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| North American Orthodox Catholic Theological Consultation, Mississauga, ON, Oct. 24-26 |
The North American Orthodox Catholic Theological
Consultation issued a statement on the plight of Christians in the Middle East
at their meeting in Mississauga, Ontario, Oct. 24-26, repudiating the
kidnapping, torture, and killing of not only Christians but thousands of innocent
civilians in Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine.
The North American
Orthodox Catholic Theological Consultation has made efforts to meet annually
since 1969 to address important issues concerning the unity and preservation of
their common heritage. At each meeting a joint statement is made and these statements
have been catalogued.
This is the full, recent statement of the members of the
North American Orthodox-Catholic Theological Consultation:
In 2011 we, the members of the North American
Orthodox-Catholic Theological Consultation deplored the devastating losses in
the Christian communities of the Middle East in the aftermath of the “Arab
Spring.” Today the situation of many of the Christian communities in Egypt,
Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine has become catastrophic.
Together with the 2013 Assembly of Canonical Orthodox
Bishops of North and Central America, we repudiate all violence and demand
action by responsible authorities to end the kidnapping, torture, and killing
of Christians and all civilians. We also appeal for the release of Greek
Orthodox Metropolitan Boulos Yazigi and Syriac Orthodox Archbishop Yohanna Ibrahim,
both of Aleppo, Syria.
With regard to Syria in particular, together with the United
States Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Canadian Conference of Catholic
Bishops, we join Pope Francis in exhorting the international community “to make
every effort to promote clear proposals for peace without further delay, a
peace based on dialogue and negotiation... May no effort be spared in guaranteeing
humanitarian assistance to those wounded by this terrible conflict, in
particular those forced to flee and the many refugees in nearby
countries."
As the Canadian Council of Churches has stated, “We are
concerned for the safety and security of all the people in the region, but in
particular, the weak, vulnerable and powerless. The spread of sectarian
violence puts all generations throughout the region at risk and is a menace to
the hopes and dreams of the younger generations.”
With the Clergy-Laity Conference of the Greek Orthodox
Metropolis of Boston, we “deplore the wanton destruction of Christian churches,
monasteries, convents, orphanages and hospitals throughout the Middle
East....We call upon the leaders of our nation to protest these unspeakable acts
of terror and to work unceasingly to bring to an end the heinous genocide of
our brethren.”
When one part of the body suffers, all suffer (cf. 1 Cor.
12:26). As Orthodox and Catholic Christians, we therefore have the
responsibility to respond to the needs of our brothers and sisters. We call
upon our communities to continue to pray for the churches and for peace in this
part of the world. We urge the leadership of our churches to continue to
intervene vigorously in behalf of the Christians of the Middle East, who live
in fear for their lives, their communities, and the very future of Christianity
in the region.
