Dangerous to be Christian

Thu, May 8th 2014, 08:13 Last updated on 8/5/14

How many of us have a cross, a rosary or a holy image in our car? I carry an old battered icon given to me years ago by a Russian Orthodox deacon who was imprisoned for his faith.

Imagine that displaying such an item could put your life at risk.

Yet, a few weeks ago, in Egypt, two Coptic women were murdered for just that.

On March 31, in separate incidents, Mary Sameh George and Mayada Ashraf were both spotted driving with a cross on display in their car and were brutally attacked and murdered by Muslim Brotherhood mobs.

These are not just isolated incidents; women are, unfortunately, caught up in political mayhem.

Throughout the Middle East and in parts of Africa, as in any many other parts of the world, millions of Christians are oppressed or persecuted.

Finally, this is beginning to be recognised – from the EU to some political and State leaders.

I was present at an Advent reception last December in Clarence House, London, at which Prince Charles spoke of the threat to the very existence of Christianity in the Middle East.

He said: “We cannot ignore the fact that Christians in the Middle East are, increasingly, being deliberately targeted by fundamentalist Islamist militants.

“Christianity was born in the Middle East and we must not forget our Middle Eastern brothers and sisters in Christ.”

This element of persecution, within the ongoing violence in Syria, was recently highlighted by the murder of Fr Frans van der Lugt SJ, who was shot dead in the Old City of Homs on April 7.

He had been active in Syria for 50 years, helping all religious communities.

And, across Syria, it is now estimated that 500-600,000 Christians have either left the country or are internally displaced.

For now, long after the hopes of the Arab Spring have faded, there is an Arab Winter and fundamentalist violence against religious minorities, particularly Christians, in much of the Middle East.

On April 15, after a bomb attack had killed one child and wounded many more at a school in Damascus, Patriarch Gregorios III pleaded: “May the world heed the cries, tears and the prayers of the children of Syria.”

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One Maltese visitor found out how dangerous it was to be a Christian. His name was Paul – St Paul

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Malta is a hub or a stepping stone – a place of meeting – and, as Pope John Paul II emphasised during his Jubilee Pilgrimage in 2001: “Malta is the centre of the Mediterranean. You therefore have a unique vocation to be builders of bridges between the peoples of the Mediterranean basin, between Africa and Europe.

“The future of peace in the world depends on strengthening dialogue and understanding between culture and religions.

“Continue in your traditions of hospitality and continue in your national and international commitment on behalf of freedom, justice and peace.”

As a historical hub of faith and dialogue, Malta, will host a major international conference on Monday and Tuesday, focusing on the reality of religious freedom in today’s world.

The conference is being organised by Aid to Church in Need, a Catholic charity that helps persecuted, oppressed and needy Christians, has benefactors in Malta and continues to support Maltese missionaries in Pakistan, Kenya, Libya and Honduras.

Entitled ‘Can Christianity survive persecution?’, it will especially focus on the Middle East and Africa and bring together specialist and first-hand witnesses to the realities of living the Christian faith today in parts of the Middle East and Africa.

Patriarch Gregorios, head of the Melkite Church, from Damascus in Syria will give a major address.

There will be talks by Bishop Kyrillos William, the Coptic Catholic Bishop of Assiut in Egypt; Sister Hanan, a Good Shepherd nun caring for Syrian and Iraqi refugees near Beirut in Lebanon; Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama, from Jos, in Nigeria, and by Archbishop Henri Tessier, Archbishop Emeritus of Algiers.

Cardinal Mauro Piacenza will celebrate the inaugural Mass at St John’s Co-Cathedral, Valletta, on Monday. The homily will be delivered by Archbishop Paul Cremona.

Auxiliary Bishop Charles Scicluna, Fr Charles Tabone, Fr Alfred Agius and Joseph Ellul will chair sessions and Bishop Mario Grech will celebrate special Mass at Ta’ Pinu Sanctuary on Wednesday.

Pope Francis recently stated: “I tell you that today there are more martyrs than during the early times of the Church.”

One Maltese visitor found out how dangerous it was to be a Christian.

His name was Paul – St Paul.

Neville Kyrke-Smith is a national director of Aid to Church in Need UK.