Christianity is a minority religion in

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...

. The Yemeni constitution mentions

religious liberty Freedom of religion or religious liberty is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance. It also includes the freedom ...

. There are three churches in Aden.

History

Christianity was a widespread religion on the territory of contemporary Yemen as early as in 6th century before arrival of Islam in Yemen. Divisions between

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

and Christians led to the latter being persecuted under the Jewish Kingdom of Himyar. After the Ethiopian invasion of Yemen, the Ethiopian-based

Kingdom of Axum The Kingdom of Aksum ( gez, መንግሥተ አክሱም, ), also known as the Kingdom of Axum or the Aksumite Empire, was a kingdom centered in Northeast Africa and South Arabia from Classical antiquity to the Middle Ages. Based primarily in wh ...

supported the local Christian community and tried to encourage the growth of Christianity in the region. This led to a revenge suppression of Yemenite Jews by their new rulers.

Present situation

According to one 2008 estimate, there are 3,000 Christians in Yemen, most of whom are foreign nationals and temporary residents.United States Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor
Yemen: International Religious Freedom Report 2008
Pew-Templeton estimates the number of Christians in Yemen at 40,000. There are about 4,000 Catholics in Yemen, who belong to the Apostolic Vicariate of Arabia. The ''

World Christian Encyclopedia ''World Christian Encyclopedia'' is a reference work, with its third edition published by Edinburgh University Press in November 2019. The ''WCE'' is known for providing membership statistics for major world religions and Christian denominatio ...

'', Second edition, Volume 1, states the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and the

Russian Orthodox Church , native_name_lang = ru , image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg , imagewidth = , alt = , caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia , abbreviation = ROC , type ...

as largest denominations in Yemen. In Aden there are three Catholic churches and one Anglican church. In

San'a Sanaa ( ar, صَنْعَاء, ' , Yemeni Arabic: ; Old South Arabian: 𐩮𐩬𐩲𐩥 ''Ṣnʿw''), also spelled Sana'a or Sana, is the capital and largest city in Yemen and the centre of Sanaa Governorate. The city is not part of the Govern ...

there are weekly Protestant services. Christian missions from several countries are active in Yemen. There are hospitals that belong to foreign Christian institutions. Protestants make up less than 1% of the population of Yemen. An American Baptist congregation is affiliated with a hospital in Jibla. The Anglican Church runs two charitable clinics in Aden. Some say that the relations between Christians and Muslims contribute to religious freedom. Conversion from Islam to Christianity is not legally recognized by the state. A 2015 study estimates that there are 400 Christians from a Muslim background in the country. Yemen is number five on Open Doors’ 2022 World Watch List, an annual ranking of the 50 countries where Christians face the most extreme persecution.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Christianity In Yemen

History

Present situation

See also

References