Religion news: churches in Qatar; FSM in the AAR

[qatarperegrine]

A Peninsula article gives more info on the building of churches in Qatar than I had previously read. Various Christian churches exist in Qatar, but thus far they have been meeting in private homes and schools. A couple years ago the emir provided land for the construction of church buildings, and it sounds like they will soon be done. Within a year or so, Qatar should boast physical Catholic, Anglican, Orthodox, Coptic, and Indian churches.

More interestingly, the article puts the number of Christians in Qatar at a little over 140,000. That's around 15% of the population of Qatar. Official statistics always say that Qatar is over 95% Muslim, but those stats must only take Qatari citizens into account. I often wonder what percentage are Hindu and Buddhist, given the large Asian communities living here.

In other news, a panel discussion at the American Academy of Religion's annual conference this weekend will focus on the Flying Spaghetti Monster. I heartily approve.

Comments

[qatar.livejournal.com]

I wish you had gotten a chance to go to the Anglican church while you were here -- it is an amazing blend of cultures. A friend of mine who's here now (and is Caucasian and American) loves wearing saris, and some of the Indian women at church are evidently very fond of her.

[materjibrail.livejournal.com]

I think the church we went to when we visited was Anglican - it met in the British School (?) and seemed like a nice mix of people, but probably wasn't able to have a woman priest etc in the Gulf.