North Arabia: Bishop Berardi visits Christian communities in the peninsula

Mgr Aldo Berardi, Apostolic Vicar of Northern Arabia, continues his pastoral visit to the minority Catholic communities of the peninsula. Vatican News reports on a hidden but very much alive Church (July 28, 2026).

The fact

Vatican News (English and Portuguese, July 28, 2026) reports on the pastoral visit of Bishop Aldo Berardi, Apostolic Vicar of Northern Arabia, to the minority Catholic communities living in the territory of his vicariate (Bahrain, Northern United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia). The agency highlights regional tensions, the pastoral importance of the Catholic presence among South Asian and Filipino migrant workers, and the educational and diaconal role of parishes in the peninsula. The bishop calls for peace, hope, and renewed investment in Christian education.

Our reading

The Arabian Peninsula remains one of the most difficult territories for public Christian life. No Christian building exists in Saudi Arabia; elsewhere, the presence is tolerated in enclaves. Open Doors places several of these countries among the areas of persecution or strong discrimination in its 2026 World Watch List. Bishop Berardi's pastoral visit is not a diplomatic exercise: it makes concrete the doctrine of the Second Vatican Council, which affirms in Ad Gentes (1965, n° 5) that the Church must be present where baptized people live. Chaplain to migrant workers, the bishop is also a living reminder that religious freedom is not a European luxury, but a right inscribed in the dignity of the person (Dignitatis humanae, 1965, n° 2).

To ponder

Prayer for the invisible Christians of the Gulf monarchies is a work of communion. These faithful, in the humility of their conditions, carry a Church of which we sometimes inherit too comfortably.