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June 1, 2020
Pope Francis has appointed Bishop Paul Hinder OFM Cap., the Apostolic Vicar of Southern Arabia (UAE, Oman and Yemen) as the Apostolic Administrator sede vacante et ad nutum Sanctae Sedis (the see being vacant and at the disposition of the Holy See) of the Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Arabia (Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and Saudi Arabia). The appointment was announced through a decree dated 13 May 2020 and signed by His Eminence Cardinal Tagle, the Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.
The see of the Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Arabia which includes the territories of Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and Saudi Arabia has been vacant since 12 April 2020 upon the passing away of His Excellency Bishop Camillo Ballin MCCJ (1944 - 2020).
Bishop Paul Hinder was born in Bussnang TG, Switzerland, on 22 April 1942. He was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of the Apostolic Vicariate of Arabia, which spanned the six countries of the Arabian peninsula (UAE, Oman, Yemen, Qatar, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia) on 20 December 2003 and was ordained Bishop on 30 January 2004 in Abu Dhabi. On 21 March 2005, he succeeded Msgr. Bernardo Gremoli as Apostolic Vicar of Arabia.
The Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Arabia came into existence in 2011, when through a decree of the Congregation of the Evangelisation of Peoples, the countries of Bahrain, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, which were formerly part of the Apostolic Vicariate of Arabia were added to the Apostolic Vicariate of Kuwait. The countries of UAE, Oman and Yemen became part of the Apsotolic Vicariate of Southern Arabia. Bishop Camillo Ballin, who had been Apostolic Vicar of Kuwait since 2005, was then appointed Apostolic Vicar of Northern Arabia. In 2012, Bishop Camillo transferred his residence to Bahrain for logistical reasons.
At present, 67 priests and a number of religious sisters attend to the pastoral needs of the approximately 1.7 million catholics in the four countries of the Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Arabia.