Today, we celebrate Saint Arethas and his Companions, the conclusion of the Jubilee in their honor, and most importantly, we celebrate Jesus, our Risen Lord. He has opened the Gates of Heaven, revealing to us the boundless love of God the Father and granting us the Holy Spirit to live as children of God. This Jubilee has been a true blessing for our vicariate, seen in countless pilgrimages, especially through the two Holy Doors where thousands entered with hearts open to grace, seeking conversion, forgiveness, and the strength to follow Jesus, who is our eternal Gate.

Though we are saddened to close the Holy Door, we remember that Jesus is forever our doorway to life and light. This Jubilee has deepened our understanding of our Christian heritage here in the Arabian Peninsula—a heritage that reaches back centuries. It is humbling to reflect on the many ancient churches, monasteries, and communities that once flourished here. We are connected to this history as we walk in the footsteps of those early Christians, honoring this land’s traditions and faith while expressing our own.

Through this Jubilee, we have rediscovered our special vocation to live as witnesses to the truth of our faith. Even when words are difficult to express, our actions can reflect Christ’s love. Daily, we are called to live with integrity, kindness, and honesty, showing our neighbors by example that we are trustworthy children of God.

The witness of the Martyrs of Najran is especially powerful. They sacrificed their lives rather than deny the Cross of Redemption, the divinity of Jesus, the Son of God, and the truth of the Holy Trinity. From their steadfastness, we confess today that Jesus was not merely a prophet or a holy man, but the very Son of God, who revealed Himself through the Resurrection. Our cathedral, while dedicated to Our Lady of Arabia, stands as a beacon of Christ’s Resurrection. Here we encounter God, receive His blessings and graces, and gather as a family in faith.

Soon we will prepare for Christmas when we will be reminded anew of the mystery of the Incarnation—God’s love made flesh in Jesus. This unfathomable mystery is beyond human understanding, but for God, nothing is impossible. Through Jesus, God took on our humanity, and through His death and resurrection, we have received the Holy Spirit. This is the reason we gather here, in the hope and belief that Jesus can touch our hearts and transform our lives.

Christ’s sacrifice on the cross has washed away our sins and made us a new creation. The cross, once an instrument of death, has become for us an instrument of life, through which we are redeemed and invited into the mystery of God’s love. The early Christians had to explain how this symbol of suffering became the source of our salvation, a mystery that continues to challenge us today. Yet, through Christ’s death and resurrection, we celebrate redemption anew, embracing the forgiveness and grace He has given us.

As God’s holy people, we have come to know Him more deeply, for He took on our flesh and touched our hearts. We are His sons and daughters, called to live in communion with the Holy Spirit, as brothers and sisters of Jesus. The Kingdom of God, the heart of the Holy Trinity, is open to us—a communion between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This is the eternal life that Jesus awaits to share with us, a life we can begin to live here and now as witnesses of His resurrection. This is the beautiful mystery revealed to the Martyrs, enabling them to offer their lives without hesitation.

As we conclude this Jubilee, let us continue our journey as witnesses—within our families, in our workplaces, and throughout this peninsula—reflecting the beauty of God. God is beautiful because He is love, and we encounter this love in the sacraments, in forgiveness, and when we receive the Body of Jesus, our Risen Lord, who is our Brother and the Giver of Life in the Holy Spirit.

We honor the Martyrs of Najran and all martyrs today who suffer for their faith in Jesus around the world. In solidarity, we offer them our prayers and love, knowing that in the end, it is the love of God that we all seek.

Happy feast to all of you!

Kingdom of Bahrain – Our Lady of Arabia
Opening the Holy Door
Jubilee Year of Saint Arethas and Companions
4th November 2023

Your Excellency Bishop Aldo Berardi,
Reverend Father Ben Barrameda, Vicar General,
Reverend Father Saji Thomas, Rector of the Cathedral,
Reverend Fathers, Sisters.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

It is a great joy to be with you this morning for the solemn opening of the Holy Door marking the beginning of the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Saints Arethas and Companions on the 1,500th anniversary of their martyrdom in Najran, Saudi Arabia. 523 – 2023! 1,500 years ago!

In my capacity as the Holy Father’s Representative – the Apostolic Nuncio in Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar, it is my pleasure to bring you the greetings of our beloved Holy Father Pope Francis on this important occasion for the life of the Church here in the Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Arabia.

Pope Francis has asked me to assure all of you gathered here this morning and those who are following the ceremony which is being transmitted online of his closeness in prayer. To all of us, he extends his blessing and he asks us to remember him in our own prayers.

On this very day one year ago, the Holy Father was here among us on a pastoral visit to the Kingdom of Bahrain. What a wonderful and blessed occasion that was! What a wonderful moment it was when he visited this Cathedral of Our Lady of Arabia and held an Ecumenical Prayer Service with the representatives of the Christian churches present in the Gulf region! Here we are again one year later gathered in prayer in this beautiful Cathedral as we begin the Extraordinary Jubilee Year with the Opening of the Holy Door.

“I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved.”

Very often in his teaching Jesus used the image of the door or the gate. In St John’s Gospel we read where Jesus says (Jn 10:9) “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved”. Jesus is the door, the gateway to eternal life.

In Psalm 117 we read “Open to me the gates of holiness, I will enter and give thanks. This is the Lord’s own gate where the just may enter.”

We have begun the Jubilee of Saint Arethas and companions by entering the Holy Door – it is a special privilege that has been granted to the Vicariate by the Holy Father for this Jubilee Year to open the Holy Door here at the Cathedral, in Saudi Arabia, in Kuwait and Qatar. As we pass through this door, we want to renew our faith, asking the Lord to give us the grace to bear witness to him even if we meet with persecution as Arethas and his companions did before us.

May this Jubilee Year be a time of grace for all of us and a time of spiritual renewal. May the example of the holy Martyrs teach us the virtues of faithfulness and perseverance.

In his teaching, Jesus uses the image of the door to bring home to us that salvation is not automatic. You remember for instance the time when Jesus was making his way to Jerusalem passing through many towns and villages, on his way to Jericho and Jerusalem. He is approached by a man who wants to know if only a few will be saved. One has the feeling that he expects the answer to be ‘Yes’ and that he regards himself as being among the chosen ones.

Jesus does not answer the question directly but he implies that those who are saved are not necessarily those who regard themselves as God’s chosen ones but rather those who walk a certain path in life. That path, of course, is precisely what he is proposing through his own life and teaching. It is a narrow door, he says, which many will not be able to enter.

When the Master comes at the end to close that door for the last time, some will stand outside knocking and begging for the door to be opened. They will hear very frightening words, “I do not know where you come from.” They will counter by saying, “We ate and drank in your company. You taught in our streets.” But he still says he does not know them and tells them to go away.

Jesus was often accused of eating and drinking with sinners but it did them no good unless, as a result of their contact with him, they changed their way of living.

It is clearly not enough to be just in Christ’s company or to have heard his teaching. For example, just being a baptised Catholic or routinely fulfilling a few religious obligations (like being physically present at Sunday Mass) is not the same as really being a part of what is going on. To enter by the “narrow door” is to be actively committed to living the Gospel in one’s daily life.

Each day and all the days of our lives we have to walk through that narrow door, that door of faith and trust and love for Jesus and our brothers and sisters. Only then will we find ourselves joining the patriarchs, the prophets, the holy martyrs and all the saints in that life of unending happiness and union with our God for which we were made.

In today’s world it is not easy to be a Christian. Very often our faith is put to the test, even ridiculed. How many nasty comments are made on social media making fun of us because of our convictions! How many Catholics are beaten, imprisoned and even put to death because they bear the name of Christ! This is not something new. It has been going on down the centuries.

As we begin the Extraordinary Jubilee year of Saint Arethas and Companions, we ask the Lord to open the door to us and to allow us to enter. To remain outside is to be locked out, to be excluded, to be kept in the cold and the darkness. To pass through the door is to enter inside, to become members of a family, to belong, to come into a place of warmth, of light and intimacy.

Maybe much of our lives we spend on the outside wandering around, lost, going around aimlessly, not sure of the direction of our lives, following whatever it is that tempts us and leads us astray. The Lord is the door. There is no other way to life except through him.

In terms of the Gospel, the doorway to life can be summed up in the word “love”. Saint Arethas and companions understood this very well 1,500 years ago when they made the supreme sacrifice of their lives for their faith and were willing to shed their blood for love of the Bridegroom. They understood very well the words of today’s Gospel: “What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul?”

We have walked through the Holy Door this morning. We begin this Holy Year as a pilgrim people and the Lord is reminding to us that He is the door to life.

“Open to me the gates of holiness, I will enter and give thanks.”

Saint Arethas and Companions, pray for us!

+ Eugene M. Nugent
Apostolic Nuncio to Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar

ST. ARETHAS JUBILEE

OCTOBER 24^th, 2023

PONTIFICAL MASS HOMILY

Luke 9:24-26

“Let him carry his cross every day and follow me”

Today, with this solemn Mass, we open the Extraordinary Jubilee of St. Arethas and his Companions, martyrs. This is a great joy for us and for the whole Church. It is about honoring brothers and sisters in the faith and following their example of faith, courage, and perseverance. We want to go beyond the simple historical fact to fathom the deep attachment of the martyrs to the Cross, to probe their love for the Risen Christ and their great community and ecclesial spirit. The martyrs of yesterday are our ancestors in the faith who enjoin us to be faithful and firm.

A STORY LIVED AND REDISCOVERED

No, we are not in the realm of legend or cautionary tale. We are living history. In the history of this region that has welcomed us and where we live, some for many years. Can we imagine this history forgotten and then revived? Did we know anything about these Christian communities of old ages, from the early days of evangelization? Did we ever imagine that there were churches and monasteries in these lands? That Apostles may have passed through here on their way to India?

Suddenly, history comes back to us and the historical research seems astounding. Suddenly, places, names, stories dance before our eyes… Suddenly, we find brothers and sisters! Our hearts begin to beat in a new way to reach, in the communion of saints, those who call us out on this day and who beckon us.

The Najran event is well located and documented. It left traces and stories. Historians knew something about it. Archaeologists have found visible signs. The local memory had not been forgotten. Descendants of the tribe of St. Arethas are still there!

It is moving to see the rock in the desert where the Himyarite army described its plans to destroy Najran. It is touching to see these crosses carved into the rock as signs of faith and presence. It is overwhelming to wander through the ruins of the ancient city that lived through the tragedy of the martyrs but which is the witness of a faith that has not wavered.

We can reread this story, but our curious eyes can only penetrate through the facts and the stones to find a life entirely given to Christ and ready to shed the blood of witness.

A TESTIMONY OF LIFE

What do these martyrs tell us? The importance of the Cross and faith in the divinity of Christ, Savior and Redeemer, Son of the Father who gives the Holy Spirit.

The martyrs kept the Christian faith in the face of derision, persecution and threat. They remained firm and upright in the strength of community unity.

The cross is a sign of God’s love and not only of the dramatic destiny of the Messiah. It granted us forgiveness and reintroduced us to the lost friendship with God. The cross with which we are marked, with which we sign ourselves, which we wear, which we venerate. The cross, as a sign of Christianity but above all as a profession of faith and commitment to life. Carrying one’s cross and following Jesus are the two poles of a life on a journey that will blossom in Easter joy.

The cross is a stage that brings us to the Resurrection. It is like an obligatory passage that purifies us and tests our faith. We do not seek it as an instrument of suffering, but as a moment of truth. Christ bore it but transformed its meaning. From an instrument of torture, it has become a tree of life and a sign of hope.

It is the cross that will lead to the Resurrection and thus to the affirmation of the divinity of Christ.

This, then, is the second aspect that caused the martyrdom of the Christians of Najran. It leads to the heart of the Christian faith: we believe that Christ is the Son of God and that He introduces us to the Father’s friendship through the Holy Spirit. His divine sonship is by nature. As partakers of Christ’s death and resurrection, we too become sons and daughters of the Father by adoption (Gal 4:5). This is our ultimate vocation and our way to Trinitarian communion (Eph. 1:5). Jesus the Son introduces us to the divine mystery of communion and therefore of love.  What an extraordinary revelation and what a joy it is to feel loved and desired by a God who is only love (1 John 4:16). The martyrs understood this: “We cannot abjure because He is our life… To die for Him is to find life,” St. Arethas said before his beheading. “Who will separate us from the love of Christ?” asked St. Paul (Romans 8:35). Our Church treasures the long list of witnesses, lovers of the God of life, ready to throw themselves into this infinite and eternal love, the Trinitarian love.

WE ARE THE WITNESSES OF TODAY

Looking at the past inspires us. Life in the past was no easier than it is today. Things have changed, but faith has been passed on. It remained as a beacon in the storm and a light in the night. It is the way of life and light for those who look to Christ and follow Him. Today we are the witnesses of the Risen One, with our words and our works, with our weaknesses and our strengths, with the same love that animated the martyrs.

It is up to us to stand up and bear witness to Christ with an honest and consistent life, a life given out of love and oriented towards the Good and the Beautiful, towards fraternal love and commitment to peace, justice and tolerance. We profess an inner freedom that commits us and makes us the adopted sons and daughters of the Highest. Our “daily martyrdom” is a sign of vitality in the Holy Spirit. Nothing can stand in the way of this force which animated the martyrs of Najran and which is now communicated to us.

Let us draw together from this treasure of the Church, the merits and holiness of her members, which we share as a precious gift from our God.

May St. Arethas and his Companions pray for us, now that they contemplate the purest Face of our God for eternity.

 + Aldo BERARDI, O.SS.T.

(by Bishop Paolo Martinelli, Apostolic Vicar of Southern Arabia)

There are over one million Catholics in the Apostolic Vicariate of Southern Arabia

Christianity in Arabia is a very ancient reality. The current reality is very different from the past. Throughout the Arabian Peninsula there are almost three million Catholics, although having the exact number, especially after the pandemic, is very difficult. From an ecclesial point of view, since 2011 the region has been divided into two apostolic vicariates: the north (Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain) and the south (United Arab Emirates, Oman and Yemen). In this short presentation I will focus on the Apostolic Vicariate of the South, where over one million Catholic faithful live. The seat of the vicariate is Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates. Christians are all migrants, with a few very rare exceptions. Most of them come from the Philippines and India. There is no shortage of Christians from Sri Lanka, Pakistan and other Asian countries as well. The presence of Arab Christians, mostly coming from Lebanon, is also significant. A significant number of Christians come from Africa. Minor but no less significant is the presence of European and American Christians. Seventy-five priests work in the vicariate, of which 50 are Capuchin friars. There are also 50 nuns from different religious orders involved in schools and parishes.

Most Christians are found in the United Arab Emirates, an Islamic nation with a long tradition of hospitality and tolerance towards people belonging to different religions, guaranteeing them freedom of worship. The Catholic Church has nine parishes in the Emirates. The relationship with the government of the Emirates is growing, especially since the visit of Pope Francis in February 2019, during which he signed the Abu Dhabi Declaration together with the Grand Imam of Al-Ahzar, Ahmed el-Tayeb. The Apostolic Nuncio resides in Abu Dhabi.

Furthermore, the Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Common Coexistence, signed in Abu Dhabi, has given rise to interesting projects regarding interreligious dialogue. One of these was the inauguration last February of the Abrahamic Family House, whose foundation stone was also signed by Pope Francis. It is a complex that includes a mosque, a synagogue and a Catholic church, dedicated to Saint Francis of Assisi in honor of Pope Francis. This is in no way an attempt to merge the three religions which refer, albeit in different ways, to Abraham. Rather, it is a matter of recognizing and welcoming the difference between religions, aware of the decisive role they have in the peace processes and the promotion of the common good.

Our faithful are generally frequent visitors to our churches. It is a surprise for a Westerner to participate in a Eucharistic celebration and notice how our churches, especially on Saturdays and Sundays, are frequented by the faithful, to the point of not finding place inside the sacred buildings. In addition to celebrations, the life of the Church is expressed in family pastoral care and in catechetical training which is offered not only for Christian initiation, but also for teenagers and young people. The immense work, especially for the preparation for first communion and confirmation, is guaranteed by the generous and free commitment of many faithful catechists, following the training courses that are regularly offered by the vicariate.

It is always thanks to the great availability of the faithful that our churches can have choirs for liturgical animation. The good celebration is also guaranteed by the numerous volunteers who are committed to maintaining order during the celebrations, by the readers, the extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist and the young ministers of the altar (altar boys). It is edifying to see how many faithful tirelessly commit themselves to the various ministries and services for the life of the Church.

In addition to catechesis, our parishes organize significant moments of conviviality and celebration on the occasion of the various patronal celebrations and of their countries of origin.

Furthermore, the life of our Church is favored by the presence of numerous linguistic communities which help the faithful to feel at home, especially in the early stages after arrival, and ensure their integration into society and the Church. The task of the linguistic communities is to introduce the faithful to the entire parish reality. We consider this one of the truly unique points of our Church. It is made up entirely of migrants. They all come from abroad and are here for work. The Church safeguards their identity and supports the growth of faith. But it is truly a sight to see a Church of faithful who not only maintains its own traditions, but also shares them with others. Everyone can discover the richness of other rites and other liturgical traditions. Of course this isn’t always easy. Sometimes there is the desire to redo on site exactly what was done in one’s land of origin. But part of being a migrant is accepting to walk together with other believers and sharing one’s spiritual riches.

Another richness is given by the presence of various movements, associations and ecclesial groups. Many of these realities are linked to their countries of origin; other realities have an international character and help all the faithful to feel part of a single Church. These are realities characterized by specific charisms, linked to prayer, spiritual animation and the believing reading of the Word of God.

Another important experience of the apostolic vicariate is the promotion of Catholic schools. At the moment there are ten schools in the United Arab Emirates, managed directly by the apostolic vicariate or by some religious orders. These are realities that are strongly appreciated not only by our faithful, but also by people belonging to other religions, in particular by Muslims, who attend them profitably. They are an extraordinary opportunity to spread values dear to the Christian community and promote dialogue between people of different cultures and religions.

In Oman, in many respects the situation of Christians is similar to that of the Emirates. There are four parishes. Diplomatic relations with the Holy See have been established a few months ago and the recent appointment of the apostolic nuncio, resident in Cairo, gives us hope for the future of the Church.

A completely different situation is that of Christians in Yemen, tormented by over eight years of civil war. The current improvement in relations between the parties involved does not yet allow for a stable recovery. The remaining Christians are tenacious, they are a sign of hope. Currently there are two communities of the Missionaries of Charity of Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta and a priest belonging to the male branch of the same congregation. The nuns remained to serve the poor and the sick despite the fact that 25 years ago three sisters were killed. Furthermore, on March 4, 2016, at the beginning of the civil war, four of them were barbarically murdered together with some lay collaborators by an extremist group hating the faith.

Pope Francis recently remembered them with these words: “They are the martyrs of our time. Among these killed lay people, in addition to Christians, there were Muslim faithful who worked with the nuns. We are moved to see how the testimony of blood can unite people of different religions. One must never kill in the name of God, because for Him we are all brothers and sisters. But together we can give our lives for others.” (General Audience 19 April 2023)

Here is a synthetic image of Christians in Arabia, a community marked by martyrdom in the past (Saint Arethas) as in the present: a Church called to be a witness to the world of the joy of the Gospel and to work for the good life of all.

*English translation of an article that appeared in L’Osservatore Romano on August 30, 2023. The original article in Italian can be found here.

In the Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Arabia
(by Bishop Aldo Berardi, Apostolic Vicar of Northern Arabia)

The presence and testimony of Christians in the Arabian Peninsula is an interesting topic that deserves serious attention. From the perspective of external observers, and in particular the Western Church, it is often assumed that the region throughout its history has been aligned with Islam or associated with paganism. Other Christian confessions even today see it as a land to be evangelized, as if it had not been touched by the Gospel at all. Such a short-sighted view sometimes inflames religious tensions and sectarian violence, as most people in the region are naturally protective of their current faith.

Certainly, there is a pilgrim and migrant Church in today’s Arabian Peninsula, since the approximately three million Catholics under the pastoral care of the two apostolic vicariates of the Gulf are made up of migrant workers from many countries, mainly from South Asia. These workers bring with them their distinct traditions, cultures and religious diversity which they seek to maintain in a completely new environment. Sometimes their religious fervor clashes with the practices of their new Muslim neighbors. The Holy See, therefore, has always been attentive to the pastoral needs of the Catholic faithful, maintaining two ecclesiastical territories led by two bishops. This genuine concern for the well-being of Catholics in the Gulf is also clearly demonstrated by the two recent apostolic visits of Pope Francis to the United Arab Emirates (2019) and Bahrain (2022).

But the question is: is Christianity in the Arabian Peninsula a modern phenomenon brought only by expatriate communities in recent decades? History attests to the contrary. For one, a small number of Christians whose ancestry can date back far into history are still present in Bahrain. They are a valuable part of the nation-kingdom’s rich heritage and actively contribute to national life today. Secondly, recent archaeological discoveries in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have unveiled what were once vibrant Christian communities in the region.

A very interesting case is the story of the Christian Arabs of Najran (of the ancient Himyarite Kingdom in Yemen, now in present-day Saudi Arabia) who were martyred in the 6th century (year 523) for their deep faith in the divinity of Christ. The Catholic Church, along with several Christian denominations and traditions, venerates them as Saint Arethas and Companions and celebrates their feast every October 24th. Their martyrdom was quickly commemorated in the liturgies of many churches and monasteries during the Byzantine period. Although bitter theological disputes over the nature of Christ were dividing Christians, the veneration of these martyrs quickly became common throughout the known Christian world, regardless of one’s Christological belief or confession. The Orthodox Church considers Saint Arethas as a megalomartyr, evidence of the widespread devotion to the saint throughout the Byzantine Church. The Roman Martyrology kept the commemorative feast on October 24th.

Perhaps to put it another way, while St. Benedict of Nursia was quietly preparing the map of Western monasticism in an Italian monastery in the 6th century and St. Columba was traversing pagan Europe, around the same time, St. Arethas and his people gave their lives for Christ in an obscure oasis in southern Arabia. This only goes to show that, just as Christian philosophy in the West advanced during the Patristic era, Christianity also flourished in the East, specifically the Arabian Peninsula!

The Extraordinary Jubilee which marks the 1500th anniversary of the martyrdom of St. Arethas and Companions (523-2023) represents an authentic opportunity for the Church in the Arabian Peninsula to re-examine its attitude and its mission in the region (www.avona.org). It would be timely to give due interest to the East in its Christian traditions and in its influence written in languages other than Latin or Greek, such as Syriac and Ge’ez. In these ancient writings, we are enlightened about the spiritual lineage of the Church in the East today.

More importantly, the Arabian Peninsula should rightly be seen as a spiritual home for millions of expatriate Christians living in the region today. Even though almost all will eventually take the road to return to their home countries, the region is still their spiritual home, a land that welcomed them and animated their faith. Christians in the Gulf today only continue the long history of Christian witness begun by their ancestors in faith, such as Saint Arethas.

The real challenge for every Christian in the Arabian Peninsula remains the same today as it was 1,500 years ago: how to be a disciple of Christ in a land of conflicting religions, tense political atmospheres and dominant economic interests? Saint Arethas and his Companions were martyred with bloodshed; Christians today are challenged by what Pope Francis calls “everyday martyrdom”: giving one’s life, having the spirit of martyrdom, means offering it in silence, in prayer, in the honest fulfillment of one’s duty: in this silence of daily life, giving life little by little. (Angelus of 23 June 2013)

Inspired by the Arab martyrs, Christians in the Arabian Peninsula today are called to constantly live their faith in a way that glorifies God. They are called to be a “daily martyr,” one who constantly bears living witness to Christ and his message in the little things of daily life. Even if we often cannot speak or testify openly about our faith, everyday life must be evangelized to account for the faith and to pass on the richness of our spiritual tradition to our children.

Catholic plurality is also our strength and richness: different rites, languages and spiritual traditions meet and unite. It is not the fact of maintaining a “museum ritual” but a living, strong ritual that is enriched with spiritual history and which can be shared and transmitted.

The challenge of unity makes us attentive to what is important and to the foundations of our faith. We are one in the Risen Lord for the glory of the Father in the Holy Spirit. The diversity of the members (1 Corinthians 12) reinforces the joy of being the Catholic Church in a land of contrasts and plurality.

The challenge of interreligious dialogue pushes us to be authentic and coherent, but also firm in the truth that is Christ. This dialogue is important to make us know and respect the different religions in the Peninsula. We want to be disciples of Christ and bearers of peace and justice.

The Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Arabia is made up of Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait – where the apostolic nuncio resides – and Saudi Arabia. Four very different realities that push us to enter into dialogue and learn more about local history and the political and social situations. May we as Christians be a sign of the times and partners for the good of all and human development.

It is also true that the dialogue with local authorities is very different according to native traditions: freedom of worship is granted, sometimes with difficulty and pressures, or religious and cultural impediments. Catholics must adapt with faith and creativity. Our churches are certainly not enough, but we are confident in the presence of the Lord in the fruitful deserts of the Peninsula. We know that we are the Church, “as living stones for the construction of a spiritual building, for a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices pleasing to God, through Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter, 2, 5)

We have Christian ancestors who set an example for us. It is up to us to be witnesses of the Risen One.

*English translation of an article that appeared in L’Osservatore Romano on August 30, 2023. The original article in Italian can be found here.

L’Osservatore Romano

(by Roberto Cetera)

To anyone who attends a course on the history of religions it is almost always represented, hastily and superficially, that the situation of the Arabian Peninsula before the advent of Islam was socially characterized by tribalism and, from a religious point of view, from a widespread paganism made up of devotion to family deities and esoteric practices.

The reality is in fact very different and the recent revival of research and studies on Arabia before the appearance of Muhammad largely confirms it. If on the social level there were, in the centuries preceding the prophet, important kingdoms reunifying the tribal realities (the Nabataeans, the Palmyrenes, the Ghassanids, and the Lakhmids), on the religious level, much documentation also attests to the presence of dynamic communities and traces of Christian pilgrims to Christian places of worship, which find their greatest expression in the iconic figure of Saint Arethas.

A more complex reality therefore appears than the initial observation, which generally favors the vision of a cultural and social stasis to the detriment of an existing ordered social structure, even if in embryo. And the Arabic language was the element that unified the nomadic populations of the peninsula in the third century; although the term “Arabic” can be found in other languages as early as nine centuries before Christ, it is only at the end of the second century AD that the inhabitants begun to define themselves as Arabs. The first written traces of the Arabic language date back even later to the sixth century, although considered a variation of Aramaic.

In 2021, an interesting book by J. Sarmiento entitled Unforgotten Martyrs of Arabia provided an exhaustive historical reconstruction of the Christian presence in Arabia in pre-Islamic times, also constituting a prestigious source for current Christian communities, today existing under the Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Arabia, governed by the French Bishop Aldo Berardi and the Apostolic Vicariate of Southern Arabia, governed by the Italian Bishop Paolo Martinelli. A subdivision which, as we will see, is still today the result of the demarcations that arose in the first Christian penetration into Arabia.

The scenario within which the story of the Christian communities before Muhammad takes place is mainly that of Southern Arabia, which the Romans called Arabia Felix, due to its fertility, a region that today includes the southern part of Saudi Arabia and much of Yemen. It is also a portion of the territory which in the biblical story belonged to the legendary Queen of Sheba. The northernmost part of this region, almost on the border with the northern civilizations, is a group of oases, the last outpost before the desert, the largest of which took the name of Najran, an obligatory stop for caravans headed towards the Mediterranean along the famous Incense Road, mentioned by Ezekiel in the Bible.

Najran was the cradle of Christianity in Arabia, and probably in the 4th century it was introduced into those lands by the Syriac and Monophysite Churches and by the Ethiopian Christians. More or less in the same period the ruling tribe in Himyar, therefore in all the south region of the Peninsula, was converted to Judaism. In short, a situation far from that “confused paganism” which is often superficially evoked in reference to pre-Mohammedan Arab religiosity.

If in Najran and throughout the coastal strip of the Red Sea Christianity expanded under the protection of the Byzantine Church, in the opposite area, which overlooks the Gulf, the Nestorian Church prevailed, declared heretical after the Council of Ephesus and subsequently protected by Persians. To this second group of people belonged the great master of eastern spirituality and monastic asceticism, Isaac of Nineveh, who resigned as bishop after coming into conflict with the Nestorians.

According to tradition, Arethas (original name Al Harith ibn K’ab) was born in Najran in 427. He was considered a sort of governor of the city-state of Najran, and even more, a mukarrib, that is a priest- king, a cleric who was also responsible for the power of civil government. According to some sources, he was responsible for introducing Christianity to Najran and then to the south of the peninsula. A Christianity of Syriac origin and therefore Monophysite (the heresy confuted and abandoned in the Council of Chalcedon in 451 which denied the dual nature of Christ, for which the Messiah’s humanity and divinity are the same reality). A later Christianity supported above all by Byzantine Church had engaged in a harsh and even violent confrontation with Jewish communities of the diaspora.

This religious competition also ended up affecting Najran. The protagonist will be King Dhu Nuwas, a convert to Judaism who rose to the throne of the Himyarites around 490 AD and will go down in history for having put to death many Christians throughout the peninsula. Around 520 AD, Dhu Nawas will attack the Christian people of Najran, who were led by the charismatic elder Arethas.

A Greek text from the 7th century entitled Martyrium S. Arethae recounts in great detail the siege first and then the extermination that Dhu Nawas made of the approximately six hundred Christians of the city, including women, deacons, elders and children, after a fraudulent promise of truce. Arethas himself, leader of the community, will suffer the torture of decapitation at the age of 95, after the declamation of a joyful religious and political challenge against Dhu Nawas, reported in detail by a Passio written in the Byzantine liturgy. It was October 24, 523 AD. The Churches of Arabia therefore celebrate this year (2023-2024) the Jubilee of the 1,500 years of martyrdom of St. Arethas.

Following the massacre, a few years later king-negus Elesbaan (today venerated by the Oriental Churches with the name of Saint Caleb) was requested by the patriarch of Alexandria Timothy I and by the Byzantine emperor Justin to regain the territories of Najran and to avenge the Christian martyrs. It was a great task that the Ethiopian king promptly carried out at the head of a powerful army that defeated Dhu Nawas, forcing him, according to the chronicles of the Acta S. Arethae, to surrender and to commit suicide.

After suffering martyrdom, Najran therefore became the center of pre-Islamic Arab Christianity and a destination for pilgrimages from all over the Middle East. The pilgrims came to honor the martyrs to whom a large sanctuary with a cubic shape had been dedicated, the Martyrium (Ka’ba in Arabic). Eighty years later, with the advent of Islam, things changed again. It seems that the prophet Muhammad was initially quite tolerant towards the Christian community of Najran and, according to some reconstructions, he even met their representatives around 630 AD, assuring them of a regime of tolerance. But after the death of Muhammad, with the rise of Caliph Omar, this regime was set aside, and the Christians had to leave the city, some taking refuge in Syria, some in Iraq. With their banishment the city also disappeared forever, today with only a few ruins remaining. But with the city of Najran, the memory of the martyrs has not disappeared, kept alive by the new wave of Christians present there today.

In the box
Martyrs of Najran
In an ancient city in the desert, 1,500 years ago, 600 Christians led by Saint Arethas were massacred, who were responsible for the introduction of Christianity into the south of the Arabian Peninsula before the appearance of Muhammad.

*English translation of an article that appeared in L’Osservatore Romano on August 30, 2023. The original article in Italian can be found here.