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A.C.N - Aid to the Church in Need Italian Office |
Religious Freedom in
the Majority Islamic Countries |
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United Arab Emirates Population:
2,580,000
The Union, in its provisional constitution of 1971, has declared Islam as its official religion. The authorities have shown tolerance in granting permits to build Christian places of worship and schools, but there are pressures from within the Islamic community towards the persecution of the more obvious adherents of the Baha’i sect. The Catholics are divided into five parishes, served by 14 priests and 361 religious sisters. The community of Dubai is a large one with over 30,000 Catholics. Only foreign Christians enjoy freedom of worship and Faith; Christian education and proselytism are severely punished. There have been instances of intolerance, such as that against Elie Dib Ghalib, a Lebanese Christian who was condemned to six months imprisonment and 39 lashes for having married a Yemeni immigrant girl, thereby breaking the law which forbids mixed marriages, unless the "infidel" converts to Islam. |
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