The majority of Canadian Christians are about to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, whom Christians believe to be God incarnate.
On Hanukkah, Jewish Canadians celebrate the victory of the Jews over the Seleucid Hellenistic Empire in the IIe century BC, a victory that can be considered the first known war fought for freedom of religion. The light of candles burning for eight days also symbolizes the triumph of light over darkness.
But for Christians in the Middle East, this Christmas season is not the “most wonderful time of the year” that Canadians take for granted.
The very region where Jesus was born, preached, died and, according to the Christian faith, rose from the dead, is being literally cleansed of Christians after two millennia of faithful presence.
And we Westerners seem indifferent to this tragic catastrophe.
The only country in the region with a growing Christian community is Israel, where the Christian population grew by 1.4% in 2020. Christians there enjoy the only functioning democracy in the Middle East where their religious freedom is guaranteed. In a December 2021 report by Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics, 84% of Christians surveyed said they were satisfied with their life in Israel.
Meanwhile, in other countries in the Middle East, we have witnessed the decimation of 2,000-year-old communities over the past decade in ignorance or indifference.
Since 2011, the Christian population of Syria has fallen from 1.7 million to less than 450,000. In Iraq, from 1.5 million to less than 120,000. Egyptian Copts are leaving the region by the thousands.
Even the city where Jesus was born, Bethlehem, has seen its Christian population drop from 84% to less than 20% today.
In Constantinople, now known as Istanbul, the Church of Holy Wisdom (Hagia Sophia), which was the seat of Orthodox Christianity for more than 1000 years, was transformed back into a mosque by the autocratic president and Turkey’s Islamist, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in 2020. Can you imagine a stronger way to get the message across that these Christians have no place in their ancestral lands?
Canada’s role
Canadians, who profess a deep commitment to human rights at home and around the world, should strongly support the right of Christians in the Middle East to live in peace and security, as affirmed in Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Christians in the Middle East should not be forced to immigrate in order to be able to practice their faith freely and live fully according to their culture and tradition.
Paradoxically, the loss of the Middle East is a gain for Canada. Between 2011 and 2021, Christian communities in the Middle East in Canada have grown rapidly. The population of Coptic Orthodox and Catholics increased by 97%. The Antiochian Orthodox and Melkite Greek Catholics saw their numbers increase by 83%. As for the Syriac Catholics and Orthodox, their number has increased by 310%. Membership of the Assyrian Church of the East and the Chaldean Catholic Church has increased by 340%! It is a source of wealth for Canada and we must continue to be a land of welcome.
But Christians in the Middle East who decide to remain in their ancestral lands should be able to live in peace and practice their faith openly and safely, knowing that the world will support them when they are in danger.
So far we have collectively let them down. This Christmas and Hanukkah, let’s commit to doing much better.
*Andrew Bennett is an ordained deacon in the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, he served as Canada’s first Ambassador for Religious Freedom from 2013 to 2016.