I missed it at the time, but the Vatican and the UAE established diplomatic ties at the end of last month.
The thing that jumped out at me was this: "The Vatican said more than a million Christians — most of them Catholic — are estimated to work in the Emirates". Really? Estimated by whom? I'm not sure where they are getting their facts, but whoever it is is being more than a little generous to the number of Christians here.
If there are 4.5 million people here, then that means that more than 20% population would be Christian. But most figures that I have seen say that the population here is more than 90% Muslim. The US State Department and Wikipedia estimate that there were between 360,000 and 400,000 Christians in 2005. The CIA estimates 180,000.
This blog began as a description of our life in Al Ain, UAE (United Arab Emirates). Brn worked at the UAE University Libraries Deanship for three years and Bss homeschooled our four children, D, B, P, and O. After returning to the the USA for five years, we are living in Abu Dhabi now.
1 comment:
You're right those figures sound a bit dodgy. What puzzles me more, though, is the report itself. The Bishop in Abu Dhabi has been the official Vatican representative here for ages (decades, at least). From what I know, he's at least been able to exert diplomatic influence when needed, which basically means diplomatic relations, if you ask me.
You could check with some of the Catholics you know (if any).
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