Yesterday's meeting between the Pope and the Saudi king put an oft-ignored Middle East minority in the headlines, at least for a moment: nearly one million Catholics living in Saudi Arabia.
The catch is that these men and women and children are officially banned from practicing their religion inside the Saudi kingdom. No public services, no crosses, no bibles... and even clandestine services have been raided by the Saudi authorities - with participants deported just for the crime of praying.
The Pope and the King were all smiles during the photo-op, and the Pope did raise the issue of Saudi Catholics (only he didn't use that exact oxymoron). But does anyone think the situation for this sizable religious minority will be changing anytime soon?
I was initially skeptical of Saudi reforms (e.g. when women got to vote and it was only in local elections and only 20% turned out), but after the news about their new university ( http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/26/world/middleeast/26saudi.html?hp ), and the cut backs on secret policing, I'm beginning to think that the monarchy might be getting lax and progressive in their own Saudi style. The sticking points would probably be: the legitimacy of the monarchy and the chauvinism given to Islam, though. Any other thoughts?
Posted by: Justin (koavf) | November 07, 2007 at 03:02 PM
Or maybe they'll request Everyday is Like Sunday: "Come, come, nuclear bomb..."
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