PUTIN WORRIES ABOUT MASS EXODUS OF CHRISTIANS
FROM NEAR EAST
Interfax-Religiia,
31 October 2019
Russian
President
Vladimir Putin expressed concern about the difficult situation
of Christians in
the Middle East and their mass exodus from that region.
"Russia
is devoting
persistent and consistent efforts to help to bring peace and
stability to the
Near East. As is well known, our country has done much for the
struggle with
such a universal evil as terrorism, including in the Near East
as a whole and
in the Syrian land in particular, and in the struggle with ISIS
(the grouping
is forbidden in the RF—IF)," the Russian president said at a
meeting with
the heads of Christian churches of the Middle East.
The
meeting, which
was arranged by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, was
conducted by the
leaders together.
"Despite
the
fact that the Near East is the cradle of Christianity,
nevertheless now we
observe a very difficult situation in which the Christians of
the Near East
find themselves." "There are murders, violence, and plunder. We
see
an exodus of Christians from the Near East, which is massive.
This cannot but
concern us," Putin said.
He
emphasized that at
the foundation of Russian self-identity lies Christian culture.
"And we
cannot, so to speak, view what is happening with Christians in
the Near East
without tears," Putin said.
Addressing
the clergymen,
he noted that on the whole what is happening in the Near East is
known and the
needs of Christians are clear, but he asked them to give an
assessment of the
situation. "And what we could do further in order to help you
and support
you," the president said.
He
relayed the very
best wishes to the meeting's participants from Patriarch of
Moscow and all-Rus
Kirill. "He and I had the pleasure of talking today, and he
knows about
our meeting and he asked me to greet all of you, in the name of
the Russian
Orthodox Church, and to wish you all the best," Putin said.
In his
turn, Orban
noted that several years back in Europe questions about the
situation of
Christian communities in the Middle East were raised. "There
were many
opinions on this matter, but it was difficult to understand what
to do, which
actions would lead to which results. And finally I decided that
the best
solution would be to ask those who are living in this region and
to ask the
heads of the churches who live in this region," the Hungarian
Prime
Minister said.
He also
asked what
the politicians could do for improving the situation.
The
meeting was
attended by the head of the Antiochian Orthodox Church, John X;
the head of the
Syrian Orthodox Church, Ignatius Ephraim II; the patriarch of
the Melkite Greek
Catholic Church, Joseph I; the patriarch of the Syrian Catholic
Church,
Ignatius Joseph III; and the vice-chairman of the Department of
External Church
Relations of the Russian Orthodox Church, Archimandrite Filaret.
(tr. by PDS,
posted 31 October 2019)
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