Spanish original here. After this message was published in La Reforma and other Mexican newspapers, the Saudi ambassador in Mexico City apparently had a fit. More about that soon...
A Message to World Christianity, September 2013
What is the lot of the Christians of the Middle East? This is a question that I direct to the Christians of the world. In reality, we are re-living the past. Henry Kissinger proposed to the late President of Lebanon Suleiman Frangieh in 1973: empty Lebanon of Christians. The ex-president of France, Mr. Sarkozy made the same proposal to His Beatitude, the current Maronite patriarch.
After the first proposal, the United States gave us the War of 1975 and as a result of the second proposal, reeking of oil and the chemical weapons that the United States and the oil-producing countries gave real murderers in order to kill real innocent victims: priests and unarmed civilians, as the Christians are; kidnapping two bishops four months ago and treating them in the worst manner, a kidnapping perpetrated by these groups and the Turkish government, as their Prime Minister Erdogan admitted to the President of Lebanon, a prime minister whose life has been distinguished by being opposed to Christians and other minorities, a prime minister who is certainly aware that previous rulers opened the tombs of the patriarchs and bishops in Istanbul and Smyrna.
Among other abuses and outrages, a group of fanatics set upon a monastery of nuns and orphans, the Monastery of Saint Thekla in Maloula, which is one of the oldest in the Middle East.
The world is silent, Mr. Obama and Mr. Hollande shut their eyes before what is happening, blaming a legitimate government, not even opening their mouths to condemn the burning and destruction of churches, the murder of priests, or the calls of muftis (religious leaders of Muslim fanatics) to do away with old churches and to not permit the construction of new ones.
Just today, they burned down the church and school of the city of Arbin, home city of our Orthodox metropolitan of Brazil, which is under the domination of the murderous gangs.
They condemn the acts of September 11, but today they ally themselves with its authors in order to work against the Christians. The dead from their graves and the blood spilled on that fatal day demand justice from Mr. Obama and Mr. Hollande.
We find bizarre this inhuman position that is rejected by all religions. There are threats of war. It is inexplicable that those who speak of liberty and democracy form an alliance with cannibals and savages and remind us of what Tshombi did when he ate the heart of Lumumba to assure himself that he was dead.
We deeply lament the fact that these things are happening in the 21st century, that these alliances are formed and threaten war to safeguard crime and ensure the safety of criminals!
His Holiness, Pope Francis, along with all the world's religious leaders and the majority of political leaders, prays for peace, while Messrs. Obama and Hollande beat the drums of war.
They can rest assured that evil will never do away with the Christian spirit of love and peace. They can rest assured that the voice of Christ Crucified and Resurrected will continue to ring in the ears and to move the hearts (if they still have them) of the cultivators of evil and, as He promessed: He will always be with His followers, His Christians, with His Church.
Antionio Chedraoui
Antiochian Orthodox Metropolitan of Mexico, Venezuela, and the Carribean
A Message to World Christianity, September 2013
What is the lot of the Christians of the Middle East? This is a question that I direct to the Christians of the world. In reality, we are re-living the past. Henry Kissinger proposed to the late President of Lebanon Suleiman Frangieh in 1973: empty Lebanon of Christians. The ex-president of France, Mr. Sarkozy made the same proposal to His Beatitude, the current Maronite patriarch.
After the first proposal, the United States gave us the War of 1975 and as a result of the second proposal, reeking of oil and the chemical weapons that the United States and the oil-producing countries gave real murderers in order to kill real innocent victims: priests and unarmed civilians, as the Christians are; kidnapping two bishops four months ago and treating them in the worst manner, a kidnapping perpetrated by these groups and the Turkish government, as their Prime Minister Erdogan admitted to the President of Lebanon, a prime minister whose life has been distinguished by being opposed to Christians and other minorities, a prime minister who is certainly aware that previous rulers opened the tombs of the patriarchs and bishops in Istanbul and Smyrna.
Among other abuses and outrages, a group of fanatics set upon a monastery of nuns and orphans, the Monastery of Saint Thekla in Maloula, which is one of the oldest in the Middle East.
The world is silent, Mr. Obama and Mr. Hollande shut their eyes before what is happening, blaming a legitimate government, not even opening their mouths to condemn the burning and destruction of churches, the murder of priests, or the calls of muftis (religious leaders of Muslim fanatics) to do away with old churches and to not permit the construction of new ones.
Just today, they burned down the church and school of the city of Arbin, home city of our Orthodox metropolitan of Brazil, which is under the domination of the murderous gangs.
They condemn the acts of September 11, but today they ally themselves with its authors in order to work against the Christians. The dead from their graves and the blood spilled on that fatal day demand justice from Mr. Obama and Mr. Hollande.
We find bizarre this inhuman position that is rejected by all religions. There are threats of war. It is inexplicable that those who speak of liberty and democracy form an alliance with cannibals and savages and remind us of what Tshombi did when he ate the heart of Lumumba to assure himself that he was dead.
We deeply lament the fact that these things are happening in the 21st century, that these alliances are formed and threaten war to safeguard crime and ensure the safety of criminals!
His Holiness, Pope Francis, along with all the world's religious leaders and the majority of political leaders, prays for peace, while Messrs. Obama and Hollande beat the drums of war.
They can rest assured that evil will never do away with the Christian spirit of love and peace. They can rest assured that the voice of Christ Crucified and Resurrected will continue to ring in the ears and to move the hearts (if they still have them) of the cultivators of evil and, as He promessed: He will always be with His followers, His Christians, with His Church.
Antionio Chedraoui
Antiochian Orthodox Metropolitan of Mexico, Venezuela, and the Carribean
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