Jordan is home to one of the oldestChristiancommunities in the world, dating back to thecrucifixion of Jesus Christ early in the 1st century AD. Christians today make up about 3% of the population. There are approximately 250,000-400,000 Jordanian Christians in a country of almost 10 million,[1] down from 20% in 1930, but their absolute numbers have increased.[2] This is the result of high immigration rate of Muslims into Jordan, high emigration rates of Christians, and high birth rates for Muslims.
Jordan'sArab Christians are well integrated in the Jordanian society and enjoy a high level of freedom.[3] All Christian religious ceremonies are allowed to be publicly celebrated in Jordan.[4] Christians are allotted a minimum of 7% of the seats in theJordanian parliament (9 out of 130 seats). Jordanian Christians hold ministerial portfolios, ambassadorial appointments, and positions of high military rank. The highest position reached by a Jordanian Christian is deputy prime minister, most recently held byRajai Muasher.[5]
Jordanian Christians are among the oldest Christian communities in the world,[6] and themajority have always been Orthodox adherents to thePatriarchate of Jerusalem, founded at the day ofPentecost. The Jordanian Orthodox Christians are believed to be around 300,000. Many of them are descended from the Ancient ArabGhassanid andLakhmid tribes.
In 629, during the Islamic prophetMuhammad's lifetime, many Jordanian Christians joined Muhammad's army led by his adopted sonZeid ibn Haritha and his cousinJafar bin Abi Taleb, and fought against theByzantine army of their fellow Orthodox Christians at theBattle of Mutah inKarak (it is because of this battle that they earned their tribal name "'Uzaizat" which means "the reinforcements"). In 1099, during theFirst Crusade, some were killed by Crusaders at theFall of Jerusalem alongside the Muslims.[citation needed]
From 1916–18 during theGreat Arab Revolt they fought with the Muslim Arabs against the Ottoman forces; they thereafter languished for a few decades along with their Muslim fellows under a Protestant Colonial Mandate, and in the Israeli Arab Wars of1948,1967 and1968 they fought with Muslim Arabs against Israel. Christian Jordanians have defendedJordan and helped to build Jordan, playing leading roles in the fields of politics, education, health, commerce, tourism, agriculture, science, culture and numerous other fields.
Christians are exceptionally well integrated in the Jordanian society and have a comparatively high level of freedom, though they are not free to evangelize Muslims.[3] They form a significant part of the kingdom's political and economic elite. Christians enjoy high economic and social opportunities in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan compared to the position of some, but not all, of their co-religionists in the rest of theMiddle East. Christians are allotted 9 out of 130 seats in theJordanian parliament[5] and also hold important ministerial portfolios, ambassadorial appointments, and positions of high military rank.
Jordanian Christians are allowed by the public and private sectors to leave their work to attendmass on Sundays. All Christian religious ceremonies are publicly celebrated in Jordan. Christians have established good relations with the royal family and the various Jordanian government officials, and they have their ownecclesiastical courts for matters of personal status. The government has contributed to restoring pilgrimages to thebaptismal site of Jesus. Christians involved in Jordanian politics include Deputy Prime MinisterRajai Muasher and ambassador to the U.S.Dina Kawar.[7]
Jordanian Christians of the evangelical church created the Jordan Evangelical Council in 2006. The most recent elections in September 2019 elected Reverend Habes Nimat as president and Reverend David Rihani as vice president.[8]
King Abdullah II is an ardent supporter of Arab Christians:[9]
Let me say once again: Arab Christians are an integral part of my region’s past, present, and future.
In 2022 Muslims made up about 97.2% of the country's population, whileChristians made up 2.1% of the country's population.[10] Half of the Christians, or 1.06% of the country's population, were Catholics (115,000 people).[11] A 2015 study estimated 6,500 Christian believers, from a Muslim background, were in the country (mainlyProtestant).[12] Jordanian Christians number around 250,000, most of whom are ethnically Arab, according to a 2014 estimate by the Eastern Orthodox Church. The study excluded minority Christian groups and the thousands ofIraqi andSyrian Christians residing in Jordan.[13]
Undersharia law converts from Islam are still considered Muslims;[10] however, there are cases in which a Muslim will adopt the Christian faith, secretly declaring their faith. In effect, they are practising Christians but legally Muslims; thus, the statistics of Jordanian Christians does not include Muslim converts to Christianity. A 2015 study estimates there are some 6,500 Christians from a Muslim background in Jordan.[14]
Among the recognized denominations theGreek Orthodox,Catholic (Latin,Melkite Greek Catholic, andMaronite Catholic),Anglican,Armenian Orthodox, andSyriac Orthodox Church make up the majority of Jordan's Christian population. Also theLutheran,Coptic Orthodox,Seventh-day Adventist,United Pentecostal,Latter-day Saints, andPresbyterian churches are recognized denominations while they make up a much smaller proportion of the Christian population.
In addition to the recognized denominations there are religious societies that are allowed to meet freely, but are not recognized as churches by the government. The recognized religious societies are theEvangelical Free Church, theChurch of the Nazarene, theAssembly of God, theBaptist Church, and theChristian and Missionary Alliance.[citation needed]
Christian denominations in Jordan belong to four major denominational groups:
Jordan is part of theHoly Land and has several biblical attractions that attract pilgrimage and tourist activities. Biblical sites include;Al-Maghtas where Jesus was baptized;Mount Nebo whereMoses looked on to thePromised Land;Umm ar-Rasas, a fortified Roman garrison that contains 16 Byzantine churches;Madaba that holds theMadaba Map which is the oldest mosaic map of the Holy Land;Machaerus which is a fortified hilltop overlooking theDead Sea whereJohn the Baptist was imprisoned and executed; andUmm Qais (Gadara) where Jesusexpelled demons out of a man near the shores of theSea of Galilee.[15]
In northern Jordan, there is a small creek where anangel met and wrestled with the patriarchJacob. The rock struck byMoses to bring forth water and the patriarchAaron's tomb are both in southern Jordan. The ruins of the fortress of theAmmonites are on a mountain overlooking downtown Amman. This is the site whereKing David hadBathsheba's husbandUriah the Hittite killed.
There are manyArab andFrankish castles from the period of theCrusades in Jordan, the most famous of which isAjlun castle located in theAjloun district in northern Jordan. Other castles includeMontreal andKerak.Fuheis andAl Husn are two predominantly Christian towns of Jordan. The world'soldest known purpose-built church exists inAqaba.
There are many Christian schools in Jordan that educate students from both Christian and Muslim families. Some members of the royal family have attended a Christian school for a portion of their education. The Rosary Sister's School is run by theCatholic Church. The Franciscan Sisters School is run by theFranciscans. TheNational Orthodox School is run by theEastern Orthodox Church and has received The CambridgeQueen Rania Award multiple times.
The Ahliyyah School for Girls, the Bishop's School for Boys, and the Schneller School are run by theAnglican Church in Amman. There are also a school for the blind, a school for the deaf, and a school for physically handicapped students run by the Anglican church. The Baptist School of Amman is administered by the Baptist church in Jordan and enrolls students of both genders. The Baptist School band has played at many official government occasions.
La Salle Amman is one of the most prestigious schools in Amman founded in 1950. An institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools founded by Jean-Baptiste de la Salle. Along with Our Lady of Nazareth college and Terra Santa college. The Alliance Academy of Jordan a newly founded school in 2014 by the oldest Evangelical community in Jordan the Church & Missionary Alliance, regarded as a state of the art British and American based system school. The latest Chairman of the Board was Vice President of the CMA Rev. Hassan Dababneh.
The first hospital built in Jordan was the "Evangelical Hospital" built inAs-Salt by theChurch Missionary Society. The Italian Hospital in Amman and in Kerak were started by a Catholic surgeon and are entrusted to the Comboni Missionary Sisters. The Catholic Church runs a maternity hospital and a general hospital inIrbid. The Government Hospital inAjloun was originally run byBaptists.
The Annoor Sanatorium inMafraq, which treatstuberculosis and other lung diseases, was founded by a Christian doctor. Severalmission clinics were founded across Jordan.
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