Orthodoxy in Bahrain

According to legend, the first who preached Christianity in Arabia was the holy apostle Bartholomew . In 225 , a Christian bishopric already existed on the islands of Bahrain . During the 3rd – 4th centuries, Christianity spread more and more in Bahrain . However, in 431, local Christians converted from Orthodoxy to Nestorianism. In the 7th century, the rapid Islamization of Bahrain began , but part of the population continued to profess Christianity.

Currently, of all the Christian communities in Bahrain, the Orthodox Church is the smallest, mainly composed of visitors from other countries: Russia , Ukraine, Belarus and Greece , etc. Canonically, the territory of Bahrain is under the jurisdiction of the Antioch Orthodox Church . There are currently no Orthodox churches: there is a chapel in the village of Cypriots without a permanent priest ^[1] ; in 2008, the issue of building a temple of the Russian Orthodox Church in Bahrain was considered ^[2] .

In Bahrain, there are followers of ancient Eastern churches : for example, there are pre-Chalcedonian churches of the Virgin Mary ^[3] , which belong to the jurisdiction of the Malankar Orthodox Church , and St. Peter, which is under the jurisdiction of the Syro-Jacobite Orthodox Church ^[4] .

In 2000, the country was visited by Patriarch Bartholomew II of Constantinople. In May 2002, a representative of the Russian Orthodox Church visited Bahrain for the first time.

• Yuri Maximov. Orthodoxy in Bahrain (Neopr.) . Pravoslavie.ru (November 27, 2007). Date of treatment October 13, 2013.
• Greek Orthodox Temple Chapel (Bahrain) (Neopr.) . Missionary Center named after Priest Daniil Sysoev. Date of treatment October 13, 2013.