Middle Eastern Patriarchs Appeal to EU

‘We call upon the European Union and all those willing to intervene, in order to put an end to this blatant injustice.’
 

The leaders of the Orthodox Church in the Middle East and Africa have appealed to the European Union to protect the lives and sacred sites of Christians across the region. In a letter dated September 18, they warned that “recent increasing influence of extreme fundamentalist elements in the region directly jeopardizes the lives of Christians in their ancient cradles.”

“We witness daily aggressions against Christian places of worship, killings of innocent people, violent acts and atrocities against Christian properties, as well as violations of the most elementary human rights of Christians,” they wrote. “Christians are thus forced towards expatriation. Thousands have already left their ancient cradles and have become refugees in various parts of the world, seeking more security.”

“We call upon the European Union and all those willing to intervene, in order to put an end to this blatant injustice,” they wrote. “More specifically, we call upon them to exercise their influence in order to protect all aspects of religious freedom and worship in the region. Moreover, we would appeal to them to preserve and save from desecration and pillage the places of worship and the Christian cultural monuments in this tumultuous land, e.g. in Syria and the occupied Cyprus.”

It was signed by Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa Theodoros ii, Patriarch of Antioch Ignatius iv, Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos iii and Archbishop of New Justiniana and All Cyprus Chrysostomos ii.

The letter came just a few days after the pope visited Lebanon, where he met with Eastern Orthodox leaders. Ahead of the trip, Iraqi Archbishop Louis Sako called on Orthodox leaders to appeal directly to the pope for help.

Christians are under attack throughout the region. On September 24, a suicide bomber killed three and injured 46 at a Catholic cathedral in Nigeria. A few days earlier, Christians in Rafah and Al-Arish, near Egypt’s border with Israel, were told to leave, or die.

These kinds of incidents are so common that they often don’t make it into the news anymore.

One hundred years ago, one in five in the Middle East were Christian. Now it’s one in 20. Some estimate that by 2020, the number of Christians could have fallen from 12 million to 6 million.

No wonder they are appealing for help. But note: They haven’t addressed their plea to America, or simply to any willing to help. Instead they’ve appealed specifically to the European Union and the pope.

The cries for help are similar to the appeals that prompted that Catholic Church to launch the Crusades.

The Middle East’s Christians already see the EU as their best hope for a protector. Europe may wait to respond until a time that suits it. But watch for these attacks to rouse Europe to greater involvement in the Middle East.