Perspective
Riyadh (AsiaNews) – A Catholic Indian priest was yesterday forced to leave Saudi Arabia. He was discovered by the religious police as he organized a prayer meeting in the lead-up to Easter. Arrested on 5 April, he remained in police custody for four days and on Saturday 8th April he left for India. The practice of any religion other than Islam is forbidden in Saudi Arabia. Meetings held privately in people’s homes, among friends, are also banned.
The priest, Fr George Joshua, belongs to the Malankara rite of Kerala (India). His visit to Catholic Indians in the Saudi Kingdom was planned with his bishop’s permission.
On 5 April, Fr George had just celebrated mass in a private house when seven religious policemen (muttawa) broke into the house together with two ordinary policemen. The police arrested the priest and another person.
The Saudi religious police are well known for their ruthlessness; they often torture believers of other religions who are arrested.
AsiaNews sources said there were around 400,000 Indian Catholics in Saudi Arabia who were denied pastoral care. Catholic foreigners in the country number at least one million: none of them can participate in mass while they are in Saudi Arabia. Catechism for their children – nearly 100,000 – is banned.
Often, for feasts like Easter and Christmas, Catholics plan holidays in the Emirates, Bahrain or Abu Dhabi, where at least for once, they are free to attend mass.
News like this really makes me really thankful for the availability of the Mass and ready access to the sacraments. We complain about Church mergings, priest shortage, liturgical abuses, limited access time for confession, etc and then see stories like this where priests and people risk their life to celebrate Mass. Please send some prayers there way and also offer thanks for what I know I take for granted.
Known as 
I lived in Saudi Arabia for 18 mos. and everything in this article is true. Though I had heard there were underground Masses around we could never find one. Secrecy was vital. We travelled to Bahrain for Christmas one year and Dubai for Easter. Other than that we were never able to attend Mass. It's sad because not only are there a lot of Indian Catholics there are 1000s of Filipino Catholics in Saudi who cannot attend Mass. It was disappointing that the Saudis didn't realize the good social effects of allowing people to practice their faith. The expat lifestyle is pretty depraved; excessive drinking, fornication, and all other vices have no opposition and become normal. God bless Fr. George.
The Saudis are the machine behind radical Islam.
info@saudiembassy.net
There's the e-mail address. Add your voice.
F.
Saudi Arabia is a US ally?
That is depressing news, especially for my fellow Filipino Catholics. Maybe the embassies can host these Masses where the Saudi police dare not enter. I was able to go to Mass in Beijing in our embassy there during a visit 10 years ago, and it was full.