(Aid to the Church in Need) — The Patriarch of the Maronite Church, Cardinal Bechara Raï, is calling for measures so that Christians will not abandon the Middle East, because they are a decisive moderating factor among the region’s Muslim-majority countries.
“Many have had to abandon Syria, because nobody can live in a war, under bombardment,” the cardinal told pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN). “This migration is reducing the number of Christians, who, in the Middle East, have contributed to the formation of a moderate Islam. If the Middle East is emptied of Christians, Muslims will lose their moderation,” said the cardinal, during an interview in Bkerke, the Episcopal See of the Maronite Catholic Patriarchate of Antioch in Lebanon.
Patriarch Raï regrets that in Lebanon, “many Christians and Muslims have also had to emigrate, because [of] the lack of peace and security, and the economic and financial situation affects everyone. The positive side of this is that they can restart their lives, carrying their faith with them around the world. But the negative is that Lebanon is being emptied of Christians.”
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