Those who have followed Jesus the longest - Christians of the Middle East - have been shamefully neglected, says the Church of England’s sole Syrian priest

In his 20 years as the Church of England’s only Syrian priest, Nadim Nassar has been asked one question more than any other. “Father, when did you become a Christian?” He rolls his eyes in exasperation even as he repeats it. “Before replying, first I have to be calm,” he explains, “especially when priests ask me this question. Then I say, ‘I’ve always been Christian.’”

Next, he reports, often comes a “really appalling” supplementary. “So, your father and mother became Christians then?” This time he turns his head and looks away. The mere act of recalling what has become routine treatment is making him cross.

Why? Well certainly not because Nadim is intrinsically an angry man. Quite the opposite. This warm, chatty 54-year-old fills the small glass-sided cube where we meet at his publishers’ offices with charm and good humour. Neither is he insulted by the association – implicit in the question – with Islam. As director of the Awareness Foundation since 2003, his work is all about bringing people of faith together, whatever their backgrounds. But he makes no effort to hide his profound sense of betrayal over the sheer ignorance of Western Christians about the 2,000-year history of Near-Eastern Christians. And that pain is all the more acute in this their hour of need, when Syria is being torn apart.