US embassy cable - 04KUWAIT1699

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KUWAIT 001699 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ARP, NEA/RA, DRL/IRF, DRL/PHD, DRL/CRA 
RIYADH FOR MATT TUELLER 
TEL AVIV FOR DCM LEBARON 
TUNIS FOR NATALIE BROWN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/26/2014 
TAGS: PHUM, KIRF, KISL, PGOV, SOCI, PREL, KU 
SUBJECT: (C) CATHOLIC CHURCH OPERATES FREELY, BUT 
CHALLENGES REMAIN 
 
REF: RIYADH 02725 
 
Classified By: CDA Frank C. Urbancic, reason 1.4(d) 
 
1.(C) SUMMARY: The Roman Catholic Church is the largest 
Christian church in Kuwait, with an estimated 100,000 
members.  It has its own bishop, while all the rest of Arabia 
comes under another bishop. Additionally, the Papal Nuncio 
(Vatican Ambassador) accredited to Kuwait, Yemen, Bahrain, 
and Qatar is resident in Kuwait; he is also Apostolic 
Delegate for the Arabian Peninsula. The Roman Catholic Church 
is one of four Christian churches that are officially 
recognized by the GOK and allowed to operate compounds 
officially designated as churches. It is able to hold worship 
services without government interference, and the GOK is 
generally tolerant and supportive of the Church's activities. 
 However, like other recognized churches, it faces a quota on 
the number of clergy and staff it can bring into the country, 
chronic overcrowding at its three facilities, and 
restrictions on religious teaching. The Church is working 
with other recognized Christian denominations to strengthen 
fellowship and dialogue among the diverse Christian community 
in Kuwait, and to bring their concerns to the attention of 
GOK officials. The Church also provides some limited, 
unofficial assistance to abused third-country national 
domestic servants and other victims of trafficking, many of 
whom are Catholics. END SUMMARY. 
 
2.(SBU) Poloffs met with Bishop Francis Micallef, the Roman 
Catholic Church's Vicar Apostolic of Kuwait, May 25 as part 
of our ongoing dialogue with leaders of the various faiths in 
Kuwait on religious freedom issues.  Bishop Micallef, a 
Maltese national and a member of the Carmelite order, 
recently celebrated his 50th anniversary of ordination, and 
has been resident in Kuwait City for the past 22 years. 
Having reached the age of 75, Micallef has submitted his 
resignation as required; he said he expects to leave fairly 
soon, once a successor is chosen.  He explained that Kuwait 
is a Vicariate Apostolic rather than a diocese, because a 
diocese has to have an indigenous Catholic community. 
Technically, therefore, Micallef is properly described as 
Catholic Bishop "in" Kuwait, not "of" Kuwait (he is Vicar 
Apostolic of Kuwait).  The same applies to the rest of 
Arabia, whose Vicar Apostolic is Bishop Bernardo Gremoli 
(reftel), resident in UAE. 
 
(U) LARGEST CHRISTIAN CHURCH IN KUWAIT 
-------------------------------------- 
 
3. (SBU) The Roman Catholic Church is the largest Christian 
church in Kuwait, with an estimated 100,000 members.  Bishop 
Micallef declined to estimate how many of these attend 
services, but he noted by way of illustration that more than 
20 weekly services are conducted at the Cathedral, in various 
languages. The Roman Catholic Church has two official 
churches, the Holy Family Cathedral in downtown Kuwait City 
built in 1960-61 as the seat of the Vicar Apostolic, and Our 
Lady of Arabia in Ahmadi that was built by Kuwait Oil Company 
in the 1950s, originally for its (mainly Indian) Catholic 
employees. The Roman Catholic Church also holds worship and 
other religious services in a private home in Salmiya 
district that is registered in the name of a Kuwaiti citizen. 
The Holy Family Cathedral and its surrounding compound was 
built on land in downtown Kuwait City given to the Roman 
Catholic Church by the ruling family.  Latin (i.e. western 
rite, what most Americans think of when they say "Catholic"), 
Maronite, Coptic Catholic, Armenian Catholic, Malabar, and 
Malankara congregations all worship there. The estimated 
2,000 Greek Catholics in Kuwait, while also under the 
authority of the Pope, worship separately in a rented house 
in Salwa district. The Greek Catholic priest is a Patriarchal 
Vicar subordinate to a Bishop in Lebanon. 
 
4.(SBU) The Roman Catholic Church is one of four Christian 
denominations that enjoy full recognition by the GOK allowing 
them to operate compounds officially designated as churches; 
the other three are the Coptic Orthodox, Anglican, and 
National Evangelical (Protestant) churches. The Roman 
Catholic Church has an "open file" at the Ministry of Social 
Affairs and Labor that allows it to bring in pastors and 
staff. However, there are quotas on the number of clergy and 
staff that recognized churches can bring into the country. 
According to Bishop Micallef, the Roman Catholic Church can 
sponsor and obtain residence permits for a total of 16 
workers. The Church currently has 9 priests and 7 staff 
members. 
(U) PAPAL NUNCIO RESIDENT IN KUWAIT CITY 
---------------------------------------- 
 
5.(SBU) A Papal Nuncio (Vatican Ambassador) is also resident 
in Kuwait, accredited to Kuwait, Yemen, Bahrain, and Qatar. 
The Nuncio, Archbishop Giuseppe De Andrea, is also Apostolic 
Delegate for the Arabian Peninsula (i.e. he is the Vatican's 
diplomatic representative to all countries of the Peninsula, 
whether accredited or not), and has served in Kuwait for over 
four years. The fact that the Nuncio is resident in Kuwait is 
testimony to the GOK's commitment to religious tolerance. 
Kuwait was the first Gulf state to establish diplomatic 
relations with the Vatican in 1969. In 2001, diplomatic 
relations between the Vatican and Kuwait were upgraded to 
ambassadorial level. 
 
(SBU) CHALLENGES FACING THE CATHOLIC CHURCH 
------------------------------------------- 
 
6.(C) Bishop Micallef stressed that the Roman Catholic Church 
is free to operate openly in its three premises, and that the 
GOK and Kuwaiti society are generally tolerant and supportive 
of its activities. He said that before the Iraqi invasion of 
Kuwait, some conservative members of parliament had proposed 
to relocate the Holy Family Cathedral from its downtown 
Kuwait City location near the National Assembly to a less 
conspicuous site, but that those demands were later dropped. 
A few years ago, the owner of the private home in Salmiya in 
which members of the Roman Catholic community hold worship 
services decided to sell the property. In order to avoid 
having to relocate, the Roman Catholic Church bought the home 
but a private Kuwaiti citizen agreed to register it 
officially and legally in her name. (Note: Foreigners are 
prohibited from owning property in Kuwait. End Note). 
 
7.(C) According to Bishop Micallef, the Roman Catholic Church 
has asked the GOK for additional land and permission to build 
a multi-purpose facility in which to hold religious and other 
community services, such as weddings, in order to alleviate 
chronic overcrowding. The Roman Catholic Church has also 
petitioned the GOK to allow Catholic students in private 
schools to study the catechism during the period in which 
Muslim students receive mandatory instruction in Islam. The 
GOK has not yet responded to these requests. 
 
8.(C) The Roman Catholic Church, according to Bishop 
Micallef, does not engage in any official inter-faith 
dialogue with Muslims in Kuwait. Unofficially, he said, 
government officials and Muslim scholars sometimes seek 
information from him on Catholicism or Church teaching, and 
those contacts provide a forum for some limited, unofficial 
inter-faith dialogue. The Roman Catholic Church holds a 
weekly prayer service for Christian unity, and the various 
Christian churches in Kuwait have revived a Christian 
"fellowship" program to strengthen dialogue and understanding 
among themselves. 
 
(SBU) CHURCH EFFORTS TO ASSIST TIP VICTIMS 
------------------------------------------ 
 
9.(SBU) Bishop Micallef highlighted the Roman Catholic 
Church's efforts to provide some assistance to abused or 
exploited domestic servants and other laborers, many 
thousands of whom are Catholics, mainly from India and the 
Philippines. He said the Church helped to encourage the 
Philippine Embassy several years ago to establish a shelter 
for runaway Philippine domestics. (Note: Out of roughly 
400,000-500,000 domestic servants in Kuwait, around 1,000 are 
estimated to be living in source-country embassy shelters at 
any given time as a result of abuse, non-payment of wages, or 
other labor problems. End Note). Church pastors, staff, and 
community volunteers, he added, often visit source-country 
embassy shelters, police stations, and the Central Prison to 
donate clothing and other items to domestics there. 
URBANCIC