What's New

There are now more Melkite Catholics living outside the Middle East than inside. For social, cultural and canonical reasons, these Catholics face particular challenges.

Greek Melkite Catholics worship according to a Greek form of the Byzantine rite, weaving music, movement, iconography and prayer.

Fasting and abstinence play important seasonal roles in the life of the Melkite Church, in the “Great Fast,” or Lent, before Easter; and in three other fasts — before Christmas; the first two weeks of August; and at the Fast of the Apostles.

Islam opposes the representation of the divine in religious art, so a good deal of the visual culture in Jordan is represented through architecture and design, rather than images. Christian Jordanians, however, do display religious images in public, and are not prevented from doing so. Many women do so discreetly by wearing a gold or silver cross, but other kinds of religious images are commonly for sale in shops that sell to both Christians and Muslims. In general, Jordanian norms emphasize modesty, not flashiness or bright colors (though there are brightly lit exceptions on the skyline of

In recent years the Jordanian government has been promoting tourism at a site on the Jordan River where Jesus is thought to have been baptized.

Inward and outward migration is a significant reality in Jordanian life. Jordan absorbs refugees from conflicts in neighboring states, while outward migration shrinks the Christian population.

Christians are expected to show deference to the observance of Ramadan in all public settings, by not eating, drinking or smoking during daylight hours.

Three aspects of family life came to the fore: the frequency and size of family gatherings, the role of a patriarch and elders in making decisions for others in the extended family, and the significance of one's family origin in public interactions.

The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is an Islamic state, and has an overwhelmingly Muslim population, but the small Christian community's roots in the country are ancient, long preceding the foundations of Islam.

Family is among of the first things that come to mind when many Italians and foreigners think of what it means to be Italian. Yet the old image of the large Italian family is at odds with the demographic realities of contemporary Italy.