Conference on the problem of discrimination and persecution against Christians opens in Moscow

1.12.2011

A Conference on the Freedom of Faith: the Problem of Discrimination and Persecution of Christians opened at the conference hall of “Danilovskaya” hotel in Moscow on 30 November 2011. Taking part in the opening were Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations; Archbishop Edwin Joseph Ender, representative of the Holy See; Mr. Massimo Introvigne, representative of the OSCE on combating racism, xenophobia and discrimination against Christians and members of other religions.
The Russian Orthodox Church has initiated the forum with support of the Christian Interconfessional Committee, the St. Gregory the Theologian Charity Foundation and the International Organization “Aid to the Church in Need.”

Attending the opening of the Conference were representatives of the Patriarchates of Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem and Serbia, of the Orthodox Churches of Cyprus and Greece, of the Roman Catholic Church, the Maronite Church, the Armenian Apostolic Church, the Assyrian Church of the East, the Muslim and Jewish communities, and the international, inter-Christian, interreligious and public organizations.

Citing the data provided by Massimo Introvigne, Metropolitan Hilarion reminded the listeners that every five minutes a Christian is killed for his faith, and one hundred and five thousand Christians come to a violent death in interreligious conflicts every year. Metropolitan Hilarion underscored the necessity of recognizing a simple fact: Christians are the most persecuted religious community in the world. He named Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, North Sudan, Nigeria, Etritrea, Somali, Saudi Arabia, the Maldives, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Myanmar, Laos, and India as countries in which Christians are most persecuted.

Metropolitan Hilarion, who accompanied His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia in his visit to Syria and Lebanon in November, expressed his concern about the future of religious minorities, mostly Christians, in Syria, in case the political situation is destabilized and a civil is unleashed.

He underscored that not only Christians, but also representatives of other religious minorities are persecuted, and added that the governments of certain countries do much for establishing harmonious intereligious relations.

The DECR chairman noted in particular the historical role of the European countries and Russia in the protection of Christian minorities. He emphasized, however, that the problem of persecution of Christians has been hushed up in Europe for many years. “The European politicians, being moved by the spirit of political correctness, talked a lot about the inadmissibility of anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and other manifestations of religious or ethnic intolerance, but passed over the discrimination of Christians in silence.”

The situation has begun to change only in the recent years, he said, and gave examples of conferences and resolutions on the problem.

While describing the actions of the Russian Orthodox Church in defense of the persecuted Christians, Metropolitan Hilarion emphasized that the Moscow Patriarchate has come out resolutely against any form of xenophobia, religious intolerance and extremism. “It is known that though millions of the followers of different religions have been living in Russia, there were no religious wars in our country. We cannot be indifferent to the persecution of our brothers in the Muslim countries and hope that our Muslim compatriots will extend their support to us. We hope that our fellow believers in other countries share our pain over the suffering Christians and shall seek the ending of persecution and discrimination,” he said. He hopes that the problem of discrimination against Christians will be considered in the context of cooperation among Christians.

The DECR chairman believes that the Pan-Orthodox Council, currently being prepared, will state its opinion on the problem of the persecution of Christians in different regions of the world.
The Conference will continue its work till December the 1st. A communiqué will be issued.

His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia met with the participants in the International Conference on Freedom of Faith: the Problem of Discrimination and Persecution against Christians. The meeting took place at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour on 1 December 2011.

Taking part in the meeting were Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations (DECR); Mr. Massimo Introvigne, representative of the OSCE on combating racism, xenophobia and discrimination against Christians; archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, chairman if the Synodal Department for Church-Society Relations; hegumen Philaret (Bulekov), DECR vice-chairman; representatives of the Patriarchates of Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem and Serbia, of the Orthodox Churches of Cyprus and Greece, of the Assyrian Church of the East, the Armenian Apostolic Church, the Roman Catholic Church, the Maronite Church, the World Council of Churches, Protestant denominations, public organizations combating Christianophobia, the Muslim and Jewish communities, and of the state authorities.
The Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church noted that the cases of persecution and discrimination against Christian have become systematic. His Holiness believes that this religious community, the biggest in number in the world, finds itself in a vulnerable position. Secularist tendencies are a threat.

The notions of moral standards preserved in the spiritual tradition for centuries are fiercely attacked. ‘The absolutization of personal freedom to the detriment of moral responsibility makes Christians the enemies of political correctness which equates sin with virtue,’ His Holiness explained.

Mass exodus of Christians from the Middle East and North Africa is matter of primary concern. His Holiness quoted the appeal from the Statement on the growing manifestations of Christianophobia made by the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church on 30 May 2011: ‘to develop a comprehensive and effective mechanism for protecting Christians and Christian communities who are subjected to persecution or restrictions in their religious life and work.’
“Violation of the rights of Christians and of representatives of other religions and the growth of interreligious contradictions should prompt the states to ponder over the current mechanisms of ensuring human dignity and freedom,” Patriarch Kirill said.

He added that Christians have played an important part in the stability in the Middle East and North Africa from the earliest times, by their presence there proving peaceful nature of the Muslim majority.

His Holiness proposed to develop an effective mechanism for protecting the rights of Christians and Christian communities, reminding of the initiative of the Russian Orthodox Church launched on the basis of decisions taken at the Interreligious Summit in Moscow in 2006 to set up a consultative body at the UN consisting of representatives of the major religious communities, movements and groups with a mandate to provide an adequate and highly professional expertise in case of conflicts that involve religious problems. The experts’s opinions would be brought to the UN notice and then to the national governments.

Mr. Introvigne took note of an active position of the Russian Orthodox Church on Christianophobia and promised to consider a proposal of setting up a consultative body.

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