MOSCOW, October 31. /TASS/. Patriarch Kirill, of Moscow and All Russia, has called on Christian leaders around the world to stand together in defense of peace and calm in the Holy Land. At a meeting with a delegation from the Assyrian Church of the East headed by His Holiness Catholicos-Patriarch Mar Awa III Patriarch Kirill warned of a possible exodus of Christian refugees due to the escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

"The conflict in which Palestinians and Israelis are involved is claiming many lives and creating a very dangerous, explosive situation in this region. Let me express the wish that, despite any disagreements that may exist in assessments, Christians around the world, and especially those who have direct links with the Holy Land, may today jointly raise their voices in defense of peace and calm in the Holy Land," Patriarch Kirill said.

This land and its people, he added, deserves peace at least in the XXI century.

The head of the Russian Orthodox Church also recalled that all such conflicts, as is known from history, eventually trigger flows of refugees who leave the Middle East, and "very often these refugees are Christians."

The meeting with the delegation of the Assyrian Church took place at the Patriarchal and Synodal Residence in the Danilov Monastery.