Jerusalem patriarch laments suffering of Middle East’s Christians

September 09, 2014

Speaking at the Sicilian shrine of Our Lady of Tears, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem lamented the suffering of the Middle East’s Christians.

“I cannot but recall the religious violence that results from the written and offensive threats, which often appear on the walls of churches and monasteries throughout the Holy Land; the peace process in the Middle East, which sees the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as one of the most tangled knots; the terrorism of al-Qaeda and ISIS in Iraq and Syria, a thing initially supported by the international community [that] now frightens the whole world,” said Patriarch Fouad Twal.

“As for us, pastors of the Middle East, seeing the cruelty of men, seeing the ongoing massacres in Gaza, and the persecution of Christians for their faith, we follow in the footsteps of Jesus,” he added. “All that remains is to pray, to wait and cry, watching the world, and humiliated, because it is unable to stop the violence and horror … Even today there are plenty of Christians, faithful to Christ, that in the Middle East have preferred death, preferred to migrate and to give away everything, but never agree to convert to Islam in order to save their lives.”

 

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Further information:

• Patriarch visits shrine of Our Lady of Tears (Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem)