HG Bishop Angaelos speaks on a National Press Club panel in Washington DC on ‘Declaring Genocide: Equality and Dignity for Humanity as a Whole’

Coptic Orthodox Church UK

Media and Communications Office

Coptic Orthodox Church (Europe)

Media and Communications Office

HG Bishop Angaelos speaks on a National Press Club panel in Washington DC on ‘Declaring Genocide: Equality and Dignity for Humanity as a Whole’ on 10 March 2016

10 March 2016

His Grace Bishop Angaelos, General Bishop of the Coptic Orthodox Church in the United Kingdom, spoke at a Press Conference regarding a potential U.S. Genocide declaration in response to actions of the Caliphate against the Yazidi and Christian communities in the Middle East. The event was held at The National Press Club in Washington DC on 10 March 2016, and co-sponsored by The Knights of Columbus and Indefense of Christians (IDC).

In his address, entitled ‘Declaring Genocide: Equality and Dignity for Humanity as a Whole’ Bishop Angaelos said:

“We are here to speak about an issue of human rights and human dignity and the sanctity of life, regardless of faith or ethnicity. If an act of Genocide is decreed, it must be based indiscriminately on the facts alone.”

While holding a copy of the recent report on ‘Genocide against Christians in the MiddleEast’ released by The Knights of Columbus for the State Department, he continued:

“If we look at Article 2 of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1948) we find that these acts against Christians in the Middle East fall very much in line with the requirements laid out by the United Nations.

I draw your attention now to the picture on the front of the report which depicts 21 of our own Coptic Christians who were brutally murdered in Libya last year. They were intentionally targeted and murdered purely for their Christian Faith.”

Stressing the importance of including Christians in the classification of Genocide, Bishop Angaelos said:

“If Christians are excluded from the classification of Genocide, my concern, fear and expectation is that we will be responsible for a greater and more ruthless campaign of persecution against them, not only in Iraq and Syria but throughout the region.

People on the ground, regardless of rhetoric, stipulation and convention, will perceive that the international community has supported one group over another, and Christians will become a greater soft target. How can we not declare Genocide if Christians are suffering the same fate, at the same time, under the same conditions, at the hands of the same perpetrators?”

Going on to speak about the violation of basic God-given rights, he said:

“What is happening in the Middle East and Syria is criminal and is an indictment of our humanity if left unaddressed. Whether speaking of Yazidis, Christians or other communities, the atrocities they face are deplorable and warrant not only our concern but our intentional action.

These are atrocities not only against international convention, but against a God-given right for people to live free, safe and dignified.”

Warning the international community regarding neglect of those suffering in the Middle East, Bishop Angaelos said:

“Inaction is inexcusable and will lead to further persecution, not only of Christians but of others. It has also led to an unprecedented displacement of people and the resulting refugee crisis that we are witnessing. Having been to Erbil and to the Z’atari camp in Jordan last week, and the transit camps in Europe, I have seen the direct effects of that persecution.”

Bishop Angaelos concluded by saying:

“The path to Genocide is not laid overnight. It is a result of a gradual accumulation over decades, involving ongoing persecution and marginalisation of vulnerable communities. Having gone unchecked on our watch, this has led to our desensitisation and the acceptance of this discriminatory dynamic as the status quo.

In declaring Genocide we are looking to address and flag up the unbearable suffering of communities and subsequently work for the safeguarding of God-given rights enshrined in Universal and international law. We are not looking just to carry out a statistical process, but to safeguard safety not protection, prosperity not charity, and to ensure dignity and not mere survival.”

Alongside His Grace, panellists included, Supreme Knight Carl Anderson, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of the Knights of Columbus, Nina Shea, Director of the Centre for Religious Freedom at the Hudson Institute, Johnnie Moore, President of The Kairos Company, Professor Gregory Stanton, Founding President, Genocide Watch, Juliana Taimoorazy, Founder, Iraqi Christian Relief Council, Father Joola, Chaldean Catholic Church in Erbil, Father Douglas al-Bazi, former hostage, now a priest at Mar Elia Refugee Camp in Erbil, Iraq, and Professor Robert Destro, Professor of Law and founding Director of the Interdisciplinary Program in Law & Religion at The Catholic University of America’s Columbus School of Law in Washington.

*Ends*

Engagements in Washington DC 17-18 March 2015

HG Bishop Angaelos met with a number of state representatives and officials in Washington DC and spoke at the National Press Club and the Hudson Institute on 17-18 March regarding the state of Christians in Egypt and the broader Middle East.

   

His Grace Bishop Angaelos, General Bishop of the Coptic Orthodox Church in the United Kingdom spoke to an audience of journalists, government representatives, NGO’s and media professionals at the National Press Club in Washington DC on ‘Sensitivity rather than sensationalism in media reporting’. After his address he responded to questions as part of a panel made up of Katrina Lantos Swett, President of the Lantos foundation, Robert A. Destro, Professor of Law and founding Director of the Interdisciplinary Program in Law & Religion at The Catholic University of America’s Columbus School of Law in Washington, D.C, Thomas Farr, Director of the Religious Freedom Project at Georgetown University’s Berkeley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs, Journalist for the National Review, Kathryn Jean Lopez, and Nermien Riad of Coptic Orphans. In his address Bishop Angaelos shed light on the dangers of sensational reporting, and noted the power of journalism in influencing public opinion, generating reactions and directly impacting lives.

Praising journalists for their response to the brutal murder of 21 Coptic Orthodox Christians in Libya, His Grace said:

“The Coptic community felt encouraged by the sensitive media coverage of those who were killed in Libya. Their martyrdom was a turning point for the world, and after this atrocity we must realise that news coverage is not merely about headlines, ratings, or statistics, it is about lives.”

He contrasted this with past coverage of events such as the burning of over 100 Churches and places of Christian ministry in Egypt in August 2013 where mainstream media was slow to respond. He went on to say,

“It is important that journalists do all they can to ensure that individuals and communities do not feel forgotten, disregarded or insignificant. There is no ‘one size fits all’ approach to covering the Middle East, and it is important that the media is not selective in reporting atrocities.”

Later in the day His Grace gave a keynote address on the ‘Prospects for Christians in the Path of Persecution’ at the Hudson Institute. The session was chaired by Nina Shea, Director of the Centre for Religious Freedom at the Hudson Institute and Sam Tadros, Senior Fellow at the Center for Religious Freedom, Hudson Institute made a response to the address by His Grace. The panel then responded to questions from the audience, who were made up of government representatives, media professionals, and NGO’s.

In his address Bishop Angaelos spoke of the increasing intolerance and violence facing indigenous Christian communities in the Middle East and the danger of the current model of extremism spreading across the region and beyond. He spoke of the tendency to generalise the situation facing Christians in the Middle East, saying:

“The answer is not to empty the Middle East of its Christians nor to force them to remain in the region to maintain a presence, but to seek what they desire and enable them to fulfil their own choices, which will vary depending on many factors including where they live and what their experience is.

We must realise that many Christians do not desire to leave their homelands because they are the indigenous people of the region, so let us look at the Middle East within its own context and not impose Western models.”

His Grace concluded with reassuring words of Scripture relating to the state of Christians in the Middle East, saying: ‘We are hard-pressed but not crushed, persecuted but never forsaken’ (paraphrased from 2 Corinthians 4:8-9)

In response Sam Tadros spoke of the importance of safeguarding the rights of Christians in the Middle East due to the impact their presence has on the region, saying:

“When we speak about the rights and persecution of Christians it is not because we care about their presence because we are Christian, but because the fate of Christians is tied to the whole region itself…the Christian presence has also been a valued bridge between the East and the West.”

As part of his visit to Washington, His Grace also met with Melissa Rogers, Special Assistant to the President and Executive Director of the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships. His Grace also attended a Congressional Hearing after which he met with Ambassador Saperstein, the State Department’s Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom.

Bishop Angaelos’ engagements on 17 March included attending a Congressional Breakfast on Capitol Hill and meeting with Co-Chairs of the Middle East Religious Minorities Caucus, Congressman Jeff Fortenberry, and Congressdwoman Anna G. Eshoo. His Grace also met other members of the Caucus, including Congresswoman Barbara Comstock, Congressman Dave Trott, and Congressman Tim Walberg.

During his visit Bishop Angaelos prayed a vespers service at St Mark's Coptic Orthodox Church and preached on the life of the Cross and the recent martyrdom of 21 Coptic men in Libya.