Two Pieces on the Middle East at Christmas

As we enjoy our diminishing American prosperity this Christmas — amid our nation’s increasing balkanization — we would do well to think of others whose misfortune our Big Government and Big Business have facilitated. (Thank you, Hudge and Gudge!) I speak of the Christians of the Middle East.

Two things brought them to my attention today. The first was an article in the Washington Post, whose title references the sad exodus of the baptized from Iraq: As Christmas approaches, Baghdad Christians lament empty pews. Here is a little taste:

Just a year ago, an Advent service at St. George’s Chaldean Catholic Church would have drawn 300 to 400 worshipers, says the Rev. Miyassir al-Mokhlasee. But now only around 75 people are scattered across its pews.

…The instability and violence following the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 have driven many Christians out of the country. The nation’s Christian population has plummeted from more than a million to what community leaders estimate is less than 400,000 today.

One of Iraq’s most senior Christian religious figures, Chaldean Catholic Patriarch Louis Sako, has accused the United States of being “indirectly responsible” for the exodus of one of the world’s most ancient Christian communities, pointing to the chaos caused by the 2003 invasion.

One priest lamented the situation in these strange words:

“We believe that God wants us here for diversity in the region. Unfortunately, people are afraid of the future, and they are leaving.”

The commitment to “diversity” is probably not what kept small islands of Christianity alive in an Islamic sea for this long. Such reasonings are a uniquely modern phenomenon. Among worthy reasons, these come to mind: 1.) a commitment to their ancestral home, their “roots” in land, language, and culture; 2.) better: a bold and zealous witness to the true Faith.

The second piece that has me mindful of our Middle-Eastern brethren is the Letter of His Holiness Pope to the Christians in the Middle East.

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Here is a Byzantine Arabic Christmas Hymn: