Catholic Church in the Middle East

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Eastern Catholic church in full communion with the Pope and the rest of the Catholic Church
.
Part of a series on the
Catholic Church by country
Distribution of Catholics around the world
Africa
Asia
Middle East
Europe
North America
Oceania
South America
Catholicism portal

The

Arab Islamic conquests of the 7th century AD. Ever since, its proportion has decreased until today's diaspora tendency, mainly due to persecution by Islamic majority societies. In most Islamic countries, the Catholic Church is severely restricted or outlawed. Significant exceptions include Israel and Lebanon
.

The largest group remaining in the Middle East is the

Eastern Catholic church in full communion
with the Pope and the rest of the Catholic Church.

For specific nations (including Eastern Catholic churches), see:

In addition, the

Latin Catholics, called Latins during the Middle Ages, subject to the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem
.

Overview

Christianity in the Middle East is characterized by its diverse beliefs and traditions, compared to Christianity in other parts of the Old World. In 2010, Christians were estimated to make up 5% of the total Middle Eastern population, down from 20% in the early 20th century.[1] This was before the devastating civil wars in Syria and Iraq.

Proportionally, Lebanon has the highest rate of Christians in the Middle East, where the percentage ranges between 39% and 40.5%, followed directly by Egypt where most likely Christians (especially ethnic Copts) account for about 10 percent, while in total the largest absolute figures.

The majority of the Lebanese Christians consists of the

Eastern Catholic church in full communion with the Pope and the rest of the Catholic Church
.

Demographics

The second largest Christian group in the Middle East are the Arabic-speaking Maronites who are Catholics and number some 1.1–1.2 million across the Middle East, mainly concentrated within Lebanon. Many Maronites often avoid an Arabic ethnic identity in favour of a pre-Arab Phoenician or Canaanite heritage, to which most of the Lebanese population belongs. In Israel, Maronites are classified as ethnic Arameans and not Lebanese (together with smaller Aramaic-speaking Christian populations of Syriac Orthodox and Greek Catholics).

The

Melkite Catholics of the Byzantine Rite, who are usually referred to as Arab Christians, number over 1 million in the Middle East. They came into existence as a result of a schism
within the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch over the election of a Patriarch in 1724.

The

Muslim Jihadist persecution
.

A 2015 study estimates 483,500 Christian believers from a Muslim background in the Middle East, most of them belonging to some form of Protestantism.[3]

Decline

The number of Middle Eastern Christians is dropping due to such factors as low birth rates compared with Muslims,

Salafist ideology, foreign to the tolerant values of the local communities in Syria and Egypt has also played a role in unsettling Christians' decades-long peaceful existence.[4] In 2011, it was estimated that at the present rate, the Middle East's 12 million Christians would likely drop to 6 million by the year 2020.[5]

See also

References

  1. ^ Willey, David (10 October 2010). "Rome 'crisis' talks on Middle East Christians". BBC. Retrieved 1 November 2010.
  2. ^ "With Arab revolts, region's Christians mull fate". English.alarabiya.net. 3 October 2011. Archived from the original on 4 November 2011. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
  3. ^ Johnstone, Patrick; Miller, Duane (2015). "Believers in Christ from a Muslim Background: A Global Census". IJRR. 11: 14. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
  4. ^ Chrisafis, Angelique; Kingsley, Patrick; Beaumont, Peter (9 February 2013). "Violent tide of Salafism threatens the Arab spring". The Guardian. London.
  5. ^ Daniel Pipes. "Disappearing Christians in the Middle East". Daniel Pipes. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Catholic_Church_in_the_Middle_East&oldid=1139864866"