{"id":8806,"date":"2014-11-01T12:01:00","date_gmt":"2014-11-01T12:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/tunisia-the-muslim-nation-where-christians-enjoy-relative-freedom-74844\/"},"modified":"2014-11-01T12:01:00","modified_gmt":"2014-11-01T12:01:00","slug":"tunisia-the-muslim-nation-where-christians-enjoy-relative-freedom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2014\/11\/tunisia-the-muslim-nation-where-christians-enjoy-relative-freedom\/","title":{"rendered":"Tunisia: The Muslim nation where Christians enjoy relative freedom"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

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Tunis, Tunisia, Nov 1, 2014 \/ 06:01 am (Aid to the Church in Need<\/a>).- In Tunisia, public expressions of Christianity are against the law and the government frowns on conversions. But compared to the situation of the Church in other Muslim nations, circumstances in the North African country are tolerable.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cThe Catholic Church in Tunisia can do its work without political problems, thank God. The authorities know that we have nothing to hide and that our charitable institutions are here to serve the Tunisian people,\u201d Father Sergio Perez said in an interview with international Catholic pastoral agency Aid to the Church in Need.<\/p>\n

\t\u00a0The Argentine belongs to the religious order \u201cInstitute of the Incarnate Word\u201d (IVE). He has been working as the parish priest of the Cathedral of Tunis for the last four years.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cThe Catholic Church is the only religious community in the country that has an agreement with the state,\u201d he observed. That agreement was concluded by the Holy See and Tunisia in the 1960s.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cIt gives us legal certainty, but also brings restrictions. According to this modus vivendi, public expressions of the Catholic faith, such as processions, are not allowed. On the whole, this agreement also prohibits any form of proselytizing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tFr. Perez considers the country\u2019s new constitution, which was approved in January of this year, to be step in the right direction.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cIt not only guarantees freedom of worship, but also real freedom of conscience. This includes religious conversions, such as those from Islam to Christianity. This would be inconceivable in many Islamic countries.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cOf course, theory and practice are two very different things. But these are still very new policies. We will have to see how things develop,\u201d the missionary said.<\/p>\n

\tFr. Perez also reported a growing interest in Christianity in Tunisia.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cThanks to Pope Francis, more and more people are becoming interested, especially those who follow Islam more for cultural than for religious reasons. This is also happening in Algeria and some other countries.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tNonetheless, the priest views the large number of Tunisians who have joined jihadist groups with concern. Even so, he said, \u201cChristians have not felt any threats from jihadists yet. The extremists are more menacing toward Tunisians who are considered too liberal\u201d in their practice of Islam. Fr. Perez insists, moreover, that jihadism is a foreign import, lacking roots in the country.<\/p>\n

\tThe composition of Tunisia\u2019s Christian community, which is almost exclusively made up of foreign nationals, has greatly changed in the last few years.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cThis has something to do with the fact that several hundred Christian families from Sub-Saharan Africa have left the country, along with the exit of the African Development Bank. These had temporarily settled here in after being forced to leave the Ivory Coast in 2003 for reasons of safety. The Bank has now returned to the Ivory Coast, taken its Christian employees along. A number of our parishes have deeply felt this loss of part of their community. However, we still have many Christian students here from Sub-Saharan Africa, to whom we provide pastoral care.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tThe Catholic Church is the largest single Christian denomination in Tunisia; the Archdiocese of Tunis serves the entire country. Various religious orders help to further the charitable mission of the Church, and maintain schools, student residence halls and medical facilities.<\/p>\n

\tThere are a number of smaller Protestant as well as Orthodox communities. In 2012, the number of Christians in Tunisia was estimated to be about 25,000, with Catholics accounting for 80 percent of the total. Official records are not kept.<\/p>\n

\n\tOliver Maksan is a reporter for Aid to the Church in Need, an international Catholic charity under the guidance of the Holy See, providing assistance to the suffering and persecuted Church in more than 140 countries. www.churchinneed.org<\/a>\u00a0(USA);\u00a0;\u00a0www.acnuk.org\u00a0(UK);\u00a0www.aidtochurch.org\u00a0(AUS);\u00a0www.acnireland.org\u00a0(IRL);\u00a0www.acn-aed-ca.org\u00a0(CAN) www.acnmalta.org (Malta)<\/em><\/p>\n

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Tunis, Tunisia, Nov 1, 2014 \/ 06:01 am (Aid to the Church in Need).- In Tunisia, public expressions of Christianity are against the law and the government frowns on conversions. But compared to the situation of the Church in other Muslim nations, circu…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8806","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-middle-east-africa"],"yoast_head":"\nTunisia: The Muslim nation where Christians enjoy relative freedom<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Tunis, Tunisia, Nov 1, 2014 \/ 06:01 am (Aid to the Church in Need).- In Tunisia, public expressions of Christianity are against the law and the government frowns on conversions. 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