The election of Pope Leo LIV as the successor to Francis, with the participation of a hand full of cardinals from the Middle East, might generate a renewed interest in the lives and livelihood of the small catholic community in the region. Estimated at 5.6 million (2013 PEW figures), they make up just one per cent of the global population.

Despite their small presence, all—almost all—the countries of the Middle East have relations with the Holy See. As the enclosed list complied from the Vatican indicates, political and foreign policy calculations meant that even countries without any Catholic citizen population have also joined the process.

The historic Jewish-Papacy theological contest and animosity meant that Israel-Vatican normalisation had to wait until the Oslo Agreement of 1993. Others have been moving in that direction for decades. The Sultanate of Oman, known for its inclusive society, was the latest to join the process when it established relations in February 2023.

Interestingly, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia remains the only Middle Eastern country that does not have formal relations with the Vatican. With Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who’s spearheading far-reaching religious and social reforms, will the Kingdom join the march? Here is when the Middle Eastern countries established diplomatic ties with the Vatican.

• Lebanon – November 1946
• Egypt – August 23, 1947
• Iran – May 2, 1953
• Syria – February 21, 1953
• Türkiye – January 25, 1960
• Iraq – August 26, 1966
• Kuwait – October 21, 1968
• Algeria – March 6, 1972
• The Sudan – April 29, 1972
• Tunisia – March 22, 1972
• Morocco – January 15, 1976
• Libya – March 10, 1997
• Yemen – October 13, 1998
• Jordan – March 3, 1994
• Israel – June 15, 1994
• Bahrain – January 12, 2000
• Qatar – November 18, 2002
• UAE – May 31, 2007
• South Sudan – February 22, 2013
• State of Palestine – June 26, 2015
• Oman – February 22, 2023
• Saudi Arabia – Not Yet

The author teaches contemporary Middle East studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.

Note:  This article was originally published in The Week on 24 May 2025 and has been reproduced with the permission of the author. Web Link

As part of its editorial policy, the MEI@ND standardizes spelling and date formats to make the text uniformly accessible and stylistically consistent. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views/positions of the MEI@ND. Editor, MEI@ND: P R Kumaraswamy