I have been particularly concerned at reports of the decline in the proportion of Christians in the [Middle East] region and the displacement of ancient and established communities. The effects of this tragic situation, about which I have spoken here in the UK as well as in the region on several occasions, are felt not only in the individual lives so deeply affected but also in the threat to some of the core values that underpin healthy societies. Not only will individual nations in the Middle and Near East be immeasurably poorer should they lose viable Christian communities, but the wider international community is likely to suffer as a consequence too.
Archbishop of Canterbury’s message to the General Assembly of the Middle East Council of Churches
Core values? Like civil society and rule of law, perhaps? Only the presence of Christian communities prevents these countries from becoming Islamic totalitarianisms, perhaps?
