“Christians have given a huge, certainly a unique, an essential cultural contribution to the history of the Middle East. A contribution that no one can ever replace. The disappearance of Arab Christians means hugely impoverishing the Middle East”. This was stated to SIR by the Custodian of the Holy Land, father Pierbattista Pizzaballa, who spoke this morning at the conference of Comunità sant’Egidio, “Christians and Muslims of the Middle East in dialogue”, which is taking place in Rome. “Actually, Christians are a dialectic element within the Arab world. The Muslim world, because of the Christian presence, is always forced to question itself, to reflect, and this is an absolutely positive dynamism”. According to the Custodian, “dialogue remains the priority tool to avoid this loss. It is a good thing – he added – that increasingly large parts of the Muslim population are beginning, although shyly, to raise their voices against “Islamic fundamentalism, the enemy of dialogue. However, I believe – he concluded – that we will not see Christians totally disappearing from the Middle East. I think it is a myth: we will certainly be fewer and fewer, but, to judge from the figures, nowadays we are no fewer than we were 60 years ago. If anything, it is the others that have increased”.

© SIR - 22 february 2010