Catholic Philly | Bronwen Dachs for CNS | Oct. 28,2019
Egyptian Muslims cry as ambulances transport the bodies of victims killed after a Dec. 11, 2016, explosion inside the Coptic Orthodox cathedral complex in Cairo. Christianity is disappearing from towns and cities in parts of the Middle East, warns a new report from the papal foundation Aid to the Church in Need. (CNS photo/Mohamed Abd El Ghany, Reuters)
Christianity is disappearing from towns and cities in parts of the Middle East, warns a new report from the papal foundation Aid to the Church in Need.
It also said that persecution of Christians “has worsened the most” in South and East Asia.
Urgent action by the international community is needed to prevent more Christians fleeing countries, including Iraq and Syria, said the Oct. 23 report, “Persecuted and Forgotten?” It was based on a 2017-2019 study of the persecution of Christians around the world.
“Each person who leaves makes it harder for those left behind,” it said.
While noting that the international community has shown unprecedented concern about the persecution of Christians in the Middle East, the organization said “governments in the West and the U.N. failed to offer Christians in countries such as Iraq and Syria the emergency help they needed as genocide got underway.”
Pope Francis has denounced the persecution, torture and killing of Christians in the Middle East, calling it a form of genocide that must end.