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8th October, 2012
ENInews
Life for Christians in the Middle East has "never been worse" and their future is acutely endangered, according to the leader of an evangelical church fellowship.
Rosangela Jarjour, general secretary of the Beirut-based Fellowship of Middle East Evangelical Churches, spoke at the 7th General Assembly of the Community of Protestant Churches in Europe (CPCE). The assembly met in Florence, Italy from 21st to 26th September.
"Christians have lost their homes, livelihoods and churches and been the victims of widespread looting, destruction and arson"
- Rosangela Jarjour, general secretary of the Beirut-based Fellowship of Middle East Evangelical Churches
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"We don't want to become refugees, but to live in peace and with full citizens' rights and duties in our own land," she said on 21st September, according to a CPCE news release.
Everyday life for Christians, who in the past were able to lead quite secure lives, is now fraught with fear, said Jarjour, who is from Homs, Syria, currently the site of battles between rebel and government forces.
Christians are now finding that they are no longer allowed to practice their religion and that their civil rights to freedom and free speech "are constantly violated, whilst previously secular matters are consumed by Islam," she said.
More than 50,000 Christians have fled Egypt alone since the onset of the revolution there. Her own family has been forced to leave Homs. "Christians have lost their homes, livelihoods and churches and been the victims of widespread looting, destruction and arson," Jarjour reported, showing delegates images of destroyed churches in Syria.
The Fellowship of Middle East Evangelical Churches represents about two million Protestants from 17 Lutheran, Reformed and Anglican churches.
The demonstrations in Syria had begun quite peacefully, but quickly turned violent, she said. "Many of us don't believe that this stems from our fellow countrymen," she pointed out. At first, Christians and Muslims took to the streets together, but as the level of violence increased, so the Christians felt forced to retreat.
"This was no longer a popular movement, but instead Syria has become the battlefield for various external forces," she declared, voicing her conviction that "democracy cannot be established by means of weapons and money from Saudi Arabia or Qatar."
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