Saudi Arabian officials recently arrested 27 Christians—among them several women and children—for the crime of “conducting Christian prayers” and being “in possession of Bibles,” reports Arab media.

The group of Christians, most if not all of whom were Lebanese nationals, were celebrating a Virgin Mary feast day when authorities stormed their residence and arrested them.

Authorities, the dreaded “religious police,” proceeded to strip them of their visas and deport them back to Lebanon. Ironically, this is a much better fate than that suffered by other Christians caught engaging in “acts of Christianity” in the Islamic kingdom, including torture and long jail sentences.

For example, back in 2012, 35 Christian Ethiopians were arrested and abused in prison for almost a year, simply for holding a private house prayer. One of them reported after being released: “They [Saudis] are full of hatred towards non-Muslims.”

As of this time [August 30], no Western language media has reported this most recent harassment, arrest, abuse, and deportation of Christians privately celebrating their faith in the Arabian Peninsula, that is, the birthplace of Islam.