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Article: Culture and State in Jordan: Religious Freedom and Citizenship.
- Article from:
- The Ecumenical Review
- Article date:
- October 1, 1998
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1998 World Council of Churches. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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At the beginning of the 19th century, the Christian population of the area now called Jordan (then part of the Ottoman dominion of Southern Syria) was nearly all Greek Orthodox, linked with the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Jerusalem.(1) By the end of the century, this church would face the challenge of Roman Catholic and Protestant missionaries; in the first half of the 20th century, the Greek Catholic Church entered Jordan, and later Baptists and Seventh-day Adventists began missionary work in the country.
All of these missionaries were meant to go and preach to non-Christians. In fact, all of them relied on attracting adherents from the Greek Orthodox Church. ...