Vatican Meets with Saudi Arabia Officials
The BBC reports that Vatican’s representatives in the Middle East met with Saudi Arabian officials to discuss building the church in the country. According to Archbishop Paul-Mounged el-Hachem, negotiations began a few weeks ago after the November 2007 meeting between Pope Benedict XVI and Saudi’s King Abdallah.
Two weeks ago the Pope set up a Catholic-Muslim forum to smooth the relations between Catholics and Muslims. In 2006 he angered many Muslims during a speech that insinuated a link between Islam and violence.
There are about 1 million Catholics in Saudi Arabia, most of which are overseas workers who can practice their religion at home though not in public. In 1985, Saudi Arabia expelled the last Christian priest, saying that Mohammed’s teachings only allow the practice of Islam in the Arabian Peninsula.