Christians have ‘deep roots’ in Jordan, expert tells Crux Now after deadly church attack
Interreligious dialogue expert Waseem Haddad said Christians have deep roots in Jordan and belong in the country’s public life and shared future. Haddad said dialogue across the Middle East is under pressure and must reach beyond people already committed to it, while addressing fear, discrimination and citizenship. Nine people were killed and dozens injured in an October 23 attack on a Greek Orthodox church in Jordan’s Karak governorate; security forces arrested three suspects. Haddad praised Jordan’s response and the Christian community’s rejection of blaming Muslims or Islam for the attack.
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A deadly attack on a Greek Orthodox church in Jordan has renewed attention to the place of Christians in the country and the challenges facing interreligious dialogue in the Middle East. Waseem Haddad of KAICIID said Christians are part of Jordan’s civic life and called for dialogue to address everyday concerns such as discrimination, security and trust in institutions.
The attack took place on Oct. 23 in Jordan’s Karak governorate, killing nine people and injuring dozens. Jordanian security forces later arrested three suspects after a shootout in which all three were injured.
Haddad said KAICIID would not comment on the circumstances of the attack while an investigation was underway. He praised Jordan’s response, including three days of national mourning, the King’s visit to injured people, condolences from the royal family and the Prime Minister’s attendance at the funeral on the King’s behalf.
He also highlighted the response of Christian community and church leaders, who reaffirmed their belonging to Jordan and called for justice without blaming Muslims or Islam. Haddad said that stance should be respected, while cautioning that it does not mean Christians’ fears have disappeared.
Haddad described Christians as having “deep roots” in Jordan, where they participate in public and political life and work in business, education and other parts of the economy. He noted that Christian churches, schools and charitable institutions have long served both Christian and Muslim communities.
He said Christians belong to the wider region as citizens and partners in its future, but that expressions of coexistence must be matched by protections for rights and prospects for families and children. He also said Christians and other religious minorities can face additional threats or discrimination because of their faith, alongside hardships shared across society.
On the question of how Christians can remain in the Middle East, Haddad emphasized citizenship, security, work, freedom and trustworthy institutions. He said people should be asked what would make staying possible, rather than simply being urged to remain for the sake of preserving diversity.
Haddad said there is commitment to dialogue among religious leaders and partners, but that it often remains within circles already convinced of its value. He described dialogue as “under pressure” and said efforts should broaden participation and create space to speak openly about fear, discrimination and common citizenship.
He cautioned against treating every difficulty as a religious conflict, noting that war, displacement and economic hardship can also strain relations between communities. In his view, religious leaders can challenge prejudice, support affected families and help rebuild trust, but dialogue must accompany political responsibility and functioning institutions rather than replace them.
KAICIID works to bring religious leaders together with civil society, community actors and policymakers. Haddad cited the Interreligious Platform for Dialogue and Cooperation in the Arab World, launched through a KAICIID initiative in 2018, as a regional effort focused on peaceful coexistence, common citizenship and social cohesion.
Citizenship shapes Christian belonging in religiously plural societies
Citizenship shapes Christian belonging because Christians live their faith as members of actual political communities, not only as members of the Church. In a religiously plural society, that means seeking full participation and equal rights while remaining faithful to a religious identity that is not reducible to national identity. Catholic teaching thus holds together civic belonging and a kind of spiritual “foreignness”: Christians can love and serve their country, yet measure their lives by the Gospel.
In Ecclesia in Medio Oriente, Benedict XVI says that Middle Eastern Catholics, most of whom are native citizens of their countries, have both the duty and the right to participate fully in national life. They should not be treated as second-class citizens because of their religion. The point extends beyond Christians: fundamental rights belong to every person and citizen, whatever their origins, beliefs, or political preferences.
This makes citizenship more than a matter of formal status. It describes a person’s place in a shared political community—with rights, responsibilities, and opportunities to contribute. For Christians, participation may include serving their neighbors, contributing to cultural and civic life, and helping build institutions that benefit people of different faiths. Benedict points to Christian schools, hospitals, and other institutions that welcome people without discrimination as one expression of this service.
The underlying principle is human dignity. Religious freedom is not a special privilege for Christians, but a right grounded in the worth of every human person. The interreligious-witness principles likewise connect freedom of religion—including public profession and practice—to the dignity of people created in God’s image, and call Christians to oppose religious persecution and the political exploitation of religion.
Full citizenship does not require Christians to leave their faith outside the public square. The International Theological Commission warns against a split in which a person’s public identity is treated as merely secular while faith is confined to private life. It argues that Christians may contribute to public discussion about the common good without seeking to impose specifically confessional values or to use political power as a means of proselytism.
That distinction matters in plural societies. Christian participation should be public but non-coercive: a contribution offered through witness, dialogue, service, and civic argument, not a demand that others accept the faith by force. The Church’s rejection of political power as a tool of proselytism is compatible with Christians speaking openly about what they believe serves human dignity and the common good.
Nor does pluralism require religious convictions to be treated as irrelevant to public life. The Commission argues that religious communities can contribute to public reflection, while the state must respect religious freedom and the distinct responsibilities of political and religious communities. Its term “positive laicity” refers, in this context, to a public order that neither establishes theocracy nor excludes religion from civic life.
Christian citizenship has a tension at its heart: Christians belong to their countries, but their deepest allegiance is not exhausted by national belonging. An International Theological Commission text recalls the early Christian image of people who live in their own countries, fulfill civic duties, and yet understand themselves as pilgrims. This does not mean rejecting civic responsibility; it means that Christian identity gives those responsibilities a larger horizon.
Benedict XVI makes a related distinction: Christians can have a healthy patriotism and take joy in their nation’s cultural and religious inheritance, while remaining “foreigners” in the sense that they may not follow the prevailing values or habits when these conflict with the Gospel. He connects this outsider’s perspective with responsibility for others and service to the good of society.
These are different kinds of belonging, not competing legal statuses. Citizenship situates a person within a political community; Christian belonging arises from faith and incorporation into the Church. A scholarly discussion of Augustine cautions against simply identifying the Church with the heavenly city and the state with the earthly one: it describes Augustine’s account of ultimate citizenship as a matter of what governs a person’s love, not merely of institutional membership.
In practice, the Catholic vision calls Christians to claim equal citizenship for themselves and to uphold the same rights for others. It also calls them to contribute to society without confusing witness with coercion, and to respect religious differences without treating them as unimportant. The International Theological Commission describes believers’ public and cultural involvement as something shared with people of different cultures and religions, whose differences should be respected and valued.
So the claim that citizenship shapes Christian belonging is best understood in two senses. Citizenship shapes the circumstances and responsibilities through which Christians live out their faith; it does not determine the full content or ultimate horizon of that faith. A Christian belongs to a nation as a responsible citizen, and to the Church as a member of a community whose allegiance to Christ can sometimes affirm—and sometimes challenge—the society in which it lives.