| "This effort by the Syrian Orthodox church community to regain the property of St. Gabriel is probably the last stand of the community to live in peace in that region. Like other Middle Eastern Christians, they have tried every possible way to survive and flourish, and their efforts have largely failed.The most catastrophic episode in recent years has been that of Iraq`s Christians, who, in 1970, represented six percent of the Iraqi population. That number is shrinking now to below one percent. Christians of Iraq made up of twenty percent of Iraq`s teachers and many of its doctors and engineers.All over the Middle East, Christians are dwindling in number. There are few countries where Christians are vulnerable,such as Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, and Jordan. Any change towards radical Islamization, may have dreadful effects on the minorities. In Egypt, Islamic Brotherhood is gaining political and social power that might drive the remaining ten to thirteen million Copts to choose to convert." |
|
