Archbishop - 'more dramatic and more costly' change for Christians in the Middle East

Archbishop addressing BibleLands Conference

The conference, entitled 'The Christian Presence',sought to examine and reflect the conditions in which Christian communities in the Middle East are living and how Christians in the UK can create a positive difference to the current situations found in countries like Iraq, Israel and Egypt.

BibleLands is a non-governmental, non-denominational, Christian charity working in partnership with Christian-led Projects in the lands of the Bible. Established in 1854, the work of BibleLands focuses on education, special needs, social & medical care, vocational & adult training and the support & care of refugees. The ethos of the charity is to share the compassion of Jesus as they tend, treat and teach the young, the sick and the needy and seek to bring the peaceful things of God to those in most need – regardless of their faith or nationality.

Dr Williams addressed the conference alongside Archbishop Paul Sayah (Maronite Archbishop of Haifa and the Holy Land) and Bishop Angaelos (General Bishop of the Coptic Orthodox Church in the UK). Following the three lectures there was a pause for evening prayer and then a question and answer session to a panel of guests, chaired by Lord Steel. The panel comprised of:

BibleLands Conference Panel

Describing the situation of Christians in the Middle East, the Archbishop said:

"There is an urgent need for people in the UK to wake up to the fact that Christians in the Middle East are living through a time of change more dramatic and more costly than anything that has been seen for a thousand years and more.  Apart from the tragic situation of Christian refugees from Iraq, there is a quiet but numerically huge exodus of Christians - especially but not exclusively educated Christians - from the whole region.  The remaining Christian communities are left exposed to violence or extremism in many countries, and the societies they live in are deprived of some of their most creative and resourceful citizens.

We badly need to be better informed about both the present and the past of these communities. The publication by the Middle East Council of Churches of a comprehensive book on Christianity: A History in the Middle East gives us a first rate tool for learning about the historical background.

But we are also announcing today the funding of a scholarship to study the impact of migration among Iraqi Christians, supported by the Archbishop's Mission to the Assyrians, the Philip Usher Fund and the Anglican and Eastern Churches Association. In addition to this, the Nikaean Ecumenical Trust is giving a Bishop Buxton Bursary to two Syrian Orthodox deacons from Lebanon to study English in the UK for two months and to learn something of our own Church.

These are small gestures in the overall context of anxiety and suffering for our brothers and sisters in the Middle East, but our hope is that they will do something to raise awareness on behalf of Christian communities in the ancient heartlands of faith who so often feel ignored or forgotten by us their Western fellow-Christians."