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The Latin Church
 Fr.
Bader Rifat is the parish priest and representative of
the Latin Church in Simakiyya. Fr. Rifat actively
promotes education in the village. He also oversees the
summer camps for children in the village. Fr. Rifat was
very helpful in our work in the village.
The Latin Church directs the village Kindergarten, which
was paid for by donations from the Knights of the Holy
Sepulcher, via the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem. The
Kindergarten benefits all the children of the village.
In addition, the Latin Church has made many
contributions to the Health Center, to agricultural
program, and other social services in the village. The
Latin Church throughout Jordan pays for many students’
university studies and in the village waives tuition for
many poor students. The Latin School in Simakiyya was
established in 1912 and has about 250 students enrolled.
English is taught there daily, and the school has a
computer center.
His Beatitude Msgr. Michael Sabbah,
Patriarch of Jerusalem, is the head of the Latin Patriarchate
of Jerusalem. The influence of the Roman Catholic Church had
waned in the Middle East after the Crusades, until, by the
1800’s, there were only about four thousand Christians in
Palestine following the Latin rite and guided by the
Franciscans. The Patriarchate was re-established in the middle
of the 1800’s by Pope Pius IX and a new Patriarch was
appointed in Jerusalem. In the latter part of the nineteenth
century, Abuna Skandar (1841-1905) came to the Karak region
and established the Latin Church there.
The Latin Church in Simakiyya observes the Latin rite. It
is mostly the Hajazin tribe that attends this church.
 
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