PERSECUTION: ‘We PAY for our faith’ Christians call for URGENT help in Middle East

PERSECUTION: ‘We PAY for our faith’ Christians call for URGENT help in Middle East

The priest – known only as Father Daniel to protect his identity – said Christians were paying for their beliefs across the region with 80 per cent of worshippers forced to flee Iraq since the 1980s.
He visited the UK this week to deliver a petition, signed by a staggering 800,000 people, to the Government, calling for immediate help.



The Open Doors ‘Hope for the Middle East’ petition called for a new plan for helping Christians and other minorities facing cruel and vicious persecution in the region.
He said, even after the defeat of ISIS, life was still incredible hard for Christians in the often-turbulent Middle East.
Father Daniel told Express.co.uk: “It is really hard to support any side. If you support any side the other side will persecute you. We are in the middle. We cannot support any side.”

Christians forced to flee their homes as ISIS marched through Iraq and Syria are now returning to take in the devastation left in their wake.
He said: “Many of these families have returned home. They were shocked, their houses and churches were destroyed. People were traumatised again in addition to the first trauma.
"The Christians thought they could restore their old life but that didn’t.
“It is very difficult to be Christian in Iraq. You have to pay for your faith.”
He urged foreign governments including Westminster to do something to help Christians in the Middle East. 

 

OPEN DOORS

Father Daniel with displaced children in Iraq

Father Daniel said: “Please. We are asking all the governments to make action. I am saying action now because their is no time. Many Christians are leaving because their homes and towns and cities are destroyed.
"They find their own country doesn’t want them any more despite being the native people of this country.”
To the persecuted Christians themselves he urged strength.
He said: “I would say: stay strong. We are still the native people of this country and we can still build it. We are presenting the example of love and peace.
“Even though our number today is very small, we still have more than our size. In this country, our country, who is going to be the next example of peace and love? ISIS or Al Qaeda or radical groups?”

 

GETTY

A Coptic Christian funeral in Egypt following an attack

The petition has been welcomed by Government and opposition MPs in Westminster, who agree something needs to be done to help Christians in the Middle East.
Tory MP Caroline Superman said: “Despite decades of persecution, the church in the Middle East is uniquely placed to bring hope to their wider communities. We in the UK and elsewhere must stand alongside them as they seek to do this, and work tirelessly to secure a future for all people, no matter what their faith, in the Middle East.”
And Labour MP Kate Green also called for more support for Christians in the Middle East.
She said: “In the face of the situation in Iraq and Syria it is easy to feel helpless. But I can feel confident in my support for the work that Open Doors does – persecution should never be ignored. This campaign provides concrete actions which we, as UK politicians, should act upon.”

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