MOSCOW, August 28. /TASS/. The global Christian community has the apprehensions that Christianity as a religion will vanish from the Middle East by the middle of next decade, says a draft memorandum of the 3rd International Christian Forum that opened in Moscow on Monday.
"Over the past ten years, the Christian population of the Middle East has shrunk by 80%," the document says. "At the beginning of the 2000’s, the number of Christians living in Iraq totals about 1.5 million, which came to about 5% of the country’s population. By now, the figure has plummeted to about 100,000 people."
"The biggest Syria cities that lived through occupation by the militants have lost almost all of their Christian population," the document says.
"If the tendency persists, Christianity will vanish from its historic homeland, the Middle East," the draft memorandum indicates.
Participants in the forum point out the radical Islamic groupings’ efforts to spread erroneous notions of justice among the populations of Middle Easter countries. It is the illusion of justice that helps the terrorists rally mass support across the huge swathes of land, the draft says.
The document stresses the importance of devising new functional mechanisms based on the idea of justice that would ensure the safety and security of religious communities and the historic/cultural heritage of the region.
The ongoing processes of radicalization in the Middle East necessitate emergency measures to avert a social disaster and to maintain the historic heritage of Christianity, participants in the forum said in their reports. Many speakers stressed the significance of Russia’s efforts to establish peace among various religious denominations in the region, calling it "the intercessor of Christian peoples of the East."
The topic of support for Middle East Christians is the keynote of the 3rd International Christian Forum held in the Hall of Church Conventions at the Cathedral of the Savior in Moscow.
About 40 foreign guests are taking part in the forum this time.