Articles - From the Vicar

The Middle East is the birthplace of Christianity and home to some of the world's most ancient Christian communities. The size of these communities ranges from some six or seven million in Egypt (around ten per cent of the population) to just one or two hundred thousand in Iran (well under a half of one percent). In some of these countries Christians face little or no discrimination. However in others, notably Iraq, Iran and the Palestinian territories, a combination of persecution by the Muslim majority population and lack of security have resulted in large numbers fleeing to the west or, in some instances, to the relative safety of countries such as Jordan and Syria. The silence of the western media and, worse, western Christians about the plight of these Arab and other Middle Eastern Christian communities simply adds to their sense of isolation.

In some ways, the situation of Christians in the Middle East is a mirror image of that of religious minorities in the west, especially that of Muslims in the wake of the bombing of the world trade centre: they have to live with ambiguity, with the knowledge that their loyalties are considered suspect, with a feeling that they do not really belong. Yet, in other ways, the situation of Middle Eastern Christians is very different: in their countries there are few, if any, in the media, in government or in other religious communities who will speak out on their behalf; and the ancient, pre-Islamic, roots of these beleaguered Christians are of little interest to those who are quick to make a simple association of Christianity with the West.

As a new year begins, let us pray for our brothers and sisters in the faith, across the Middle East, who face an uncertain future; let us speak out without embarrassment against the discrimination and persecution they face; and let us give thanks for their continued witness to the Gospel in the region of its birth.

© St Edmund's Church, Roundhay