Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options

All Christian churches on the Arabian Peninsula should be destroyed, said the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah, on March 12, in response to a query from Kuwait’s Society of the Revival of Islamic Heritage. The Kuwaiti delegation had asked for a clarification from the point of view of Islamic law on a proposal to ban the construction of new churches in Kuwait. The Grand Mufti, the highest official of religious law in Saudi Arabia—where no churches have been built despite the presence of almost a million Christians—responded by observing that Mohammed believed the Arabic Peninsula must only have one religion. His conclusion was that all churches in the territory must be destroyed. The response went beyond the Kuwaiti proposal, which bans the building of new non-Islamic places of worship. European Catholic bishops denounced the statement as a “denial” of basic human rights for millions of foreign workers in the Persian Gulf.

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.

The latest from america

McCarrick had been removed from ministry at the direction of the Vatican in June 2018 due to a credible allegation of sexual abuse of a teenager investigated by the Archdiocese of New York.
Jay Sefton in ‘Unreconciled’ (barebones theater company)
”Unreconciled” looks abuse, disregard and callousness in the eye and witnesses instead to radical kindness.
Elise L. RyanApril 04, 2025
‘A Man Escaped’ is a story of a man seeking temporal salvation, but Robert Bresson’s film takes on deeper meaning, becoming a parable of the Spirit.
John DoughertyApril 04, 2025
The thought of losing Pope Francis one day is a hard one for me to grapple with; I know my reasons why. What surprised me was how many of my non-Catholic friends, even those whose feelings toward the church are decisively negative, also expressed their care and concern.
Molly CahillApril 04, 2025