The persecution of Christians in the Middle East, especially in the areas occupied by the so-called Islamic State, is “terrible”. The mercy Francis is calling for during the Jubilee, is necessary in the international political sphere as well. Regarding Syria, “every effort needs to be made” to reach a political and diplomatic solution. This is according to Mgr. Paul Richard Gallagher, the Holy See’s “foreign affairs minister”, who was speaking at the end of a conference titled “Under Caesar’s sword”, taking place at the Pontifical Urbaniana University. He expressed his “concern” about Libya in view of the international conference scheduled to take place in Rome on Sunday.
Your Excellence, what is the situation faced Middle Eastern Christians at the moment?
“The situations Christians face is terrible, terrible, as is the situation faced by many populations in the Middle East. Christians partake in a special way in the sufferings of these population, in a world overcome by conflicts, bombings and persecutions. It is a situation that requires our solidarity, our Christian prayers, but also action on the part of the international community and political action in order to find a solution to existing problems. We see that many conflicts are complex but interconnected and we need to work towards political solutions in Syria and the Middle East and help countries such as Lebanon and Jordan, which have an enormous number of refugees.”
Russia’s President, Vladimir Putin, has spoken about the use of nuclear weapons in Syria. What is the Holy See’s stance regarding a potential military intervention in the country?
“The Holy See endorses dialogue and a diplomatic and political solution. We believe every effort needs to be made in this direction, then we shall see.”
In a recent statement in Rome, Fr. Jacques Murad, the priest who was abducted and then released in Syria, said that Christians cannot live under ISIS rule. What with ISIS and Assad, the situation in Syria is a quagmire. How is it possible to get out of this quagmire?
“If I had the answer to this, the Nobel Peace Prize would be mine! Obviously, Fr. Murad speaks about his own experience, who am I to comment? He has experienced the situation first hand. But as Christians we are always called to be hopeful and merciful, as the Holy Father has advocated for the Jubilee. Using all means in line with our faith, we must try to resolve the situation and give these people some hope.”
On Sunday, an international conference on Libya is to be held in Rome, with representatives from the US, China, Russia, France and Britain. Is the Holy See involved? What is its position?
“So far, Italy has kept us up to speed on developments in Libya, but we have not been invited to participate in the conference. The situation in Libya does worry us, partly because, as always, the Holy See is especially concerned for the people and the suffering and situation faced by Christians, which has been devastating since Gaddafi’s fall: we know that the community of nuns was the heart of local Church life. Since their departure, our community has lost its main points of reference.”
The conference in Rome, which began Thursday and ends Saturday, was a chance to present the results of an international study into the responses given by around 100 Christian communities suffering persecution in over 30 countries including China, Indonesia, Nigeria, Syria, Egypt, Iraq, Pakistan and India. The study, which was carried out by 14 scholars from different counties, highlights the various survival strategies implemented in these countries.
The conference also intends to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Dignitatis Humanae, focus the public’s attention on the theme of Christian persecution in the world and encourage global solidarity for Christians. The conference has been jointly organised by the Center for Civil and Human Rights at the University of Notre Dame and the Religious Freedom Project run by Georgetown University’s Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs. It is co-sponsored by the Community of Sant’Egidio.
The various speakers at the event include: Carl A. Anderson, Supreme knight of the Knights of Columbus (US), Paul Bhatti, brother of the Pakistani Christian minister who was killed in 2011, Harvard University’s Mary Ann Glendon, Turkish journalist Mustafa Akyol, Bishop Angaelos of the Egyptian Coptic Church, Myanmar’s Cardinal Bo, Ukraine’s Bishop Boris Gudziak, Nigerian Anglican Archbishop Benjamin Kwashi, Andrea Riccardi, founder of the Community of Sant’Egidio and George Wiegel, historian and biographer of Jon Paul II. In the introductory speeches, Mgr. Gallagher, Secretary for the Holy See’s Relations with States, passed on the Secretary of State Pietro Parolin’s greetings and underlined that the situation illustrated in the study – which has deter5iorated also because of the Caliphate and the so-called Islamic State in Syria and Iraq – helps explain the situation faced by persecuted Christians and other minorities. Syria’s Patriarch Youssef Younan, in turn, quoted Fr. Murad, emphasising that he was abducted “by the very same people he had been helping” and yet he still forgave them. Iraq’s Patriarch Raphael Sako talked about ISIS (Daesh), stating amongst other things that it is “a cancer inside the Muslim body” but also “poses a real threat to everyone. We therefore need to work together to destroy it through military means, with troops on the ground and defeat it ideologically, by cutting off financial support, arms supplies and support for the jihadists.”
