PRESS
RELEASE
For
immediate use
10
September 2014
Coptic Orthodox
Church UK
Media and
Communications Office
Coptic Orthodox
Church (Europe)
Media and
Communications Office
Statement by His Grace
Bishop Angaelos, General Bishop of the Coptic Orthodox Church in the United
Kingdom on 10 September 2014 regarding the need for collaboration to address
violations of international religious freedom in Iraq, Syria and the Wider
Middle East.
The three day
summit, which intends to promote solidarity and strengthen advocacy efforts
with policy makers and elected officials for those suffering in the Middle
East, features human rights experts, public officials, representatives in
public office, policy makers, diplomats, and Church leaders and representatives
from across the Middle Eastern Christian community.
Bishop
Angaelos will deliver another keynote address on Thursday 11 September at the
Summit 1:30-3:30pm (BST) 8:30-10:30am (EDT).
His Grace
will also be representing His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, 118th Pope
of Alexandria and Patriarch of All Africa on the holy Apostolic See of Saint
Mark.
Statement by His Grace Bishop Angaelos, General Bishop of the Coptic Orthodox
Church in the United Kingdom on the Need for Collaboration to Address
Violations of International Religious Freedom in Iraq, Syria and the wider
Middle East
The widespread
brutality facing Christians and minorities in the Middle East is intensifying,
and gross violations of the God-given right and freedom to practice Faith and
belief, as protected by Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, is increasingly experienced by them in their homelands.
Heightened levels of extremism seek to
eradicate indigenous Christian communities that have been a vital part of the
identity, culture and heritage of the Middle East for over two millennia. Those
communities that do not fit within the extremist ideology now spreading through
the region are at greater risk of no longer being a part of its fabric. The
model of intolerance and extremism that we are witnessing, will become
legitimised and replicated throughout the Middle East and further afield if
left unchallenged, and will continue to marginalise, alienate and destroy all
in its path.
While Christians continue to suffer
the brunt of these dangerous levels of exclusion and dehumanisation, Yazidis
and other religious and ethnic minorities, including many Muslims, also suffer
the same fate. Innocent men, women and children face extreme persecution,
torture and murder for their Faith. The loss of these historic communities,
with their stabilising and reconciling presence, will not only have a
detrimental effect on their own countries but on the entire region.
This is a time for collaboration and a
unified effort against ideologies that seek to attack the fundamental principles
of human rights and civilisation that have developed over millennia.
Christians, along with those who live by faith, morals, and ethics, and the
international community, must collaborate to address this threat against not
only innocent civilians, but our way of life as we know it today.
Rhetoric used to describe the
atrocities in the Middle East must no longer remain within a religious
framework, but rather deal with these events as unacceptable crimes against
citizens of countries who are entitled to the basic rights and freedoms of all.
It is within this context that the international community must commit itself
to providing, supporting, and advocating, in every way it can, for Christians
and others whose fundamental right to freedom of Faith is denied in Iraq,
Syria, Egypt and the wider Middle East.
We give thanks for our brothers and
sisters who despite immense challenges, continue to live their Christian Faith
with extraordinary strength and resilience, but as Christians we do not pray
and advocate for them alone, but for all those denied their God-given right to
freedom in the Middle East.
*Ends*
Prior to the ceremony, Bishop Angaelos met with the Archbishop of Washington, Cardinal Wuerl, Katrina Lantos Swett, President of the Lantos foundation, members of the United States Commission for Religious Freedom (USCIRF) and various representatives of the State Department. This meeting, hosted by In Defense of Christians, incorporated a press conference and round table meeting addressing responses to the persecution of Christians in the Middle East. 
