Middle East: Crisis at the Crossroads

Fr. Samir Khalil Samir at ACN's Light of the World event at the Birmingham Oratory. @ACN

Vatican expert gives verdict on Christianity today in the Middle East; the impact of extremism on Christians laid bare in his speech.

By John Newton, ACN UK
Adapted by Amanda Griffin, ACN Canada

Fr. Samir Khalil Samir, a Vatican expert on Islam, made the keynote address at the Birmingham Oratory for an event held Sunday, June 27, by Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) in the UK. Nearly 100 people were present for the Light of the World event where his appeal spelled out the problem of extremism - both in the Middle East and the in West. He heralded a call to action to safe-guard the Church's continued presence in a region where its survival is under threat.

The Problem

Focusing mainly on the Middle East, the Egyptian-born Jesuit based in Lebanon, categorized countries in the region according to a sliding scale of anti-Christian oppression, with Saudi Arabia being the worst.

Fr. Samir, who is coordinating preparations for this autumn's Middle East Synod of Bishops, in Rome, said: "Christians in Saudi Arabia cannot even gather in their houses to pray. This is the worst situation where human rights are practically unknown."

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Underlining how in many parts of the Middle East Christians have dwindled to a tiny minority, he went on: "For many, the only solution is emigration - proselytism, announcing Christ to everybody is forbidden. There is no equality."

The History according to Fr. Samir

Fr. Samir described how starting at the end of the 1960s some Middle Eastern countries, Saudi Arabia in particular, took advantage of new-found oil wealth to bankroll militant Wahibi Islam, which, he said, has been spread far and wide, as far as to the West.

"They built mosques, mostly paid by Saudi Arabia but also Teheran, sending with the mosques preachers and imams and they gave them this very narrow vision of Islam."

Underlining a dramatic move towards Christian oppression dating back to the 1970s, Fr. Samir went on to stress the need for dialogue with Islam, underlining that the Middle Eastern faithful played an indispensible role in this area. He said: "The question is: 'Who is able to dialogue with Islam?' In fact, although the situation is hard for Arab Christians, the main people dialoguing with Muslims and bringing change are precisely the Arab Christians.

"We are involved in dialogue every day. We work together, we go to school together."

The Expert and his passion - solutions

The priest, who has established 20 schools and authored at least 40 books, underlined the need for joint projects with Muslims, aimed at breaking down ignorance and mistrust, and promoting education.

Stating that Islam "is in crisis" amid growing insecurity among Muslims about the relationship between faith and modernity, he nonetheless made clear that theological discussion was extremely difficult because of differing views on Jesus Christ and the Bible as well as the Prophet Mohammed and the Qur'an.

Fr. Samir, who is a university professor in the Lebanese capital of Beirut, as well as in Paris and at the Gregorian, in Rome, said: "We need your help - we need your spiritual help, your prayer to support people in a region where there is oppression. We need your support for projects which promote education and peace."

Light of the World an ACN UK Event

Also at the event, Aid to the Church in Need's UK national director Neville Kyrke-Smith gave an update on his recent visit to Ukraine and went on to praise ACN friends and benefactors for their help and support. Reporting on how the charity has given significant help to enable the Church to recover from communism, he spoke of ACN's support, especially for catechists, seminarians, religious Sisters as well as monks and priests.

Mr. Kyrke-Smith quoted Ukraine's Fr. Orest Demko, a seminary vice rector, who said: "We have to be Christ's hands in this world. You at ACN have been the hands of Christ for us."

John Pontifex, Aid to the Church in Need UK head of press and information, reported on the struggle to bring emergency and longer term help to earthquake stricken Haiti, where ACN gave immediate assistance and support for seminarians. He also reported back on his trip to Pakistan where the Church is increasingly under threat from extremism, a problem compounded by increasing over-population and dwindling natural resources.

The Light of the World event came during a weekend of ACN talks and appeals at Masses in the Birmingham Oratory Church, in Hagley Road, Edgbaston, coordinated by David Jenkins, the charity's area secretary for Birmingham (south).

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