madame?
- Have you heard of the lawsuit against Gordon Liddy. He called a staffers wife a whore. The staffer filed a lawsuit. When the court date approached, the lawsuit was dropped. D.C. was rife with prostitution then and is now. Ottawa and London are also rife with prostitution. I am sure Moscow, Beijing and every other capital city is as well.
I will take Trump.
4) Then there is small fry. Canadian Leftist, who complained that their GF lives on welfare.
Small fry could marry his GF and solve the problem, but that would require commitment, work and compromise.
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