Vicariate Apostolic Northern Arabia
Vicariate Apostolic Northern Arabia | |
Basic data | |
---|---|
Country | Bahrain , Qatar , Kuwait , Saudi Arabia |
Apostolic Vicar | Sedis vacancy |
Apostolic Administrator | Paul Hinder |
Vicar General | Mathews Kunnepurayidom Francis OCD |
founding | June 29, 1953 |
surface | 2,179,846 km² |
Parishes | 11 (December 31, 2014 / AP2016 ) |
Residents | 36,335,000 ( 12/31/2014 / AP2016 ) |
Catholics | 2,452,000 ( 12/31/2014 / AP2016 ) |
proportion of | 6.7% |
Diocesan priest | 12 (December 31, 2014 / AP2016 ) |
Religious priest | 43 (December 31, 2014 / AP2016 ) |
Catholics per priest | 44,582 |
Permanent deacons | 2 (December 31, 2014 / AP2016 ) |
Friars | 44 (December 31, 2014 / AP2016 ) |
Religious sisters | 18 (December 31, 2014 / AP2016 ) |
rite | Roman rite |
Liturgical language | Arabic |
cathedral | Holy Family in Kuwait City |
address | Bahrain (since 2012) |
Website | www.avona.org |
The Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Arabia ( Latin: Vicariatus Apostolicus Arabiae Septentrionalis ) is a Roman Catholic Apostolic Vicariate based in Manama in Bahrain (since 2012), formerly Kuwait , and includes the Arab states of Bahrain, Qatar , Kuwait and Saudi Arabia .
history
The forerunner of today's Apostolic Vicariate Northern Arabia is on June 29, 1953 by Pius XII. Apostolic Prefecture of Kuwait founded out of the Apostolic Vicariate of Arabia . With 17,900 km² it covered the state of Kuwait, in which the first Carmelite mission station was built in 1945 and a church was built in 1948 for 700 believers. On December 2, 1954, Pope Pius XII. the elevation to the Apostolic Vicariate Kuwait ( Apostolicus Vicariatus Kuvaitensis ). Pope Benedict XVI founded on May 31, 2011 by renaming what is today the Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Arabia . At the same time, the areas of Bahrain, Qatar and Saudi Arabia were added to the Vicariate Apostolic.
today
The bishop of the vicariate mainly looks after international Christians who are professionally active in the Arab oil states, especially Roman Catholic migrant workers from the Philippines, India and Bangladesh. Their numbers in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and Saudi Arabia are estimated at 1.3 million. There are also all oriental ritual churches in Arabia, for example Maronites from Lebanon or Syro-Malabars and Syro-Malankars from India.
As a leading Christian pastor in exclusively Muslim countries, the recently deceased apostolic vicar, Bishop Camillo Ballin , was largely tied in terms of social criticism (e.g. regarding the working conditions of foreign employees) at the risk of expulsion.
The current situation of Christians in many Arab states , especially in Saudi Arabia, is bad. There it is still forbidden to build churches and hold non- Muslim worship services (see under: Persecution of Christians ). Pope Benedict XVI and King Abdullah ibn Abd al-Aziz started negotiations in 2007 to establish the kingdom's first Catholic Church.
In August 2012 the headquarters were moved from Kuwait to Bahrain . In June 2018 , the foundation stone for the future cathedral was laid in the small town of Awali, south of Manama , under the patronage of “ Our Lady of Arabia”.
After the death of Bishop Camillo Ballin in mid-April 2020, Paul Hinder took over the leadership of the Vicariate for Northern Arabia with Bahrain, Qatar and Saudi Arabia at the request of Pope Francis until further notice.
Parishes
There are four parishes in Kuwait:
- the Holy Family Cathedral in Kuwait City under the direction of Gaspar Fernandes OFMCap (* 1972)
- The Our Lady of Arabia in Al Ahmadi under the direction of Alfredo Guran Micua OFMCap (* 1950)
- the St. Thérèse in Salmiya, led by Blany Pinto SDB (born 1967)
- the St. Daniel Comboni in Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh under the direction of Mathai (Mathew) Madathikunnel OFMCap (* 1969)
There are two churches in Bahrain. The Sacred Heart Church in Manama , built in 1939, is the oldest Catholic church in the Persian Gulf and is under the direction of Dinesh Mendonca OFMCap (* 1947). The second church is in Awali and is shared with the Anglican Church as a simultaneous church . This parish church is under the patronage of Our Lady of the Visitation .
In Qatar there has been a church complex in Doha since 2008 with the Roman Catholic Church Our Lady of the Rosary under the direction of Father Selvaraj Arockiam OFMCap.
Churches and parishes are banned in Saudi Arabia and Christian worship services are not allowed.
Vicars Apostolic
- 1953–1955 Ubaldo Teofano Stella OCD , titular bishop of Antaeopolis
- 1976–1981 Victor León Esteban San Miguel y Erce OCD, titular bishop of Rusubbicari
- 1981–2005 Francis Micallef OCD, Titular Bishop of Tinis in Proconsulari
- 2005–2020 Camillo Ballin MCCI, Titular Bishop of Arna
- since 2020 Paul Hinder OfMCap, Titular Bishop of Macon, Apostolic Vicar in the Apostolic Vicariate of Southern Arabia
statistics
year | population | priest | Permanent deacons |
Religious | Parishes | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Catholics | Residents | % | Total number | Diocesan priest | Religious priest | Catholics per priest | male | Female | |||
1966 | 16,000 | 475,000 | 3.4 | 4th | 4th | 4,000 | 3 | 12 | 5 | ||
1970 | 17,200 | 733.196 | 2.3 | 12 | 6th | 6th | 1,433 | 6th | 31 | 4th | |
1980 | 32,000 | 1,270,000 | 2.5 | 7th | 3 | 4th | 4,571 | 4th | 30th | 3 | |
1988 | 51,430 | 1,834,756 | 2.8 | 7th | 2 | 5 | 7,347 | 5 | 30th | 5 | |
1999 | 151,000 | 2,000,000 | 7.5 | 6th | 1 | 5 | 25.166 | 1 | 5 | 12 | 4th |
2000 | 151,000 | 2,000,000 | 7.5 | 7th | 1 | 6th | 21,571 | 1 | 6th | 13 | 4th |
2001 | 153,000 | 2,000,000 | 7.7 | 8th | 2 | 6th | 19,125 | 1 | 6th | 13 | 4th |
2002 | 154,000 | 2,500,000 | 6.2 | 8th | 2 | 6th | 19,250 | 1 | 6th | 13 | 4th |
2003 | 156,000 | 2,501,000 | 6.2 | 9 | 2 | 7th | 17,333 | 1 | 7th | 13 | 4th |
2004 | 158,500 | 2,650,000 | 6.0 | 10 | 2 | 8th | 15,850 | 1 | 8th | 13 | 4th |
2010 | 300,000 | 3,000,000 | 10.0 | 17th | 6th | 11 | 17,647 | 1 | 11 | 12 | 3 |
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b The bishop moves his official seat in Arabia , Domradio / kna, August 11, 2012.
- ↑ How Benedict XVI Will Make History ( Memento from April 27, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Church in Need : “A Sign of Good Will”. Laying of the foundation stone of the Catholic Cathedral for Northern Arabia , June 26, 2018, accessed June 28, 2018.
- ↑ Mario Galgano: "Bishop Hinder again responsible for all of Arabia" on vaticannews.va of June 6, 2020