Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin told cardinals gathered for the consistory in Rome that the defence of Christians in the Middle East must be understood as a key question of human rights.
He described the possible disappearance of Christian communities from the region as a historic tragedy. He added that Christians, though in a minority, have been “artificers of peace, reconciliation, and development” in their region.
“Fundamental principles, such as the value of life, human dignity, religious liberty and peaceful coexistence among peoples and individuals are at stake” in the current struggles in the Middle East, Cardinal Parolin said.
He described Islamic State as an aggressor, adding that “it is licit to stop the unjust aggressor”… “always, however, in a manner consistent with international law”.
Parolin appealed to Christians throughout the world to be mindful of their duty “to sustain our brothers and sisters in Christ with prayer and with every possible means”.
Christian refugees flocking to Jordan
Catholic parishes in Jordan are taking care of about 3,000 Iraqi Christians who have fled Iraq to avoid the threat posed by Islamic State. Maroun Lahham, an auxiliary bishop of Jerusalem, said another 1,000 refugees are expected to arrive within days.
He told Fides that “nobody wants to go back to Iraq, and everyone is trying to get a visa to Australia or America”, adding that “the choices of Western embassies risk in their own way, to heavily contribute to the disappearance of the Christian presence in the Middle East”.
Meanwhile, the Pope said the Middle East, especially Iraq and Syria, are experiencing “terrorism of previously unimaginable proportions” in which the perpetrators seem to have absolutely no regard for the value of human life.
“It seems that the awareness of the value of human life has been lost; it seems that the person does not count and can be sacrificed to other interests. And all this, unfortunately, with the indifference of many.”
The Pope was addressing cardinals gathered in Rome.
‘God has forsaken us’
“Whole families are being decimated,” Bishop Anthony Fallah Borwah of Gbarnga, Liberia, said in a telephone interview.
“It is the poor who have been most harmed” by the Ebola outbreak that, since March, has killed more than 4,500 people, “and it is the poor who are the Church’s priority,” said Mgr Borwah. The bishop stayed in his diocese instead of going to the synod of bishops as the representative of the Liberian bishops.
“We are losing our humanity in the face of Ebola,” Borwah said, noting that “this disease makes impossible ordinary human kindnesses, such as putting your arm around someone who is crying”. People in Liberia are saying in desperation that God has forsaken them.
‘Culture of inclusion’
Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran and Fr Miguel Ayuso Guixot extended their best wishes to the world’s 1.1 billion Hindus for the feast of Diwali, a three-day religious festival.
“In the face of increasing discrimination, violence and exclusion throughout the world, nurturing a culture of inclusion can be rightly seen as one of the most genuine aspirations of people everywhere,” they said. They noted the many positive effects of globalisation, including improved educational and healthcare facilities and greater awareness of the values of democracy. But they also noted the problems attached to globalisation which they said can be defeated by a culture of inclusion.
(Compiled by Fr Joe Borg)