THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA (ANS) — The Middle East and North Africa are in a state of transformation. The Church has existed in this part of the world since the time of Christ. Around 20 million Arab Christians live in this region. 11 million are Orthodox Christians, 5.4 million are Catholic and 3.6 million are Protestants.
But the Church in many Middle Eastern countries is shrinking. In 1900 Christians represented around 20% of the population of the Middle East. That number has fallen to less than 5% today. These numbers are even more striking in the Holy Land. Historically, the percentage of Christians in the West Bank and Gaza has declined from nearly 20% to 1.5% today (Sennott, The Body and the Blood 2001). Read more.