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Middle East and North Africa

Patriarch warns public against blaming Church assisting to Syria

MOSCOW, February 01, 20:08 /ITAR-TASS/. Statements by certain public figures saying the Church provides aid to persecuted Christians in Syria in prejudice of deprived people in Russia prove that such people “show a false face”, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia said in an interview with Channel One on Saturday.

“One can’t be selectively good. If your heart doesn’t bleed for innocent people are killed in Syria today, nuns are kidnapped, Christian girls are killed and Christians are expelled, then what do mean words towards a kindergarten nearby,” the patriarch said.

“This issue is related to integrity of a human being. One can’t be good in one place and insensible to another. Thus, you show a false face anywhere,” he said.

Syria and the Middle East are “the cradle of Christian civilisation”. “Today Christians are being expelled from the Middle East. This is cultural and geopolitical changes. People with narrow views can’t understand the consequences of this phenomenon,” Patriarch Kirill said.

About a year ago the Russian Orthodox Church declared that aid had been collected to the Syrian people. The Church succeeded in collecting and giving over 70 tonnes of humanitarian goods amounting to two million dollars. The Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society coordinates the delivery of cargoes.

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Middle East and North Africa

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