By Breitbart
In a variable “who’s who” of Christian pastors and prelates from the
Middle East, primarily Syria and Iraq, Hungarian ministers, including
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, got an earful from bishops, archbishops and
patriarchs, who recounted the dire situation of the dwindling Christian
population in the Middle East. Christians run the real risk of becoming
nothing more than a “museum piece,” according to Patriarch Ignatius
Aphrem II, supreme head of the Syriac Orthodox Church.
Speaking on behalf of Chaldean Catholic Patriarch Louis Raphael Sako,
Archbishop Bashar Matti Warda of Erbil showered praise on the Hungarian
government for its effective assistance to Middle East Christians,
while manifesting his disappointment with the Trump administration, a
sentiment that was echoed throughout the conference.
Several of the Christian leaders suggested that President Trump had failed to honor his campaign promise
to help and protect Christians in the Middle East victimized by
jihadists, noting that despite the President’s encouraging words, no aid
had been forthcoming.
While underscoring the “unique moral responsibility of the United
States” to come to the aid of Iraqi Christians, Warda called for “fully
committed” political support from America, something that has been
lacking thus far.
Patriarch Ignatius Aphrem II said that Christians suffering in the
Middle East feel “abandoned by the West,” despite the predominance of
Christians in countries like the United States. “Very people listen to
us or feel sympathy for us,” he said.
“While many animals and plants get put on lists of endangered species
and receive protection, that hasn’t happened with us,” he said.
“Christians are the indigenous peoples of the Middle East,” he said.
“Where is the outcry? Elsewhere, indigenous peoples are given
protection, even privileges, yet there is nothing for the Christians.”
Last year, the Hungarian government established a Deputy State
Secretariat for the Aid of Persecuted Christians, making it the only
nation in the world with a department of this nature. So far, the new
secretariat has sent assistance of more than 4 million euros to rebuild
homes, churches and schools so that Christians can stay in their homes
in the Middle East. They have also granted dozens of scholarships to
Christian students in Africa and the Middle East who lost everything to
militant Islamic terror groups.
In his address to the assembly of prelates, officials and diplomats,
Prime Minister Orbán said that Hungary had taken the opposite approach
from that of the European Union. “They want to bring people here,” Orbán declared. “We are helping them to stay where they are.”
The Hungarian government has been channeling the fund directly to
Christian leaders and organizations on the ground in the Middle East,
who best know how to make the most of the financing for the good of
their people.
“All of us, Protestants, Orthodox, Roman Catholics, Coptic
Christians—we face this persecution together,” Orbán said, while noting
that around the globe a Christian is killed every five minutes for their
faith.