Moscow’s “International Conference on the Discrimination and Persecution against Christians, organised by the Patriarchate of Moscow, ended Friday, with a speech by Patriarch Kyrill.
The message sent out, urged the world to speak out against the persecution of Christians – an international emergency that affects one million victims and causes a hundred thousand deaths each year.
Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, in charge of the Patriarchate of Moscow’s external relations, described it as the biggest ever ecclesiastical meeting on this theme. Catholic speakers included: Paolo Pezzi, Archbishop of the Diocese of Moscow, Ivan Jurkovic, Apostolic Nuncio to Russia and Joseph Ender, the Holy See’s special envoy to the Conference.
Also present at the Conference was the Metropolitan of Iraq’s Assyrian Church, Mar Gewargis – who condemned the climate of fear in his Country which is forcing many Christians to emigrate and leading the Christian community there to near extinction. Numerous archbishops and patriarchs from the Orthodox world also attended.
The Conference was opened by Italian sociologist, Massimo Introvigne, OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) Representative on combating racism, xenophobia and discrimination.
Using the exhibition of Italian Eighteenth Century paintings currently underway at the Hermitage in Saint Petersburg, as a cue, Mr. Introvigne recalled how one of the themes that was passed on from Nineteenth Century Italian painting to Russian painting and presented in the exhibition, is that of sinking.
If Europe continues to keep quite about the persecution of Christians, for fear of offending their persecutors (“who may supply our oil, or buy our Treasury bonds,” Introvigne said), it risks sinking morally and spiritually, which may have even more harmful consequences than the economic crisis.