Pat Theophilos III: The world must confront extremists before it's too late
Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem. Photo: globallookpress.com
In an interview with the Izvestia newspaper, Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem said that the world must confront the extremists before it's too late. He said that Christians in the Holy Land are threatened by small groups of well-funded Israeli extremists. These factions are waging a grueling war against the defenseless Christian community.
“We currently represent less than 1% of the population and our numbers are declining. The world must act before it is too late,” the Patriarch of Jerusalem stressed.
His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos specified that if the radicals seize strategic objects en route of Christian pilgrims at the Jaffa Gate, Christians will begin to leave Jerusalem en masse. This is fraught with the loss of a full-fledged Christian community.
“The loss of the Christian community, a community that provides education, health care, humanitarian support to people of all faiths in the region, will have a devastating impact on the most vulnerable part of the population. It will also tragically denigrate the reputation of Jerusalem as the religious capital of the world,” said Patriarch Theophilos.
Earlier, the UOJ wrote that the Patriarch of Jerusalem spoke about the attacks on Christians by the Zionists.
Read also
Georgian Church Synod to present three candidates for Patriarchal throne
Georgian hierarchs will select candidates for the Patriarchal throne, after which the Extended Council will make the final decision.
Metropolitan Tychikos' lawyers respond to media accusations
The hierarch's lawyers called the television stories targeted harassment.
EU Court: Hungary's law protecting children from LGBT violates legislation
The European Court ruled that Hungary's ban on promoting LGBT ideology among minors contradicts "EU values".
Facts of persecution against UOC included in world's human rights report
The Amnesty International report points to pressure on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and criticism from UN experts.
Pasika activist urges believers to join Uniates if they don't want to go to OCU
Choknadiy called on UOC believers to join the Greek Catholic Church, since they refuse to join the OCU.
OCU “priest” urges SBU to punish local community head for backing UOC faithful
Volodymyr Pedko was outraged that a fallen serviceman was buried by a cleric of the canonical Church and promised to “sort things out” with the local authorities after the holidays.