Persecution of Christians

The Person and the Challenges Volume 11 (2020) Number 2, p. 145–153 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15633/pch.3755 Waldemar Cisło ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1525-0945 Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw, Poland Persecution of Christians Abstract The situation of Christians in Iraq and Syria has been problematic for many years. The article first deals with the issues of social tensions caused by religious diversity. The repercussions of these conflicts are presented, with an emphasis on the problems of immigration from regions affected by the war. The article then describes the forms of aid provided in Iraq and Syria, with an emphasis on medical and humanitarian aid. The work also includes reports from these places and outlines the problems of Christian clergy in persecuted communities. Keywords Syria, Iraq, aid, Christians, refugee camps 1. Martyrdom of Syria 1.1. Religious situation Before the outbreak of war, Syria was one of the most peaceful countries, even for religious minorities. The country has a population of 22 million. Ethnically, the population of Syria is 86% Arabs, 7% Kurds, 3% Armenians. In religious 146 The Person and the Challenges Volume 11 (2020) Number 2, p. 145 –153 terms, Islam constitutes about 90% with Christianity taking up the remaining 10%. The denominations of Islam found in Syria are: Sunni, Alawite, Druze and several other smaller groups. Thanks to the strong hand of the government in Syria, religious minorities enjoyed protection. This was manifested by the fact that the president maintained good relations with the highest ranking members of the Churches in Syria. Relations between Christians and Muslims were fundamentally cordial. St. John Paul II during his visit to Lebanon said that this country would remain an unsurpassed model of Christian-Muslim relations and an example of how they can live together while maintaining mutual respect and what they should look like.1 In Lebanon, a rule was established that the president is a Christian, the prime minister is a Sunni and the head of parliament is a Shiite. After the Holy Father’s visit, this principle was included in the constitution. This stable situation continued until the Arab Spring.2 1.2. The humanitarian situation of the people of Syria According to international organizations, more than 8.2 million Syrians have become external or internal refugees. Internal emigration concerns mainly the movement of people from war-affilicted areas to areas where there were no hostilities. One of the more peaceful places that did not suffer from the war is the diocese of Tartus. Iraq was also a place of refuge for Syrians, where it is estimated that it accepted about 300,000 refugees from Syria. Jordan accepted around 700,000, Lebanon received (estimates are divergent) from 1.2 million to 2 million people and 2.7 million Syrians found refuge in Turkey. Particular attention should be paid to the situation in Lebanon, which has 4.5 million inhabitants. According to international organizations, this country has accepted around 800,000 refugees from Palestine and according to various data up to 2 million refugees from Syria. This situation causes a lot of tension in Lebanon itself. Firstly, there are no official refugee camps there. Christian refugees gathered mainly in the Bekaa Valley region (on the Syrian-Lebanese border). There, thanks to the Catholic Church, the organization Aid to the Church in Need has been helping refugees from the very beginning. This includes running 1 2 https://kosciol.wiara.pl/doc/4164107.Liban-to-przeslanie/2 (01.07.2020). https://teologiapolityczna.pl/ks-prof-waldemar-cislo-sytuacja-w-iraku-czy-syrii-nosiznamiona-holokaustu (25.06.2020). Waldemar Cisło Persecution of Christians 147 a kitchen where refugees can get a free meal, providing clothes for winter and summer, help with the purchase of heating oil and hygiene products. Lebanon, being a relatively poor country, would not be able to help the refugees without outside help. Lack of work and the possibility of earning money has led to even greater conflicts. For many years, external aid has saved Lebanon from riots and internal protests. In December 2019, the banking system collapsed and people with even those with foreign currencies could withdraw only $ 100 per family. This, of course, caused a lot of trouble for many families. The rapid rise of unemployment also caused waves of resentment towards refugees as those who are causing salary cuts by taking up jobs at low rates. Desperate people also went about stealing food and clothing because they had no money to buy it for themselves and their children. The situation of external refugees varies depending on the country where they reside. While the situation in Lebanon has deteriorated dramatically in recent months, it has not changed much in Jordan. The biggest problem, however, is the length of the war. The civil war in Syria has been going on for almost 10 years, which is why international opinion is starting to show indifference to this fact.3 1.3. Scale of aid Since the outbreak of war, the organization Aid to the Church in Need has been helping Syrians. The sum of the yearly support amounted to around EUR 3 million. Such great support for one country was caused by the dramatic conditions that prevailed there. Sister Anna, who thanked Poles for help at the press conference in Poland, said: „If not for food parcels financed, among others, by Poles, hundreds, if not thousands, would starve.” Such a dramatic situation prevailed during the initial stages of the war, in Aleppo for instance. During my visit to this city, I had the opportunity to personally check how the aid system works. Sister Annie gathered a large group of young volunteers, each of whom looked after from five to twenty families. Depending on the time, they declared that they would bring food and other necessary things to the families whom they were responsible for. These volunteers mainly looked after elderly people who either could not leave the house or was too difficult for them to carry a heavy food package from the church. 3 https://pkwp.org/newsy/syria_9_lat_po_wojnie (24.06.2020). 148 The Person and the Challenges Volume 11 (2020) Number 2, p. 145 –153 1.4. Medical aid As in every other Middle East country, in Syria health care is based on private hospitals and outpatient clinics for which you have to pay. Bearing in mind high unemployment and inflation4, we can easily understand that providing medical care for families was also very difficult.5 Upon finding out there are many orphans in Aleppo in need of medical care, aid from Poland has been initiated. According to data received from local doctors during the war, and also after the siege of Aleppo, in this city alone 20,000 limbs were amputated. The Polish Government, through the Father Werenfried Foundation, donated PLN 1.5 million to finance children’s prostheses in Aleppo. After the very good receptio (...truncated)