Oman is a sultanate in the Arabian Peninsula. The sultan is both head of state and the absolute ruler of the government. There are no official figures about the religious composition of the population, though an estimated 75% of its people are Muslim. There are four Catholic parishes and a dozen priests in the country, according to Vatican News.
Other religions are tolerated there; Catholics in the country can worship, manage schools, and give themselves an organization. The Oman territory is under the Apostolic Vicariate of Southern Arabia.
Including Oman, the Holy See now has diplomatic relations with 184 nations worldwide. The latest to be added to the list was Myanmar in 2017, a move that made Pope Francis’ trip to the nation possible that same year.
The opening of a contact channel with the Sultanate of Oman happened in 2017, after Father Tom Uzhunnalil, the Salesian priest abducted in Yemen in 2016, was released after 18 months of imprisonment.
Oman’s role was crucial in his liberation. Indeed, Oman has maintained balanced relations with all parties to the conflict in Yemen and already has secured the release of several people abducted or missing from the war-torn country.
On the occasion of the priest’s release, the Holy See issued a brief statement thanking “those who worked to find him, in particular, His Majesty the Sultan of Oman and the competent authorities of the Sultanate.”
