Ajloun Church

St Paul Latin Parish Church, Ajloun, Jordan

Ajloun is located 73km north of Amman, in Jordan. It is a fairly prosperous town whose inhabitants are mainly occupied in professional, business, military and governmental work. There are many Christians living here. Outside the town the land is mainly agricultural, with olive trees being the predominant feature.

In 2013, the Lieutenancy of Ireland generously donated the sum of €29,940 towards the cost of roof insulation, painting and electrical installation works.

Infrastructures of the Latin Patriarchate:  The school, in the middle of the town, was established in 1889 in two small rooms of a house. The first permanent building had three rooms. More classrooms were built in 1967, two rooms in the priest’s house were used for the Kindergarten.

In 1970, the main school of eight classrooms was built, followed in 1995 by school offices next to the church. In 2005, a multipurpose hall was constructed behind the church and school, a very useful play area with shade in the summer and shelter in the winter, and on the ground floor a good sized science laboratory has recently been developed. After grade 8, the pupils have to go to either private or governmental schools.

On Sunday, 15th January 2023,  members of the Holy Land Corordination Group Pastoral Pilgrimage visited The Parish of St. Paul the Apostle, Ajloun, 70 miles north of Amman and joined them for Sunday Mass.  Included in the Group was Most Rev. Martin Hayes, Bishop of Kilmore, Ireland.Ireland.c

The congregation were mainly older with the choir consisting of 5 young people, the last of their contemporaries who had elected to stay in Ajloun as most young people move to Amman or emigrate as economic conditions in Jordan are poor.  

The Parish Priest, Fr. Saqer Hijazeen, stated that relations with the local Orthodox Christians was not good and that the Latin Catholic community felt under threat from the surrounding Muslim population and therefore socialised within the Church compound. 

More details at: https://www.lpj.org/diocese/saint-paul-parish-ajloun.html

Screenshot_20230603-095409_Chrome
Credit photos to Mazur/cbcew.org.uk