Saudi Arabia to Keep Ban on Churches

Justice Minister Says No Truth to Reports of Planned Change

The US-backed Saudi government has announced that it intends to continue its ban on the construction of Christian churches, and indeed a ban on all non-Muslim places of worship, despite rumors that a change was pending.

Justice Minister Mohammed al-Issa confirmed that the policy was not going to change, reiterating that the Saudi government “does not allow the establishment of non-Muslim places of worship.”

Over the past few years there had been speculation that a change could come, with Time Magazine reporting in 2008 that the Vatican was in talks to create a special exemption for Catholics, allowing them to build churches. Though overwhelmingly Muslim, of course, Saudi Arabia has more than a million Christians, mainly foreign workers.

Though the US gives lip-service to seeking freedom of religion in Saudi Arabia, the State Department is mostly mum on the matter, praising the Saudi government for giving people a de facto privilege to worship in their own homes, even though that is not guaranteed by law and religious minorities, indeed even Shi’ite Muslims, are persecuted regularly.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.