Bishop George Saliba: Christians could disappear from the Arab world

The Syrian Orthodox Bishop of Mount Lebanon, Georges Saliba, said Christians could disappear from the Arab world because of the bloody events in the region.

The archbishop said in an interview with "Sputnik" that Christians in the Arab East were the most affected by the bloody events that have hit the region recently. He stressed that the Christian population in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine and some areas of Turkey has been persecuted, causing the movement of a large number of people. He called for security in the region to ensure the return of Christians to their homes.

On the other hand, Saliba said that the most important events witnessed by the Christian world in the past world are the formation of a new Ukrainian church.

The Archbishop invited Church leaders in Russia and Ukraine to recognize the importance of unity and peace in achieving the interests of Orthodoxy in the world.

He emphasized that there are two sections in the Orthodox-Eastern world that include the Orthodox Churches in the Arab world, Africa and India, and the West includes the Byzantine Orthodox Church in Constantinople (Istanbul) and the churches of Russia, ; Eastern Europe, Greece and other countries. Traditionally, from 381, Constantinople is considered the center of Byzantine Orthodoxy, and is the second capital of the Roman Empire, or Rome II.

Under the decisions of the ecumenical community, "the patriarchs are equal, and the patriarch of Constantinople is the first of the equals, but has no authority over the other Orthodox churches".

The bishop addressed the problem that emerged in Ukraine about the subordination of the Orthodox Church and said: "There are fingers that play in secret, and we do not absolve Zionism from the fingers of corruption, sedition, differentiation and invasion of the churches ".

On the position of the new Ukrainian Church, Archbishop Saliba declared: "So far, the Holy Synod has not taken a position on this matter, and we await your convocation to express our conviction".

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"Many Western church officials do not have the spirit of Christ and are looking for a schism to serve the interests of the world, but there are also many who are thinking about the Church's interest in general," Saliba said.

"The West, since antiquity, was the source of the divisions, initiated by the Reform Movement with Evangelical Evangelicals, and then extended to the east when the Crusaders came to this country and the local churches were divided by cause their".

Source: Sputnik