Kuwaiti Pastor speaks on church rejection
KUWAIT: "Freedom of religion in Kuwait is absolute and it's stated in our constitution. We are happy that we can practice our religion freely and we enjoy the support of the government," Reverend Pastor Emmanuel Ghareeb, a Kuwaiti pastor and a titular head of the National Evangelical Church in Kuwait told Kuwait Times yesterday on the issue on the alleged refusal of the Kuwaiti government to grant a permit to build a new church for Catholics in Hawally.
The Catholic Church was not available for comments when contacted by the Kuwait Times, but according to previous reports, it was the same application that was earlier rejected years back when other branches of the Christian faith applied for the same permit and were reportedly rejected.
The Roman Catholic Church has the biggest number of followers in Kuwait with parishioners hailing from India, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Egypt among others. They have churches in Ahmadi, Kuwait City and Salmiya but they believed the Hawally Church could benefit and serve more believers living in the vicinity and neighbouring areas.
The reports of refusal was carried by Al-Watan newspaper recently which cited no reasons for the rejection, but prompted Moussa Al-Sarraf, the Minister of Public Works and Minister for Municipal Affairs to inquire about the decision. Al-Sarraf explained that the Municipal Council had no clear justification for refusal and no details of any voting procedure, which should have been followed before making any decision.
It can be recalled that in 2006, Pope Benedict XVI delivered a lecture in Germany, which sparked worldwide protests by Muslims for offending Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). The Pope later apologized for offending Islam, but cited it was a quote taken from a centuries-old religious leader and it was not intentionally quoted to offend Muslims but was to support his lecture about 'Faith, Reason and the University - Memories and Reflections'.
"I am sure there is no refusal issue. We can build a church and it is guaranteed by the constitution. But we accept the fact that we cannot evangelize openly and we respect that because we are living in an Islamic country," Ghareeb noted.
There are about 200 Kuwaiti Christians here and according to Ghareeb, they are "enjoying freedom and are not experiencing suppression or persecution by the dominant religion". According to Ghareeb, their children can play, work and enjoy privileges just like Muslims. The Church compound also welcomes a number of Muslims exchanging goodwill greetings with each other, stressed Ghareeb.
The Catholic Church was not available for comments when contacted by the Kuwait Times, but according to previous reports, it was the same application that was earlier rejected years back when other branches of the Christian faith applied for the same permit and were reportedly rejected.
The Roman Catholic Church has the biggest number of followers in Kuwait with parishioners hailing from India, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Egypt among others. They have churches in Ahmadi, Kuwait City and Salmiya but they believed the Hawally Church could benefit and serve more believers living in the vicinity and neighbouring areas.
The reports of refusal was carried by Al-Watan newspaper recently which cited no reasons for the rejection, but prompted Moussa Al-Sarraf, the Minister of Public Works and Minister for Municipal Affairs to inquire about the decision. Al-Sarraf explained that the Municipal Council had no clear justification for refusal and no details of any voting procedure, which should have been followed before making any decision.
It can be recalled that in 2006, Pope Benedict XVI delivered a lecture in Germany, which sparked worldwide protests by Muslims for offending Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). The Pope later apologized for offending Islam, but cited it was a quote taken from a centuries-old religious leader and it was not intentionally quoted to offend Muslims but was to support his lecture about 'Faith, Reason and the University - Memories and Reflections'.
"I am sure there is no refusal issue. We can build a church and it is guaranteed by the constitution. But we accept the fact that we cannot evangelize openly and we respect that because we are living in an Islamic country," Ghareeb noted.
There are about 200 Kuwaiti Christians here and according to Ghareeb, they are "enjoying freedom and are not experiencing suppression or persecution by the dominant religion". According to Ghareeb, their children can play, work and enjoy privileges just like Muslims. The Church compound also welcomes a number of Muslims exchanging goodwill greetings with each other, stressed Ghareeb.
Source: Kuwait Times.
SALEM VOICE MINISTRIES NEWS SERVICE (SVM NEWS)
Web: http://salemvoice.org/ Contact: ciniraj@asianetindia.com
News items and headlines: http://salemvoice.org/news.html
Gospel for Muslims: http://salemvoice.org/gospel2muslims.html
Center for Persecuted Christians in India and third world:
http://salemvoice.org/center4persecuted.html
SALEM VOICE MINISTRIES NEWS SERVICE (SVM NEWS)
Web: http://salemvoice.org/ Contact: ciniraj@asianetindia.com
News items and headlines: http://salemvoice.org/news.html
Gospel for Muslims: http://salemvoice.org/gospel2muslims.html
Center for Persecuted Christians in India and third world:
http://salemvoice.org/center4persecuted.html
posted by Salem Voice @ 6:06 PM
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