Christianity

(CLEVELAND, OH) — A coalition of Middle Eastern Christians are calling on U.S. congressional leaders to send “direct aid” to religious minorities in countries impacted by ISIS.

Officials at In Defense of Christians (IDC), a DC-based advocacy group, say religious minorities in the Middle East are not receiving enough aid from the U.S. government.

According to IDC, USAID partners have reached only 24 percent of displaced populations residing outside of refugee camps.

Toufic Baaklini, founder of IDC, said U.S. foreign policy directly impacts Middle Eastern Christians.

“An advocacy group is most needed in DC and on (Capitol) Hill,” Baaklini said. “The policy (in the Middle East) is not going to make any difference, but in the United States, much more can get done.”

Baaklini, a Lebanese-American activist, said the organization is launching local advocacy groups in U.S. states to gather grassroots support and encourage Middle Eastern Christians in the U.S. to contact their members of Congress.

Baaklini said Middle Eastern Christians should urge their representative to join the ‘Religious Minorities in the Middle East Caucus.”

“This is one our latest projects to have better access to foreign policymakers,” Baaklini said.

The caucus is an official congressional member organization in the U.S. House of Representatives, which seeks to advocate for “besieged religious minorities” in the Middle East.

Baaklini believes the U.S. government should put sanctions on countries who are allegedly funding groups like ISIS.

“We ask the government to put pressure on Arab countries — people that we call allies — and some who are funding such groups,” he said. “Put sanctions on those countries and stop them from attacking Christians.”

Baaklini said IDC has gained momentum since hosting a nationwide summit in Washington, DC last year. He said the organization is seeking support from Americans at large.

“Our advocacy is with the American people,” he said. “This is a Christian country even though we don’t talk about it this way.”

IDC officials recently spoke to members of Skyline Church in San Diego, an evangelical Christian mega-church with more than 2,500 in attendance per week. Baaklini said they’re seeking more of these opportunities.

He added that Lebanese Christians play a major role in the organization because of Lebanon’s pluralistic culture.

“The rest of the Christians in the Arab world look for the Christians in Lebanon on a lot of these issues,” Baaklini said. “We are an example to many of them.”

(BEIRUT, LEBANON) — Lebanon’s Catholic, Orthodox and Muslim religious leaders affirmed the “essential role” of the Christian presence in the Middle East and called for terrorism in the region to be confronted “culturally, educationally and politically.”

In a joint statement issued March 30 at the conclusion of an interfaith summit in Bkerke, the seat of the Maronite Catholic Church north of Beirut, the religious leaders emphasized that the Christian presence “plays an essential role” in the identity of the region “and predates Islam by several centuries.”

The leaders agreed to continue meeting quarterly to continue their discussions.

Cardinal Bechara Rai, Maronite Catholic patriarch, presided at the summit.

Terrorism, the religious leaders said, “must be fought through unifying the ranks of moderation” and “modernizing the religious rhetoric” with an emphasis on “reconciliation, tolerance and coexistence.”

“Eastern Christians are the first victims of the waves of violence in the region,” the leaders said, noting that Assyrians were the latest target as they cited the Islamic State invasion Feb. 23 of about 30 Assyrian Christian villages in the Khabur region of Syria.

They called for the release of two Syrian bishops kidnapped in April 2013 — Syriac Orthodox Metropolitan Gregorios Yohanna of Aleppo and Greek Orthodox Metropolitan Paul of Aleppo.

“The wars in Syria and Iraq have been devastating,” the statement said. “As a result, 1.5 million Syrians have fled to Lebanon, in addition to thousands of Iraqis, not to mention (the presence of) half a million Palestinians.”

The number of Syrian refugees alone is equal to more than 25 percent of Lebanon’s population of about 4 million, putting Lebanon under great strain.

“The unorganized entry of Syrian refugees surpassed Lebanon’s coping capacity at several levels, from security to housing, labor, health, education, transport and food supply, which has depleted a treasury that is reeling under the burden of debt,” the leaders warned.

They also expressed a need to “prevent the temporary presence of refugees” from turning into a permanent presence, which they said would pose “a major threat to the unity and stability” of Lebanon.

The Christian and Muslim leaders said the dire circumstances of the refugees “require active international action and an increase in aid.”

“The international community must realize that Lebanon’s capacity is limited,” they stressed.

The leaders expressed “deep concern and disappointment” that the presidency of Lebanon remains vacant. The post is reserved for a Maronite Catholic under the country’s power-sharing system. The term of the previous president, Michel Suleiman, ended in May. Legislators have failed to agree on a successor.

“The election of a president must remain a critical and vital issue because the Maronite Christian president is the guarantee for coexistence,” the leaders said.

Regarding the crisis unfolding in Yemen, the leaders called on Arab states to “contain the escalation and protect the sovereignty, security and unity of all Arab countries.”

They applauded the feast of the Annunciation, March 25 — recognized by the Lebanese government in 2010 as an official national Christian-Muslim annual holiday — stressing that it enhances Lebanon’s message of coexistence to the world.

About 33 percent of Lebanon’s existing population is Christian, with the majority Maronites.

In addition to Cardinal Rai, attending the summit were: Melkite Catholic Patriarch Gregoire III Laham; Syriac Catholic Patriarch Ignace Joseph III; Syriac Orthodox Patriarch Ignatius Aphrem II of Antioch; Chaldean Catholic Bishop Michel Kassarji of Beirut, representing Iraq’s Chaldean Catholic Patriarch Louis Sako; Armenian Catholic Patriarch Nerses Bedros XIX Tarmouni; Catholicos Aram of Cilicia, patriarch of the Armenian Apostolic Church; Greek Orthodox Archbishop Elias Audi of Beirut, representing Greek Orthodox Patriarch John X Yazigi; and the Vatican nuncio to Lebanon, Archbishop Gabriele Caccia.

Muslim representatives included Sunni Grand Mufti Abdel-Latif Derian; Abdel-Amir Qabalan, deputy head of the High Islamic Shiite Council; and Druze spiritual leader Naim Hassan.

Reporting by Catholic News Service – Reprint