Bishop Roland Abou Jaoude

Christians Today in the Middle East – How we can help?
Presentation of Bishop Roland Abou Jaoude,
Maronite Patriarchal Protosyncellus

Introduction

        Researchers like to talk about the minorities in the Arab world; it is a reality in which they include:  The Problem of the Christian minority.

1.  But Christians are not a minority in the Arab world; they belong to this land which stretches from Egypt till Kilikia in the land of Damascus. They have been the true inhabitants of this land for two thousand years. Christianity is, without doubt, one of the Arab religions. More than that, Christ himself is Aramaic from Nazareth in the Palestinian Galilee. He spoke Syriac, he is historically and culturally Syriac from Palestine. 

2.  The Arab world today is divided into nationalities and communities. There are Arab Moslems; they form a majority of its inhabitants. There are non-Moslem Arabs as the Christians of Iraq and the Land of Damascus. There are also non-Arab Moslems like the Kurds. Non-Moslem and non-Arab nationalities like the Armenians. (See Sakr Abou Fakhr, the Arab Christians: unknown destinies in a country in turmoil, AsSafir newspaper, Wednesday, November 5, 2008). 

Part One: Islamic conquest through the end of the occupation of the Ottoman Empire

        We notice that the number of Christians in the Middle East decreased continuously since the Islamic conquest in the 7^th century.

1.  Before the Ottoman occupied Syria in 1516, the number of Christians had dwindled down to 7%, but the Ottoman era witnessed an increase in the number of Christians it became 20% in 1918 before the fall of the Ottoman Empire, except in Egypt where Christians figured 8 to 10%. They were not affected by the Ottoman period.

2.  In the Arab Middle East, we notice that the proportion of Christians increases as we come nearer to the Western coast of the Mediterranean Sea.

A. The reason of this was the economic prosperity, in the second half of the 18^th century, in Palestine and Lebanon. Thus Christians of the inner-land were attracted towards more prosperous regions.

B. the Ottoman system by giving some independence and privileges to religious communities, helped in this development. But on the other hand, it made each religious community seek protection in a foreign country. Orthodox in Russia, Catholics in France, Protestants in Britain.  This helped at distancing Christians from their environment in different aspects: ideological, economical and juridical.

3.  Following the fall of the Ottoman empire, the nations which came forth could not assure the cohabitation between communities as it was.

A. Minorities were persecuted and exiled. In national Turkey, more than two million Armenians were massacred or exiled beginning last century.

B.  Most Syriacs left Mardin and Tour Abdin (250,000) at the same period.

C. After centuries of Moslem rule, out of the millions of Armenians, Greeks and Syriacs who lived, beginning of last century in Turkey, all that is left: 50,000 Armenians, 5000 Greeks and 1500 Syriacs, most of them in Istanbul.

 Part Two: Christians in the Middle East

 A-            There are in the Arab Orient 10,000,000 Christians as compared with 150,000,000 Muslims.

1.          The Christians are struck with fear and worry about their destiny and the narrowness of the horizon for religious, intellectual and political freedom.

2. Christian communities across the region are declining in numbers because of a combination of low birth rates, emigration and, in some places, persecution.

LEBANON

Lebanon is the only Middle Eastern country where Christians were once dominant and retain considerable political power.

The country's religious breakdown is deeply sensitive as the country's 1975-1989 civil war was fought largely along religious lines.

LEBANON’S CHRISTIANS

·       Total population: 4m

·       Estimated Christians: 1:35m-1,6m

·       % Christian: 34-41%

·       Main Churches: Maronite, Greek Orthodox

·       Issues: Political change

The last official census was done in 1932, but current estimates suggest there are slightly more Muslims than Christians. There is a widespread perception among Christians that their numbers and influence are declining.

The constitution dictates that the president is always Christian, the prime minister Sunni Muslim, and the parliamentary speaker Shiite Muslim.

The largest church is the Maronite Church, which traces its origins to a 4th Century Syrian hermit, St Maron.

The Greek Orthodox Church is also strong in Lebanon, and there is a wide range of other denominations. Most religious groups operate freely.

Muslim-Christian relations have generally been calm in recent years. However, general political tensions in the country increased in 2005 with the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, the withdrawal of Syrian troops and a wave of bombings in Christian areas.

Sources: The CIA World Factbook estimates that 39% of Lebanon's population is Christian. Al-Nahar, a major national daily newspaper estimated in 2005 that Christians made up 40.8% of the population. The World Christian Database says there are approximately 1,350,000 Christians. UNDP estimates the country's population to be 4m.

ISRAEL

About 19% of the country's population are Israeli-Arab - and about 9% of those are Christian.

As such the Christians are a minority within a minority, facing both the well-documented discrimination that all Israeli-Arabs are subject to and also the struggle to maintain their identity as part of an overwhelmingly Muslim population group.

ISRAEL’S CHRISTIANS

·       Total population: 6.8m

·       Estimated Christians: 144,000-196,000

·       % Christian: 2.1-2.8%

·       Main churches: Melkite, Greek Orthodox, Catholic

·       Issues: Discrimination against Arabs, falling numbers

The majority are from Catholic - both Eastern and Western rite - denominations and the Greek Orthodox church.

The remaining Christians include increasing numbers of immigrants from around the world. A vast number of denominations are represented, including Copts, Armenians, Russian Orthodox, Lutherans and a wide range of other Protestant groups.

There are also Messianic Jews who consider themselves Jewish but recognize Christ as the Messiah, and Christian Zionists who profess strong support for the Jewish people.

Although there are some inequalities in the treatment of different religious groups in the predominantly Jewish state, there is full freedom of worship and proselytizing is allowed.

Sources: Government figures put the Israeli Christian population at 144,000, of which 117,000 are Christian Arabs. The World Christian Database, working mainly from church estimates, puts the total 50,000 higher. This may be partly due to an estimated 100,000 illegal workers in the country, many of whom are Christian. The World Bank estimates Israel's population to be 6.8m.

WEST BANK AND GAZA

Christian communities in the West Bank and Gaza have been declining for several decades because of conflict, economic decline and low birth rates.

The World Christian Database says they accounted for 5.3% of the population in 1970 and have dropped to less than half that now.

WEST BANK AND GAZA CHRISTIANS

·       Total population: 3.76m

·       Estimated Christians: 40,000-90,000

·       % Christian: 1.1-2.4%

·       Main churches: Greek Orthodox and Catholic

·       Issues: Falling numbers, economic decline, occupation

Some Christian leaders also cite the rise of radical Islam in the area as a growing pressure on Christian communities.

Christians are concentrated in and around the towns of Bethlehem and Ramallah. A pastor in Gaza City estimates there are a mere 2,000 Christians among the Gaza Strip's 1.3 million in habitants.

The two largest churches are the Greek Orthodox and Catholic churches, although the Assyrian, Armenian Orthodox and Syrian Orthodox churches, as well as many Protestant denominations, are also represented.

Christian-Muslim relationships are largely peaceful and Christians have reached senior positions in the Palestinian Authority, although some Palestinian Christians complain of harassment and discrimination.

Sources: The most recent PA census in 1997 recorded just over 40,000 Christians. The World Christian Database says there are about 90,000. The Palestinian Authority says the population of Gaza and the West Bank is 3.76 million.

EGYPT

Most Christians in Egypt are Copts - Christians descended from the ancient Egyptians.

Their church split from the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches in 451AD because of a theological dispute over the nature of Christ, but is now, on most issues, doctrinally similar to the Eastern Orthodox church.

EGYPT’S CHRISTIANS

·       Total population: 68.7m

·       Estimated Christians: 5.8m-11m

·       % Christian: 8-16%

·       Main church: Coptic Orthodox

·       Issues: Some discrimination

The Coptic language - a descendent of the ancient Egyptian language, written mainly in the Greek alphabet - is still used for small parts of services.

Although Christian-Muslim relations are relatively peaceful, Copts complain of discrimination in the workplace and restrictions on church construction, and are concerned that new electoral rules are benefiting Islamist parties but not increasing Coptic political representation.

A plethora of other Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant and Armenian churches are present in smaller numbers in Egypt.

Sources: The Egyptian government estimates there are 5.6 million Christians; church estimates rise to 11 million.

SYRIA

Syria has for much of the century had a sizeable Christian minority making up at least 10% of the population. The proportion is thought to be declining due to emigration and low birth rates, although there are few reliable statistics.

SYRIA’S CHRISTIANS

Total population: 18.1m

Estimated Christians: 970,000-1.7m

% Christian: 5.4-9.4%

Main church: Greek Orthodox, Catholic

Issues: Declining numbers

In recent years Syria has been considered one of the easier Middle Eastern countries for Christians to live in. Power is concentrated in the hands of the Alawite minority - a Shiite sect considered heretical by many Muslims - who have clamped down hard on extreme forms of Islam.

Although some Christians have been successful in professions and business - with a few rising relatively high in the administration - others have followed relatives to the West for economic reasons or to escape the general repression of the regime.

The largest churches are the Greek Orthodox and Greek Catholic churches. There are also Syrian Orthodox, Syrian Catholic, Armenian Orthodox, Armenian Catholic, Assyrian, Chaldean (see Iran and Iraq) and Maronite Christians.

Sources: The World Christian Database put the number of Christians at 970,000, while a US State Department report says there are 1.7m. According to UNDP, the population is 18.1m.

JORDAN

Jordan's Christian population has dropped from about 5% of the population in 1970 to the current estimated 3%.

The main churches are Eastern and Western-rite Catholic and the Greek Orthodox church.

JORDAN’S CHRISTIANS

·       Total population: 5.4m

·       Estimated Christians: 163,000-220,000

·       % Christian: 3-4%

·       Main churches: Catholic, Greek Orthodox

·       Issues: Declining numbers

There is generally freedom of religion, apart from Muslims converting to Christianity who sometimes face severe discrimination.

All churches must be recognized by the government. Nine of the 110 parliamentary seats are reserved for Christians. There are many missionary groups in the country, although proselytizing Muslims is not allowed.

Relations between Christians and Muslims are amicable and Christians do not generally face discrimination, according to a US Department of State report.

Sources: Official government figures estimate that 4% of the population is Christian, although according to a US State Department report, government and Christian officials privately estimate the true figure to be closer to 3%. The World Christian Database estimates the Christian population to be 168,000. The World Bank puts the population at 5.4m.

IRAQ

There has been a Christian presence in what is now Iraq since the 2nd Century. The largest groups are the Chaldean and Assyrian churches, which are descended form similar roots but generally seen as separate ethnic groups.

IRAQ CHRISTIANS

·       Total population: 27.3

·       Estimated Christians: 700,000-1m

·       % Christian: 2.7- 3.5%

·       Main churches: Chaldean, Assyrian

·       Issues: Falling numbers, security

The Chaldeans are Eastern-rite Catholics - autonomous churches of Eastern origin which retain their own liturgy and traditions, but recognize the Pope's authority.

The Assyrian church - the Ancient Church of the East, also sometimes referred to as the Nestorian church - traces its roots back to 2nd Century Mesopotamia and is not Catholic.

The traditional liturgical language of both Assyrian and Chaldean churches is Syriac - a descendent of Aramaic, the language thought to have been spoken by Jesus and his disciples. Some Iraqi Christians still speak Syriac.

Iraq also has communities of Syrian Catholics, Syrian Orthodox, Copts, Armenian Orthodox, Armenian Catholics, Greek Orthodox and Greek Catholics, as well as Anglicans and Evangelicals.

A rise in attacks on Christians since the US-led invasion in 2003 has prompted many to leave, although estimates that some 40,000 - 60,000 have left cannot be confirmed.

Although the Iraqi government has made commitments to enshrining the rights of religious minorities in the country's new constitution, the lack of security makes these difficult to enforce on the ground.

Sources: The World Christian Database says there are about 700,000 Christians in Iraq, while estimates from local church leaders and a US government report put the figure close to a million. There were 1.4 million in 1987 when the country's last census was conducted under Saddam Hussein. The UNDP estimates the total population to be 27.3 million.

IRAN

The largest church in Iran is the Armenian Apostolic Church, which dates back to around 300AD.

Its doctrines are similar to the Eastern Orthodox Church, although services follow traditional Armenian rites and the Armenian language is used.

IRAN’S CHRISTIANS

·       Total population: 66.9m

·       Estimated Christians: 79,000-400,000

·       % Christian: 0.1-0.6%

·       Main church: Armenian

·       Issues: Declining numbers, discrimination

There has been an Armenian community in Iran for several centuries.

The second largest church is the Assyrian church (see Iraq).

Iran's traditional Christian populations are recognized in the constitution, guaranteed freedom to worship and allocated seats in the parliament, but face some discrimination in employment and political rights.

Numbers are thought to be decreasing.

Evangelical Christians are not recognized and face heavy discrimination.

Sources: The World Christian Database estimates the Christian population at 400,000, although the most recent government census (1996) puts the figure at 79,000. The UN Special Representative for Iran estimated there were 300,000 Christians in 2001, but that 15,000 - 20,000 were leaving every year.

GULF STATES

All the Gulf countries have very few, if any, indigenous Christians. Most, however, have large populations of expatriate workers from around the world, many of which include sizeable Christian communities.

In most countries the expatriates have freedom of worship but are not allowed to try to convert Muslims to Christianity. In Saudi Arabia, public expressions of non-Muslim religion in Saudi Arabia are banned. Private religious gatherings are also prohibited, although the ban is only enforced intermittently.

World Christian Database figures include several thousand Arab Christians in isolated churches linked by TV or radio networks in the UAE, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Yemen - and another 13,000 "hidden Muslim believers" in Saudi Arabia. All figures are estimates derived from the claims of Christian organizations.

CHRISTIANS IN THE GULF STATES

Bahrain:                                Kuwait:
Population 710,000                 Population: 2.9m
Foreign workers: 270,000       Foreign workers: 1.8m
Christians: 70,000                   Christians: 260,000

Oman:                                    Qatar:
Population: 2.3m                    Population 744,000
Foreign workers: 500,000       Foreign workers: 544,000      
Christians: 88,000                   Christians:11,900

Saudi Arabia:                        UAE:
Population: 26.7m                  Population 4.3m
Foreign workers: >7m            Population 4.3m
Christians: 1.3m                     Christian: 316,000

Yemen: Population: 20m      

Foreign workers: unknown            
Christians: 3,000 - 38,000

Sources: World Christian Database and US State Department reports on religious freedom

Part Three: Characteristics of the life of the Christians

I- Some Examples…

1.   Egypt: Attacks by Muslim fundamentalists against Coptic Christians are common and not being effectively countered by the government.  The government has conducted mass detentions, harasses and tortures Christian converts and restricts the expansion and repair of Christian facilities.

2.   Iran:  To convert from Islam to another faith is a criminal offense in Iran. Christians are routinely threatened, arrested, imprisoned and tortured because of their faith.

3.   Jordan: Muslim women are often killed by their own families for marrying Christian men. A court in Jordan ordered a Christian widow sent to jail because she refused to hand over her two young children to be raised as Muslims.

4.   Lebanon: Once half the Lebanese population, Lebanese Christians now make up only about 31 to 40% of the population. Civil war, persecution and anti-Christian violence have led to mass Christian emigration.

5.   Palestinian Authority: There have been numerous reported cases of Christian worshippers and converts harassed, beaten, imprisoned and killed. In July 2003, a Palestinian convert to Christianity was murdered and carved into four pieces as a warning to other Christians.

6.   Saudi Arabia: All Christian worship is forbidden in the country – even within the US Embassy. Christians have been jailed and deported for possessing a Bible. Saudi Muslim citizens who convert to Christianity are subject to the death penalty.

7.   Sudan: The Muslim northern government has conducted a self-declared jihad against Christians in the South. Since 1989, two million people have been killed and thousands more enslaved. Today, Khartoum supports Arab militias who are ethnically cleansing Africans in Darfur.

8.   United Arab Emirates: A Filipino pastor was arrested for distributing Christian materials. A Lebanese Christian man who married a Muslim woman from UAE was arrested, tortured and forced to divorce his wife after moving to UAE.

II- Consequences

1. Feeling of not being  able to live as human being

2. The orient is being emptied from the Christian presence.

3. Worry about destiny

4. The present challenge is the question of freedom, dignity and rights of the human being.

5. The human and democratic challenge is the way to witness, departing from the Evangelical values of love. My rights are from God and from myself; they are not a donation from the generosity of another person.

6. Another challenge is that Eastern Christianity is rooted here before Islam and after it, before the crusades and after that, it has its own personality and morals and it cant be mixed or incorporated with the rest, accusing it of all dirty licentious and immoral acts as if the Islamic world is innocent from the sins of injustice, tyranny, violations of human dignity and freedom and in particular for the woman and the free thinkers.

7. The main challenge is that the Christian presence is extremely important to Islam and to Christianity, its abusive means a waste of religious coexistence and life together.

(See Professor Youssef Mouannes, Challenges Facing the Christians presence in the Middle East where to? Visit by a delegation of the German Evangelical Churches Holy Spirit Kaslik, 24 June 2007, page 3-11)

Part Four: How Can We Help?

I.  Christians should stay in the Middle East as to witness the Christ and to the Bible witness of love, service and partnership in living together;

To a dialogue of civilizations, religions, Gods and people;

To democracy, justice, equality and brotherhood among people

II. Let our roots remain deeply plunged in Sufism, and prayer and clear listening to God’s word, the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Jesus Christ, to be translated in our getting together being from the same Abrahamist heritage.

III. Let us be charmed by the face of Jesus Christ who is the expectation of the Old Testament and was manifested in the New Testament and the attraction of the Koran by the beauty of this boy who, peace be with him the day he was born and the day he died and the day he rose from the dead.

IV- Some Practical Suggestions

1.   Financial Aid: US officials and organizations as well as individuals should financially support Christian institutions, churches, and monasteries.  They should invest in the Middle East to create jobs that will keep young people from emigrating overseas.

2.   Christian Media Backing: US Christians are reminded that evangelization is the sacred mission of every Christian. By supporting Noursat, they support the efforts for evangelization in the Middle East. Active collaboration in establishing Media City in Lebanon with its three satellite stations, its different offices representing all the Churches of the region, and its extensive archives and Media resources will help eventually enhance the attachment of Christians of all nationalities to their homeland.

3.   Political Help: By petitioning their representatives and officials, Americans can play an active role in changing their government’s positions in defense of Minority Rights in the Middle East as well as their Human rights.

4.   Spiritual assistance: Americans are encouraged to offer prayers and sacrifices to alleviate the sufferings and hardship their brothers and sisters endure in the Middle East.  They should appeal to their religious authorities and people to assign a special yearly day of prayer for the Christians in the Middle East, on the Visitation Feast Day (March 25^th). Organizing pilgrimages to the land where Jesus was born will definitely bring together the two wings of Christianity, East and West, so that the Light and Truth can soar very high, once again, in the skies of the Middle East.

Conclusion:

1. Whatever, Christ chose to be born, live, die and rise from the dead in the Middle East, not in any other place, rather peaceful, with no problems, that is, as if he wanted to share with us the bearing of social, political, economic problems, and the suffering from aggression, injustice, persecution and the like.

2. We should be thankful to have made us, Middle Eastern, his co-citizens. He commissioned us with a mission, so to say, similar to his mission. Eastern Christianity is there since the days of the prophets.

A.  We stayed there throughout history and we had the most dominant role in the church history and thinking through our fathers, intellectuals, saints, hermits and martyrs.

B.  We produced a Christian civilization stamped with the incarnation, of suffering and the Eastern Antiochian theological thinking which is marked by asceticism and blend between the divine nature and the human nature Syriac- Hellenic

C.  So much that, when Islam came, we stamped Islam with much of our thinking and civilization, and we established a civilized dialogue that lasted up till the recent war.  We have even introduced modernism to Eastern Arab thinking and accomplished the modern Arab renaissance.

D.  We continue with the free people to be the guardians of freedom against fundamentalism, the salafi, and denial of the other who is different from us in religion, race and gender (Professor Y. Mouannes).

E.  Let us be thankful to God for having placed us in the Middle East, the cradle of the three monotheistic religions in the world.  Let us tell the Lord, with Peter, John and James on the mount of Thabor: “It is good for us to stay her”(Mark 9:5) waiting for the dawn of the resurrection to sing the song of the dawn saying: “O come Lord, Jesus, our lamps are still lit,  waiting for your return.”  Maranata-Come our Lord, Amen!