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| Photo Ankawa.com |
A delegation of three Patriarchs of Churches of Syriac tradition from
Syria and Iraq visited the Austrian Federal Cancellor Sebastian Kurz on
Wednesday, December 11. Cardinal Patriarch Louis Raphael Sako from
Baghdad, (Chaldean Church of Babylon), Patriarch Ignatius Aphrem II
Karim from Damascus (Syriac Orthodox Church) and Patriarch Ignatius
Yousef III Younan from Beirut (Syriac Catholic Church) are in Europe to
lobby for support for Christians of the Middle East.
Prior
meeting with the Austrian Cancellor, the Patriarchs met with Cardinal
Christoph Schönborn in a Christmas reception at the Archbishop's Palace.
At a press conference
following the meeting with Cardinal Schönborn, the Patriarchs
emphasized that the Archbishop of Vienna, with his many visits to the
region, has shown great solidarity with the Christians in the region and
is "very familiar with the situation of Christians in the Middle East."
According
to Patriarch Sako, the situation in Iraq has recently been marked by
some improvements. The deciding factor is the demonstrated openness of
the state leadership, which "strives for reforms."
But the biggest
challenges are the ideology of extremism -- based on political Islam -
and the migration of Christians from the country. Political Islam is "a
risk for all," said Patriarch Sako, adding that "Western countries
should put pressure on governments to push back this extremism, and I
believe that Muslims in Western countries could be helpful in this."
The
Patriarch argued that the migration of Christians from the homeland is
seen as a negative development by moderate Muslims as well. Therefore,
the return of people to their towns and villages and the reconstruction
projects are regarded as highly important.
Echoing Patriarch
Sako's statements, Patriarch Ignatius Aphrem II Karim said "we are
afraid that we will not be [existing] in our country in a few
decades...the West has no interest in our efforts as Christians to live
on." Instead, Christians are "criticized for supporting this or that
regime," continued the Patriarch, ignoring that Christians are only
fighting for their survival. Explaining why Christians are against a
regime change in Syria Patriarch Aphrem said: "The current government is
a secular government for us Christians, a secular government is the
best option, and our biggest fear is that a change will bring a
religious government to power."
Patriarch Younan said he had
argued in the West against this naivety back in May 2011, saying that
"democracy cannot be simply exported to countries that have been ruled
for centries by one-person and where a separation between religion and
state never existed."
Patriarch Aphrem emphasized the need to
materially help Churches in Syria. As an example and in order to keep
young people in the country he pointed to a new Christian university
with five faculties that was opened
in October. This university is also open to Muslim students. But
"financial means are also required for employment programs and for the
reconstruction of destroyed churches and buildings," concluded the
Patriarch.
As an immediate follow-up action, the Austrian Federal
Government, in cooperation with the Austrian Bishops' Conference, has
decided on Wednesday December 12, to support concrete projects in crisis
areas and former crisis areas with an amount of 1,000,000 Euros. The
funds will be provided from the current budget of the Federal
Chancellery.
Gudrun Kugler, an MP of the Austrian People's Party who was present at the meeting, commented
that "the local churches know best where reconstruction aid,
restoration of villages and church infrastructure is necessary. Through
our support, the churches can advance initiatives for democracy-building
and inter-religious links. This is particularly evident in the area of
Christian education, which is open to all faiths. By directly supporting
the affected Christian communities, Christians will be able to stay or
return to the Middle East. Thus, the extinction of Christianity in its
region of origin can be prevented. For this the Austrian Federal
Government, above all the Federal Chancellor, is to be thanked very
much!"