In 2022, Christians in Bahrain made up approximately 12% of the population. Bahrain has had a native Christian community for many centuries, with the first recorded presence dating back to the 12th century. Expatriate Christians, however, make up the majority of Christians in Bahrain, while local Christian Bahrainis (who hold Bahraini citizenship) make up a much smaller community. Alees Samaan, the former Bahraini ambassador to the United Kingdom, is a native Christian.
Bahraini Christians
Christians who hold Bahraini citizenship number approximately 1,000. The majority of the Christians are originally from Iraq, Palestine and Jordan, with a small minority having lived in Bahrain for many centuries; the majority have been living as Bahraini citizens for less than a century. There are also smaller numbers of native Christians who originally hail from Lebanon, Syria, and India.
The majority of Christian Bahraini citizens tend to be Orthodox Christians, with the largest church by membership being the Eastern Orthodox Church. They enjoy many equal religious and social freedoms. Bahrain has Christian members in the Bahraini government. Bahrain is one of two GCC countries to have a native Christian population; the other country, Kuwait, also has a Christian population but in smaller numbers, with less than 400 Christian Kuwaiti citizens.
Eastern Orthodox Christians in Bahrain traditionally belong to the jurisdiction of Eastern Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East. An Eastern Orthodox parish in Bahrain was organized in 2000 by the late metropolitan Constantine Papastephanou of Baghdad and Kuwait (1969-2014), who also had ecclesiastical jurisdiction over Eastern Orthodox in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.
Expatriate Christians
Foreign citizens who live and work in Bahrain make up the majority of Christians in Bahrain. They include people from Europe, North and South America, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. They belong to various Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant churches.
Notable Bahraini Christians
- Alees Samaan - Former Bahraini ambassador to the United Kingdom.
- Hani Aziz - Pastor of the Arabic Congregation of the National Evangelical Church in Bahrain
- Hala Qurisa - Second Deputy Chairman of the Shura Council.
- Camillo Ballin, Italian-Bahraini Bishop
Selected churches
- Sacred Heart Church (Manama, Bahrain) - Catholic
- St. Mary's Orthodox Church - Indian Orthodox
- St. George's Antiochian Church - Greek Orthodox
- St. Peter's Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church
- The Mar Thoma Church & St. Paul's Marthoma Church
- Saar Fellowship
- Indian Pentecostal Church of God Bahrain
- IPC SHALOM Bahrain
- House of Praise Community Church
- St Christopher’s Cathedral and Awali Anglican Church
- The National Evangelical Church
- The Father's House AG Church
- The Bahrain Malayalee Church of South India
- The Indian Pentecostal Church of God, Hebron Bahrain
See also
- Religion in Bahrain
- Roman Catholicism in Bahrain
- Sacred Heart Church (Manama, Bahrain)
- Christians in Bahrain (historical region)
- Christianity in the Middle East
- Arab Christians
- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Bahrain
Notes
- 2010 Census shows only two religion categories: "Muslim" and "Other". Reasonably assuming the majority of "Other" Bahraini citizens are Christian.
References
- US State Dept 2022 report
- Vatican News website
- Memory Eternal: Metropolitan Constantine (Papastephanou)
- "Bahrain land of co-existence, tolerance, says Rev Hani Aziz | The Daily Tribune | Kingdome of Bahrain". DT News. Retrieved 2021-03-17.
Further reading
- Fahlbusch, Erwin, ed. (1999), "Bahrain", Encyclopedia of Christianity, vol. 1, Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, pp. 181–182, ISBN 0802824137
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