By: John Pontifex, Jo Siedlecka
Source: ACN/Westminster Abbey/ICN
HRH The Prince of Wales paid tribute to the courage and faith of persecuted Christians at a service in Westminster Abbey which brought together Church leaders from across the Middle East.
At the evening service, yesterday (Tuesday, 4th December), Prince Charles said: “We can only give thanks for the truly remarkable strength of the Faith with which so many Christians face persecution and which gives them the courage and the determination to endure, and to overcome.”
He also said: “Earlier this year, I had the great joy of meeting a Dominican Sister from Nineveh [northern Iraq], who, in 2014, as Daesh [ISIS] extremists advanced on the town of Qaraqosh, got behind the wheel of a minibus crammed full of her fellow Christians, and drove the long and dangerous road to safety.”
Attending the service were bishops and other Church leaders who had flown in from Iraq, Syria, Israel/Palestine, Lebanon, Egypt and the Gulf.
In his address, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, highlighted the persecution of Middle East Christians, stating: “When the Church of Jesus Christ is attacked, it is an attack on Christ himself – when any part of the Church suffers, we also suffer and yet distance and ignorance take away the pain we should feel.”
The service was led by the Dean of Westminster, the Very Reverend Dr John Hall, who said in his Bidding: “In this Advent season, as we approach the celebration of Christmas, our hearts and minds turn to the cradle of our civilisation, and in particular to Bethlehem as the birth-place of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
“So we pray for all the people of the Holy Land and of the surrounding nations. We pray that they may live in harmony one with another, respecting difference and celebrating common humanity. And we pray for peace within each nation and between all peoples of whatever faith.”
Further Reflections were read by His Beatitude Theophilos III, Patriarch of Jerusalem; and Maulana Sayed Ali Abbas Razawi, Director General and Chief Imam, Scottish Ahlul Bayt Society.
The Address was given by the Right Honourable and Most Reverend Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury, Primate of All England, and Metropolitan.
Sister Nazek Matty, Dominican Sisters of St Catherine of Sienna, Iraq, gave a testimony, describing how she had returned to Nineveh to help rebuild Christian communities.
Bob Fyffe, General Secretary, Churches Together in Britain and Ireland, read Job 38: 1-11; and the Most Reverend Suheil Dawani, Anglican Archbishop in Jerusalem, read St Luke 8: 16-21 in Arabic.
Prayers were led by the Reverend Christopher Stoltz, Minor Canon and Precentor, and said by: the Very Reverend Dr Shafiq Abouzayd, Archimandrite, Melkite Greek Catholic Church; His Eminence Archbishop Angaelos, Coptic Orthodox Archbishop of London; the Right Reverend Guli Francis-Dehqani, Bishop of Loughborough; Father Timothy Radcliffe OP; the Reverend Anthony Ball, Canon in Residence.
The Coptic Diocesan Choir sang the Introit, O King of Peace; and the Choir of the Syriac Orthodox Church in London chanted The Lord’s Prayer.
The service was sung by an octet from the Special Service Choir of Westminster Abbey, directed by Matthew Jorysz, Assistant Organist. The organ was played by Alexander Hamilton, Organ Scholar.
Following the event, His Eminence Archbishop Angaelos, said: “Seeing Westminster Abbey filled with so many who came to recognise and pray for Christians in the Middle East was truly inspiring. The event was prayerful while also very honest in its description of both the plight and gracious contribution of Christians in the region.
“I am so thankful that His Royal Highness, the Prince of Wales, has taken the interest and time to give this matter the priority it so crucially deserves at a time when many thousands are suffering displacement, persecution, and some even the tragic loss of loved ones. I am also thankful to Westminster Abbey and its Dean and Chapter for so generously hosting this event and for giving our Coptic Orthodox Choir and Clergy the honour of taking part in such a historic moment in time.”
His Eminence concluded by saying:
It is only when we all come together as Churches, organisations, governments, and so many other interested parties, that we can provide tangible and holistic solutions to the immense challenges encountered by many of our Christian sisters and brothers on a daily basis. Core to this, is also keeping this matter alive and relevant in the eyes, hearts and minds of our global community. We pray, as we continue to come together for those who struggle and suffer, that they are comforted and supported by the grace of God and by our collective interest and action in and for them as individuals and communities.”
See also: ICN 5 December 2018 – Text: Address by HRH The Prince of Wales at service to celebrate contribution of Christians in Middle East – www.indcatholicnews.com/news/36125
The Prince of Wales addresses the service at Westminster Abbey in London to celebrate the contribution of Christians in the Middle East. Photograph: Dominic Lipinski/PA
Prince Charles has made a strong plea for coexistence and understanding between people of different faiths, saying extremism and division are not inevitable.
The prince delivered a reflection on the dire situation for Christian minorities, particularly in the Middle East where many have been forced to flee their homes, during a special service at Westminster Abbey on Tuesday.
He said: “[I have met] many Christians who, with such inspiring faith and courage, are battling oppression and persecution, or who have fled to escape it. Time and again, I have been deeply humbled and profoundly moved by the extraordinary grace and capacity for forgiveness that I have seen in those who have suffered so much.”
Forgiveness, he said, was not passive nor submissive, but “an act of supreme courage, of a refusal to be defined by the sin against you, of determination that love will triumph over hate”.
He paid tribute to those of other faiths who had “shown it is possible to live side by side as neighbours and friends” in the cradle of the three great Abrahamic faiths.
He added: “I know there are Muslim faith leaders who have spoken out in defence of Christian communities and of their contribution to the region. Coexistence and understanding are not just possible, therefore; they are confirmed by hundreds of years of shared experience. Extremism and division are by no means inevitable.”
The service was attended by Justin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury, and Catholic, Orthodox Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders. Among those delivering reflections were Sister Nazek Matty from St Catherine of Siena in Iraq, and Theophilos III, the Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem.
In his address, Welby said: “To live in a country, or a society where a government, or an armed group, or even a minority of people, consider that you should be consigned to oblivion because of your faith in Christ is an experience without parallel.”
Two days ago, the archbishop warned that Christian communities in the Middle East faced “imminent extinction”. Hundreds of thousands had been forced from their homes and “many have been killed, enslaved and persecuted or forcibly converted”, he wrote in the Sunday Telegraph.
The Christian population of Iraq was less than half what it was in 2003, while Christian “churches, houses and businesses have been damaged or destroyed”, Welby said. “The Syrian Christian population has halved since 2010. As a result, across the region Christian communities that were the foundation of the universal church now face the threat of imminent extinction.”
In his address at the abbey, the prince spoke of a meeting he had earlier this year with a Dominican sister from Nineveh in northern Iraq. In 2014, she had fled along with 100,000 other Christians as Islamic State extremists advanced, leaving behind “the ruins of their homes and churches, and the shattered remnants of their communities”.
She had since returned to Nineveh to rebuild those communities. “Churches, schools, orphanages and businesses are rising from the rubble, and the fabric of that society, which had been so cruelly torn apart, is gradually being repaired,” the prince said. “[It was] the most wonderful testament to the resilience of humanity and the extraordinary power of faith to resist even the most brutal efforts to extinguish it.”
The prince has regularly held meetings at Clarence House in recent years with Christian leaders from the Middle East, as well as priests and ordinary people who have been forced to flee their homes, and has regularly spoken up on their behalf. He has reportedly made private donations to help Christians who have fled to Britain from countries such as Iraq and Syria.
Last March, the prince recorded a special Easter message in support of persecuted Christians and those of other faiths, saying: “I want to assure them that they are not forgotten and that they are in our prayers.”
According to Aid to the Church in Need, which monitors the persecution of Christians, intolerance towards religious minorities is increasing, particularly in parts of Africa, the Middle East and Asia, where militant Islamist movements are growing.
Last week, landmark buildings around the UK were floodlit red to highlight the issue of religious persecution, including a dozen cathedrals and the Houses of Parliament.
