MECMiddle East
Churches

Questions and answers

Are there churches in Kuwait?

Yes. Kuwait officially recognises seven churches: Catholic, Coptic Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox, Greek Orthodox, Greek Catholic, Anglican and the National Evangelical Church. This guide documents 6 church buildings there. The oldest dated one is the Catholic Holy Family Co-Cathedral in Kuwait City, blessed and first used for Mass on 16 March 1961, which has been the seat of the Catholic bishops in Kuwait ever since. Registered churches deal with government ministries over clergy visas, building permits and police protection.

The candidates, and what each date means

PlaceDateWhat the date refers toEvidence
Holy Family Co-Cathedral (Catholic)Blessed 16 March 1961Church building; co-cathedral since 2021Catholic Church in Kuwait, milestones
National Evangelical ChurchRecognised church; about 15,000 membersThe recognised Protestant churchSummary of religious freedom in Kuwait
Saint Mark Coptic Orthodox CathedralAbout 60,000 members reportedLargest Orthodox body in KuwaitCathedral website and summary of Christianity in Kuwait
Our Lady of Arabia, Ahmadi (Catholic)Statue carved in 1949Church in the oil town of Ahmadi; holds the cedar statue of Our Lady of ArabiaSummary of the Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Arabia

The Catholic church in Kuwait

Catholic jurisdiction in Kuwait began as the Apostolic Prefecture of Kuwait in 1953 and became part of the Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Arabia in 2011, which now covers Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. The Holy Family Co-Cathedral was blessed by Bishop Teofano Ubaldo Stella, the first Apostolic Vicar of Kuwait. During the Iraqi invasion and occupation of 1990 and 1991 its clergy stayed and Masses continued, and after liberation its bells rang in thanksgiving. Its stained-glass windows were installed in 1976 and the complex was expanded in 1997. In 2021 it became a co-cathedral, sharing the bishop’s seat with Our Lady of Arabia in Bahrain.

Orthodox and Protestant churches

The Coptic Orthodox are the largest Orthodox body in Kuwait by a wide margin, with about 60,000 members reported against roughly 4,000 Armenian Orthodox and 3,500 Greek Orthodox. Eastern Orthodox Christians belong to the Patriarchate of Antioch; their parish was reorganised in 1969, and the archdiocese of Baghdad and Kuwait keeps its administrative headquarters in Kuwait. The National Evangelical Church on Al-Shuhada Street is the recognised Protestant church. Pew Research Center estimates ≈ 460,000 Christian residents in Kuwait in 2020, 10.5% of the population, including migrant workers; it is an estimate, not a census count.

Limits of this answer

This guide documents 6 church buildings in Kuwait; it has no profiles yet for the Armenian, Greek Catholic and Anglican congregations among the seven recognised churches. The list of recognised churches and the membership figures come from published summaries and the churches’ own sites, not from an official Kuwaiti register. Rules can change, so this page gives no legal or travel advice.

Places mentioned

Sources

Data and supplementary sources

Encyclopedia entries were read in full in their electronic editions; each is credited to its author. Page and column references appear only where the source prints them; the Gorgias dictionary is cited by entry title.