We have every reason to be concerned with the fate of the Christian communities of the Arab World. From Egypt to Iraq, these ancient churches have not only survived through centuries of hardship, foreign invasions, and domestic repression, they have also played an important role contributing to Arab culture and Islamic civilization.
Given the unsettling hostilities of the post-Iraq and post-Arab Spring Middle East, the region's minority religious and ethnic groups find themselves at great risk. Caught in the midst of sectarian conflicts brought on by war, occupation, repression,and severe social and political dislocation, vulnerable communities have paid a terrible price, most especially in Syria and Iraq. Whether forced to flee the violence of the civil wars that have ravaged these countries, or expelled by murderous extremists as part of genocidal "cleansing" campaigns, the size of these once vibrant Christian communities have been so depleted, that some rightly fear their extinction in their homelands. Because these ancient churches date back to the time of Christ and have added richness and texture to the culture of the Arab East, it is inconceivable to imagine Egypt, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, or Iraq without their Copts, Maronites, Assyrian/Chaldeans, and other Catholic and Orthodox Christian communities.
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