Prince’s fears for Christians in Middle East

Christianity is under threat in its own birthplace due to a wave of persecution, the Prince of Wales has said, writes Abigail Frymann.

In a speech centring on the plight of Christians in the Middle East, the prince said that the exodus of Christians was a threat to the stability of the area. “I have for some time now been deeply troubled by the growing difficulties faced by Christian communities in various parts of the Middle East,” he told a reception attended by faith leaders at Clarence House, his London home, on Tuesday
17 December.

“It seems to me that we cannot ignore the fact that Christians in the Middle East are, increasingly, being deliberately targeted by fundamentalist Islamist militants.”

Before the reception, the Prince had spent the day visiting the Coptic Orthodox Centre in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, and the Syriac Orthodox Cathedral in Acton, west London.

He went on: “For 20 years, I have tried to build bridges between Islam and Christianity … we have now reached a crisis where the bridges are rapidly being deliberately destroyed by those with a vested interest in doing so – and this is achieved through intimidation, false accusation and organised persecution – including to Christian communities in the Middle East at the present time.”

The prince was accompanied on his visit by Prince Ghazi of Jordan, who said: “Since Muslims can generally live in dignity in Christian-majority countries, Muslims must stand up for the dignity of Christians in Muslim-majority countries”.