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Christianity in Kuwait |
Christianity which accounts for about 12% of her population is a minority religion in Kuwait. There are 140,000 Catholics in Kuwait (about 6 % of the population). There is a cathedral in Kuwait City, which belongs to the Vicariate Apostolic of Kuwait.
There are now about 50,000 Protestants in Kuwait (2.14% of the population). The Anglican Church has about 115 members. The National Evangelical Church has about 15000 members. The Greek Orthodox Church has about 3500 members; the Armenian Orthodox Church has about 4000 members. The Coptic Orthodox Church has about 60,000 members. It is not allowed to proselytize Muslims. Christian publishing houses are not permitted. The vast majority of Christians in Kuwait are foreigners. It is of interest to note that there are native Christians in Kuwait as well. However they are not much publicized by the government. Another point of interest is that various excavations in the islands of Failaka and Bubyan has yielded early century Churches which predates Islam proving that once Kuwait was a Christian dominated areacitation needed. The Seventh-day Adventists are among the unrecognized Christian groups. The constitution allows for religious freedom. Islamic religious education is compulsory for all students in state schools. Non-Islamic religious education is prohibited at schools. Organized religious education for religious groups other than Islam is prohibited. There have been numerous instances of desecration of Christian literatures, including that of the Holy Bible by custom authorities at Kuwait Airport. There are only three officially recognized places of worship for the Christian community (Above 270,000 adherents) in Kuwait. Due to the nature of Christian teaching practiced by its followers, there are peaceful relations between the Christian and Muslim religions in Kuwait.