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Pope Francis, in the company of the patriarchs of the Orthodox and Lutheran churches, held a solidarity ceremony on Saturday for the benefit of Christians, victims of the persecution and on the verge of disappearing in the Middle East. city of Bari, south of Italy. During the meeting, Francisco denounced the situation in this region, with wars, violence, fundamentalism and the abandonment of Christians, "and all this in the silence of so much and the complicity of many ", he lamented. "Let us pray together to ask the Lord of heaven for peace that the powerful of the earth have not yet found, from the course of the Nile to the Jordan Valley and beyond, through the Orontes , the Tigris and the Euphrates echoes the cry of the psalm: "Peace with you," says Francisco introducing the celebration.
In the celebration, they exchange readings and songs of psalms and reflections from the 22 patriarchs and representatives Orthodox xos has arrived so far in what can be considered a historical meeting.
The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartolomé, prayed with the Pope and traveled by bus through the streets of Bari, with whom he met several times; the Greek-Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria and all Africa, Theodore II; Archbishop Nektarios, representing the Greco-Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, and Metropolitan Vasilios, representing the Archbishop of Chipte
The Eastern Orthodox Churches were represented by the Coptic Pope of Alexandria, Theodore II ; the Syro-Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch, Aphrem II, and Bishop Hovakim, representing Armenian Karekin II, as well as representatives of the Eastern Catholic Churches.
At the end of the prayer, the dignitaries will retire to the basilica to speak behind closed doors of the dramatic situation in the Middle East, before launching in the sky a symbolic group of pigeons. The Apostolic Administrator of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, Mgr Pierbattista Pizzaballa, will open the debate.
Francisco has repeatedly expressed his fear of the possible disappearance of Christians from the "Middle East, the cradle of Christianity" and central theme of debates
The risk of Christian disappearance after years of harbadment is alarming, according to data from the International Christian Forum published late 2017.
The situation of violence in this region of the world and the radicalization of the world. Islam are the main causes of the disappearance of Christians, according to the study.
Over the last 10 years, the number of Christians in the Middle East has fallen 80% In 1910, at the beginning of the last century, the number of Christians represented 13.6% of the population of this region and in 2025 it is calculated that it will only be 3.0%.
"One can not imagine the Middle East without Christians because they are an essential part of the balance of this region and its identity ", warned Argentine cardinal Leonardo Sandri, prefect of the Congregation of the Eastern Churches The summit of" Christian solidarity "represents the so-called" ecumenism of the blood "as Pope Francis calls and seeks to stop the violence and aggression against the thousands of Christians who for two thousand years have lived in the area where Christianity was born and spread.
Source: AFP
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