'The queen of the south will arise at the judgment . . .'

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Today's gospel is Luke 11:29-32 in which Jesus mentions 'the queen of the South'. She is also known as the Queen of Sheba. Some scholars say she was from Yemen, others from Ethiopia. Yemen is one of the Arab countries that is unsettled at the moment. Two days ago President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has been in power for 33 years, promised to step down 'in a few days'. It seems very few believe him. The day before his announcement Tawakul Karman, a Yemeni woman was announced as one of three winners of this year's Nobel Peace Prize. 
Yemen's Catholics belong to the Apostolic Vicariate of Southern Arabia, which also includes Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Catholics number 2,129,000 or 3.4 percent of the overall population of 62,498,240. However, in 1950 they numbered 5,840 or 0.1 percent of 10,000,000. The increase in the number and percentage of Catholics is due to the influx of overseas workers in recent decades, especially from the Philippines.
The bishop of the vicariate is Most Rev Paul Hinder OFMCap from Switzerland. All nine bishops have been Capuchin friars.
A special prayer today for the people of Yemen, especially for the Catholics there, would not go astray as we recall the Queen whom Jesus speaks about, whether or not Sheba was Yemen.
 
More here.

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