Author: Mark Zimmermann, CNS
Publication: The Examiner
Date: June 16, 2001
Washington Cardinal Theodore E.
McCarrick believes he may have made history in late March, during his visit
to Saudi Arabia as a member of the U.S. Commission on International Religious
Freedom.
"I believe it was the first time
any priest, as a priest, has gone into Saudi Arabia", he said in an interview
with the Catholic Standard, his archdiocesan newspaper. "Priests have gone
in dressed as tourists or businessmen, never identifiable as priests".
Using his diplomatic passport, which clearly identified him as a priest,
he wore his clerical black garb and Roman collar throughout his four-day
visit. The four other commission members on the trip included Rabbi David
Saperstein, director of the Religious Action Centre of Reform Judaism.
Summarising religious freedom in
that country, the Cardinal said, "The situation there in Saudi Arabia is
very tight". Last fall, the Centre for Religious Freedom at the Freedom
House in Washington issued a report naming Saudi Arabia as one of the seven
worst countries in the world for restricting religious freedom. Other countries
on that list included Sudan, Tibet (China) and North Korea. The nonpartisan
group's report, edited by Paul Marshal, noted that: "No freedom of religion
exists in Saudi Arabia. Islam is the official religion, with all citizens
required to he Muslims". In Saudi Arabia, evangelisation by other religions
can be fatal. The report noted that anyone there converting from Islam
"faces the death penalty by beheading for apostasy". Saudi Arabia forbids
public worship by non-Muslim religions, but in recent years has allowed
private worship.
While there, Cardinal McCarrick
was able to celebrate the regular weekly Sunday Mass at the U.S. Embassy
for about 60 to 70 people. "They (the Saudis) say no public worship (or
Masses) are allowed, no churches are allowed to be built", he said. The
Cardinal said his delegation was on a fact-finding tour, without political
overtones, and they met with a number of Cabinet ministers, including members
of the royal family, which controls the country. "We were trying to determine
what is the definition of private worship which presumably they might allow",
he said. "So often, even private worship is interrupted by (the Saudi)
religious police, like if they (participants) are singing or talking too
loudly". Cardinal McCarrick said the Saudis seemed to indicate that private
worship was allowable "if nobody knows about it or is disturbed by it",
but he noted the quandary of such a loosely defined right: "How you tell
if no one is disturbed by it is difficult to ascertain".
The Freedom House report estimated
that the country has 600,000 Christians and Cardinal McCarrick said that
number might approach 1 million. About one-third of the nation's 21 million
people are foreign workers. The Freedom House report detailed how "it is
against the law to bring non-Muslim religious literature or religious objects
and symbols into the country, even for personal use". The Saudi religious
police can raid private gatherings and arrest and detain participants for
illegal religious worship.
According to the report, in 1999
a Filipino man was arrested and later deported after police "found a Bible
in his room". The Cardinal said the most hopeful sign he witnessed during
his visit was Saudi officials' willingness to engage in dialogue and their
openness to future discussions. Two years ago this May, Pope John Paul
II met at the Vatican with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Abdullah. Cardinal
McCarrick noted that Bahrain, an Arab sheikdom in the Persian Gulf, has
recently initiated diplomatic relations with the Holy See. Catholic churches
exist in several countries bordering Saudi Arabia, including Oman, Yemen
and Qatar, he said. "But the Saudi government has always taught you can't
have any other churches in the Arabian Peninsula because of the sacredness
of the two shrines in Mecca (Mohammed's birthplace) and Medina (the site
of Mohammed's tomb)", he noted. "They told us Islamic law prohibits them
from allowing any other religion in the Arabian Peninsula". Cardinal McCarrick
said his recent visit to Saudi Arabia made him all the more appreciative
of religious freedom in the United States. That freedom, he said, is a
"great blessing" that many take for granted.
