Bahrain association to promote religious tolerance

Manama: Bahrain is set to recognise the first Arabian Gulf association that promotes tolerance among religions, the social development minister has said.

Dr Fatima Al Belushi told the founders of the association that their work would be in line with the directives of King Hamad Bin Eisa Al Khalifa to strengthen relations between religions and to boost tolerance in the country. The organisers have yet to come up with a name for the association.

Bahrain, a predominantly Muslim country, is the only country in the Gulf with Muslim, Christian and Jewish nationals.

The first Christian church was built in Bahrain in 1905 by the American Missionaries soon after they arrived. Today, Christians make up around one percent of the total native population, mainly the sons and daughters of the families that arrived in the country in the late 19th century from Iraq and Turkey. A second wave of Arab Christian families came in the late 1940s from Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Palestine and Jordan. The Christian community is represented in the parliament by Alice Samman, the deputy chair of the upper house.

The Jewish community is much smaller, with around 50 members whose families came from Iraq in the late 19th century. Huda Nonoo is today the best-known figure after she was appointed as Bahrains ambassador to Washington, becoming the first Jew from an Arab and Muslim country accredited in Washington.

Bahrain has more than 25 registered churches of various denominations, serving the local and expatriate Christian communities.

Pope Benedict XVI last July received King Hamad and praised Bahrain's religious tolerance. In a communiqu following the meeting, the Vatican said that its authorities had the opportunity to thank the king for the welcome he has shown to many Christian immigrants.

Emphasis was given to the shared commitment in favour of intercultural and interreligious dialogue, and to the importance of collaboration between Christians, Muslims and Jews for the promotion, in the Middle East and throughout the world, of peace, justice and spiritual and moral values."

In December 2008, Nasser Al Beloushi presented his credentials to Pope Benedict XVI as Bahrains first ambassador to the Vatican.