Christ withdrawing from the Middle East

Bishops Discuss Middle East Threats to Christians

While Christian demographics in the Middle East vary from country to country, the overall trend is the same: down.

“If this phenomenon continues, Christianity in the Middle East will disappear,” Rev. Samir Khalil Samir, a Beirut-based Egyptian Jesuit taking an active role in the conference, told Reuters.

A Voice of America report on the synod focused on the difficulties Christians face living in Moslem societies, specifically Egypt and Lebanon. It quoted Ziyad Hajjar, a young Christian man living in Beirut's largely Muslim Hamra district, who said that being a Christian in the predominantly Muslim Middle East is not an enviable position.  He said that Muslims “have the power here in the Middle East, and we cannot say anything.  We cannot talk about our religion because here it is dangerous.  Here, [Muslims] can easily make problems for you if they find out you are Christian."

Similarly, a Christian refugee from Sudan now in Cairo, says that Christians are persecuted both in Egypt and in his homeland. He said it is difficult for a Christian to find work because many fields are closed to them, and that Christians often face the choice of converting to Islam or dying of starvation