Orthodox Arabs. Life and history of Christian Arabs in the East and in the world. The number of Arab Christians in the world

Conventional term for Arabic-speaking Christians. The penetration of Christianity into the environment of the tribes of Arabia began in the 4th century. and went in different directions. The greatest influence of Christ. Religions tested Arab. tribal associations that roamed the Syro-Palestinian borders of the Byzantine Empire, were in alliance with it and guarded the Byzantines. lands from the raids of the Bedouins - vassals of Sasanian Iran. In this region, Christianity spread primarily in the form of Monophysitism. Arab. kings of the Ghassanid tribe in the 6th century. played a significant role in the history of the formation of the Monophysite Church. To the east the outskirts of the Syrian desert in the IV-VI centuries. formed an Arab. the state of Lakhmidov, which was in allied relations with Iran. Although most of the kings of this dynasty remained pagans, Christianity in the VI century. took firm roots among the Lakhmid tribes.

Dr. The region of the Persian Gulf, where the Nestorians from Mesopotamia penetrated by sea, became the area for the spread of Christianity among the Arabs. In the IV century. two metropolises arose here, covering the territories of modern. Bahrain, Qatar and adjacent areas east. and southeast. coast of Arabia. The Nestorian presence in the region continued until the end. VII century, and possibly longer.

The third center of Christianity developed in the southwest of the Arabian Peninsula, in Yemen, where a highly developed urban and agricultural civilization existed. Christianity in the form of Monophysitism, partly Orthodoxy, penetrated into this country from the Byzantines. trade caravans. There was a powerful Jewish community in Yemen that competed with the Christians. In the 20s. 6th century this confrontation resulted in a bloody civil war, accompanied by the extermination of a significant part of the Yemeni Christians (see Nagran Martyrs). As a result, the Christians won, supported by the troops of Christ. Ethiopia (see Himyaro-Ethiopian wars). During most of the sixth century Yemen was dependent on Ethiopia, in the 70s. 6th century came under Persian control, and in 630 submitted to Muhammad. Despite the guarantees of inviolability, given at the same time Christ. community of Nagran, Caliph Umar (634-644), following the command of Muhammad to make all of Arabia Muslims. country, deported Christians to the Kufa area; over the next 100 years, this community gradually disappeared.

Christ. Arab. tribes of the Syrian desert during the time of the Muslims. conquests partly migrated to Byzantium, partly joined the Muslims or took a wait-and-see attitude. In the Umayyad Caliphate (661-750), where the Arabs constituted the ruling class, the Arab was cultivated in every possible way. tribal solidarity, Bedouin Christ. the tribes were in a favorable position, to the point that they were sometimes connected by family ties with the ruling dynasty. With the coming to power of the Abbasids (750), Islamic values ​​began to play a decisive role in the Caliphate, and already under Caliph al-Mahdi (775-785), the last Bedouin Christians were forced to convert to Islam.

In the VII-VIII centuries. there was a process of gradual Arabization of Christ. Caliphate subjects in Egypt, Syria and Mesopotamia. Christians quickly assimilated Arabic. language at the colloquial-everyday level; as they lose the knowledge of their former languages ​​​​(Sir., Coptic, Greek), an Arabic-speaking Christ appears. literature, designed to convey to the Christians of the caliphate in a language they understand cultural and religious. Byzantine tradition. civilization. This lit-ra included both liturgical texts and theological, apologetic, historical works, partly oriented to Muslims. The process of Arabization proceeded most rapidly among the Orthodox (Melkites), since in the pre-Chalcedonian Churches the “national” language (Sir., Coptic) was the sacred language of worship, which was cultivated and artificially maintained even when it fell into disuse at home. Among the Orthodox, especially in Palestine, divine services were originally performed both in Greek and Sir. language, and as the Melkites lost Greek. Arabic took its place. The first works of Arabic-speaking Christ. lit-ry were created in the South. Palestine and Sinai, ch. arr. in the Lavra of St. Savva the Sanctified; the oldest of these texts dates from the 740s. In the ninth century Arab. the tongue is spreading among Christ. writers of Syria and Mesopotamia, in the X century - Egypt. Gradually Arab. displaces other languages ​​of the Middle East-Christ. culture: Greek in Palestine to the beginning. 9th century Sir. among the Jacobites to con. XIII century, among the Nestorians - to the beginning. 14th century (single works were created in these languages ​​even later, up to the 16th - early 17th centuries); the Orthodox Sirs. language ceases to be used in ser. XVII century; liter per COP. language disappears in the 14th century. In present only separate compact groups of Syro-speaking Christians survived in Anti-Lebanon and among the Assyrians of Mesopotamia. Thus, almost all Middle East. Christ. communities of the era cf. centuries - Copts, Melkites, Maronites, Syro-Jacobites, partly Nestorians-Assyrians - can be conditionally ranked as A.-x.

At the same time, there never existed a single Arab-Christ. culture. To Near In the East, 5 largely self-sufficient cultures of the mentioned ethno-confessional groups developed, and for each of them the literature was bilingual or trilingual: among the Copts - in Copt. and Arab. languages, among the Jacobites, Nestorians, Maronites, Melkites - on Syr. and Arabic., among Melkite writers, in addition, knowledge of Greek was widespread. There were close contacts between the cultures of confessionally close peoples: Copts, Ethiopians, Syro-Jacobites, Armenians; other areas were the Melkites and Byzantium. Various Arabic Christians. cultures mutually influenced each other, especially in secular areas of knowledge - historiography, philology, medicine. Middle East. Christians were closely associated with the Arab-Muslims. culture. In con. VIII-X centuries dozens of Christ The authors undertook a grandiose job of translating into Arabic. the language of the ancient scientific and philosophical heritage, which served as the basis for the flourishing of the Middle Ages. Arab Muslim. Sciences. However, Muslim. scientists quite quickly overtook Christians in their scientific level, and later Arab-Christ. the scribes already relied on the achievements of the Muslims. authors.

Ethnic self-consciousness A.-kh. on Wednesday. century was weakly expressed. Their sense of ethnic unity was largely drowned out by the realization that they belonged to their confession, to Christ. the world. The word "Christians" was their self-name; in cases where it was required to distinguish oneself from others. Christ. ethno-confessional groups, the terms "Melkites", "Syrians", "Copts", "Maronites" were used; practically all of them also called themselves "Orthodox", opposing their community to others who were considered heretical. None of A.-x. did not call himself an Arab; with this word Christ. the authors called Muslims or Bedouin nomads.

During Wed. centuries of Arab-Christ. Communities knew periods of prosperity (especially in the first centuries of Muslim rule), when Christians had a fairly favorable social status, their culture developed rapidly, missionary activity unfolded along trade routes to the Center. Asia and along the coast of the Indian Ocean. However, later, with the decline of the Abbasid Caliphate, interfaith relations among Muslims. around the world, persecution of Christians has intensified and become more frequent. The Crusades, the aftermath of the Mong. invasion of the 13th century, during which part of the Christians were first brought closer to themselves by the conquerors, and then, after the Islamization of the Mong. nobility, was subjected to unprecedented persecution (for example, in Iraq under the Hulaguids), in the XIV century - Timur's wars led to the disappearance of many. Middle Eastern Christ. communities. The survivors were in a state of deep political and cultural decline. Ottoman sources of the 16th century. fix number A. - x. in Egypt and Syria at the level of 6-8% of the total population.

In the Ottoman era, which was distinguished by relative political stability and religious tolerance, a new cultural and demographic upsurge of A.-kh. First of all, he affected the Maronites, who were increasingly Catholic-oriented. Europe, and the Orthodox, who were influenced by their Balkan co-religionists. The influx of Greek clergy in Syro-Egypt. region, from the 16th century. which led, in particular, to the Hellenization of the East. Patriarchates, when all the highest positions in the church hierarchy were occupied by the Greeks.

In the XVI-XVIII centuries. cultural and economic penetration into the East began. Mediterranean Europe. powers and the Catholic Churches; lat. missionaries launched a propaganda union with Rome. Part of the Middle East. Christ. commercial and business layers associated with Europe. economy, in cultural and religious. plan gradually reoriented to Catholicism. Some groups of East. clergy, trying to overcome the decline and ignorance of their communities, also sought to rely on the cultural potential of Europe. This led to a whole series of splits within the ancient East. Churches and the formation of a number of Uniate Churches. The papal throne achieved the greatest success among the Maronites, to-rye were subjected to Catholicism. influence back in the period of the Crusades, finally went into union with Rome in the beginning. XVI century., And at the Council of 1736 agreed to the adoption of many. lat. rituals. In 1553 part of the Nestorian community accepted the union; their Church was called Chaldean. In 1656-1662. as a result of the split of the Syrian-Jacobite community, the Syrian Catholic Church was formed. In the Antiochian Orthodox Church a similar schism took place in 1724 with the formation of the Uniate Melkite Patriarchate. In 1741, Rome established the Copt. Catholic hierarchy. The Maronites went over to the union completely; the Nestorian, Syro-Jacobite and Orthodox communities split into supporters and opponents of Rome approximately in half; among the Copts, the number of Uniates was extremely small.

In the course of the struggle against the union of the K-Polish Patriarchate, under the pretext of distrust, the Arab. to the clergy he achieved that since 1724, for more than 170 years, Patriarchs of Antioch were appointed only from the Greeks. Later Uniate authors interpreted the transition of Syrian Christians to the union as a protest of the Arabs against the Greek. dominance. In fact, the national self-consciousness of A.-x. in the XVII-XVIII centuries. has not yet taken distinct forms (although the Syrian Christian authors of the 17th century already call their co-religionists “Arabs”). In addition, the Uniate Churches themselves had to face the desire of the See of Rome to Latinize the Middle East. Uniate communities and suppress their identity.

Along with the Uniate Churches among A.-x. Palestine there was a small group of Christians Lat. rite. After the restoration in 1846, the Catholic. of the Jerusalem Patriarchate missionaries began active propaganda work in Palestine, and in 40 years the number of Arab Catholics increased from 10 to 33% of Christians. the population of the country.

Since 1822 in the Middle. The East also acted Protestant. missionaries from Germany, Great Britain, USA. Despite the huge funds invested in propaganda, the results of these missions were much more modest than the efforts expended. At the same time, the Arabs are insignificant in number. Protestant. the community gave many leaders of the Arab-Christian culture 2nd floor. 19th century

With the weakening of the Ottoman Empire in the XIX century. on Wednesday A.-x. more and more penetrated nationalist, liberal and secular values ​​of Europe. culture. A relatively high level of education, mass migration to work in America, familiarity with the new way of life led to the spread of A.-x. anti-clerical views, breaking the traditions. value systems. In the 2nd floor. XIX - beginning. 20th century in almost all Arab-Christ. communities there were sharp conflicts between the conservative clergy and groups of laity, demanding the reformation of church life. For the Orthodox Patriarchates of Antioch and Jerusalem, this conflict was aggravated by the ethnic factor - the opposition, on the one hand, the Greek. the tops of the clergy, and with others - the ordinary clergy and laity Arab. origin. Arising among the Orthodox Arabs, the movement for the restoration of the national hierarchy, and above all for the replacement of the primatial cathedra with an Arab hierarch, received the support of the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian public. In Apr. 1899 Meletios II, an Arab by nationality, became Patriarch of Antioch.

Con. 19th century was the time of the awakening of national consciousness in the Middle. East. A.-x., more than their Muslims. neighbors, imbued with the latest European. ideologies, were the first to formulate the doctrine of a secular, trans-confessional Arab. nationalism, the idea of ​​the unity of all Arabs, regardless of religion. accessories. Sometimes this was accompanied by a rejection of the traditions of their community and an expression of sympathy for Islam, which played a key role in the history of the Arabs. nation. Such ideologies were, among other things, a way of Christ's self-preservation. communities, trying to find their own way of integration into the Arab-Muslims. about.

Along with this, among the Maronites and, to a lesser extent, other Uniate confessions, isolationism sentiments, an awareness of the Maronite national identity, and opposition to the rest of the Arabs matured. world, focus on Europe. (primarily French) culture and military-political patronage of the West.

The Copts, mostly conservative peasants, were little familiar with Europe. culture and, accordingly, with Europe. doctrines of secular nationalism. Traditionally, they considered themselves the true masters of Egypt, Muslim Arabs were perceived as conquerors, so it was difficult for most Copts (unlike the Syrians) to accept those who arose in the Middle. East nationalist ideologies based on pan-Arab. solidarity and nostalgia for the former greatness of Islamic civilization. This led to painful isolation in Egypt for them. about-ve of the turn of the XIX-XX centuries. from the outside as an Arab. nationalists, and Britons. administration. Trying to break through this isolation, the Copts in the beginning. 20th century tend to the ideology of secular Egypt. patriotism and renunciation of the autonomy of their community.

In the XX century. all the noted trends in the development of the Arab-Christ. self-awareness has been further developed. Among the Maronites, a so-called. the ideology of Phoenicianism, which erected the origins of Lebanon. identity to the Phoenician-Ars. antiquity, when the country dominated the Mediterranean trade and acted as an intermediary between the cultures of East and West. Arab. presence in Lebanon was declared alien and temporary. France, relying on the Maronite community, created the state of Lebanon (1920), where the Maronites sought to play a leading role, enshrined in a confessional-proportional system of representation in power. However, the growing changes in the demographic structure and the balance of political forces in Lebanon. about-ve led to a bloody civil war of 1975-1990, from which the Maronites came out weakened and lost many of them. levers of power. Even more tragic was the fate of the Assyrians, who also aspired to the beginning. 20th century to the creation of their own statehood with the support of the great powers. This policy ended with the genocide of the Assyrians in Turkey in 1915 and in Iraq in 1933.

Orthodox, Syro-Jacobites, Copts in the 20th century. more organically fit into their Muslims. environment. Orthodox Arabs of Palestine in the 20-30s. together with Muslims opposed the Zionist colonization of the country, and many of the Christians after the Arab-Israeli war of 1948-1949. shared the fate of the Palestinian refugees. Representatives of the Orthodox communities stood at the origins of a number of Arabs. secular nationalist movements, in particular the doctrines of Pan-Sirianism, Baathism (Syrian National Party). At the same time, despite the non-confessional nature of these ideologies and the fact that the majority of modern Oh. unequivocally refer to themselves as an Arab. nations, they largely retain their religious and cultural identity, remain faithful to Christ. traditions.

Lit .: Lebedev A . P . History of the Greco-Eastern Church under the rule of the Turks. Serg. P., 1896-1901. 2 tons; Mednikov N . BUT . Palestine from its conquest by the Arabs to the Crusades according to Arabic sources. SPb., 1898-1903. 4 tons; graph. Geschichte; Nau F . Les Arabes chrétiens de Mésopotamie et de Syrie du VIIe au VIIIe siècle. P., 1933; Pigulevskaya N . AT . Byzantium on the way to India. M., 1951; she is. Arabs at the borders of Byzantium and Iran in the IV-VI centuries. M.; L., 1964; Atiya A. A History of Eastern Christianity. L., 1968; idem. Christian communities in the Arab Middle East. Oxf., 1998; idem. Christians and Jews in the Ottoman Empire. N.Y.; L., 1982; Runciman S. The Historic Role of Christian Arabs of Palestine. L., 1970; Canard M. L "Expansion arabo-islamique et ses répercussions. L., 1974; Betts R. B. Christians in the Arab East: A Political Study. L., 1979; Trimingham J. S. Christianity among the Arabs in Pre-Islamic Times. L .; N. Y., 1979; Rodionov M. A. Maronites: From the ethno-confessional history of the Eastern Mediterranean. M., 1982; Bat Ye "or. Les Chrétientés d "Orient entre Jihad et Dhimmitude, VIIe-XXe siècle. P., 1991; Griffith S. H. Christianity in the Monasteries of Ninth-Century Palestine. L., 1992; Christian Communities in the Arab Middle East. Oxf. , 1998.

K. A. Panchenko

In the New Testament (Acts 2:11) it is reported that among the about 120 gathered in the Zion Upper Room in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost and the miracle of the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles, called by Christians the day of the Holy Trinity, there were also Arabic speakers. What is this if not convincing evidence of the presence of Christians among the Arabs at the dawn of Christianity. Many centuries before the Arab-Islamic conquerors from the Arabian Peninsula came to the Holy Land, numerous Arab tribes lived on the territory of modern Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq. In particular, one of the most famous Arab tribes that established themselves in the Hauran region between Damascus and Amman and founded an Arab vilayet here, subordinate to the Roman Empire, was the Ghassan tribe, which converted to Christianity. The new religion was adopted by other Arab tribes already living at the beginning of a new era in the Middle East. In the Christian world, the legend of the baptism of the capital of the Principality of Osroene-Edessa by the Apostle Thaddeus and the correspondence of the king of Osroene Avgar with Jesus Christ is widely known (1). The historian Ibn al-Ibri narrates that the king of Edessa was an Arab by origin and professed the Christian faith. The British Museum has a coin depicting King Abgar VIII with a crown topped with a cross (2).

Arab Christians, who consider themselves along with the converted Jews, the early Christians, participated in the creation of the Jerusalem and Antioch Churches. From the second half of the 4th century, in the Middle East and Anatolia, Arab dioceses began to form, though scattered, unable to unite into a single Church. In the initial period of the spread of Christianity, Arab priests reached the highest hierarchal posts. Thus, Mark was ordained bishop of the Church of Jerusalem in 134, Boutros was the bishop of the Arab tribes on the eastern coast of the Dead Sea and in this capacity participated in the Third Ecumenical Council in 431. Patriarch Elijah was from Nejd, and Patriarch Sophronius, who presented the keys from Jerusalem to Omar ibn al-Khattab, was born in Damascus. Many of the representatives of the Arab priesthood participated in the Ecumenical Councils and were widely represented at the Council of Chalcedon in 451 (3).

As he rightly writes in his detailed study “Living Stones. Arab Christians in the Holy Land,” Fuad Farah, chairman of the Congress of Arab Christians in Israel, who lives in Nazareth a few steps from the Church of St. Gabriel, who brought the Good News to Mary: “Arab Christians are not a plant brought to the East from outside, as some unscrupulous authors try to assert . They didn't come here with the Crusaders or Western imperialism. They are flesh from flesh and blood from the blood of the Arab and Arabized peoples.” (4) History decreed that they did not merge into a single Church, becoming adherents of different Christian denominations. Nevertheless, no one can deny the fact that the multi-vector rich heritage of Arab Christians, laid down by the Jacobites, Nestorians, Copts and Orthodox, still spiritually nourishes the Christian Churches in the Arab countries and serves as the basis for church organization. The transition in these Churches from the Syriac liturgical language (which has remained cult only among the Nestorians and Jacobites of Iran, Iraq, Syria and other countries) to the Arabic language from the 8th to the 14th centuries led to the formation of a powerful Arab Christian cultural layer, organically embedded into the mosaic of common Arab life. Since the 8th century, Arab Christians found themselves under the shadow of Islam, were forced to pay jizya to the conquerors, their relations with Muslims developed in different ways, mainly depending on the character and will of this or that Arab caliph. Nevertheless, the influence of the Arab Christian cultural layer on the formation of the Arab-Islamic civilization is undeniable. Moreover, it can be rightfully asserted that the contribution of the world-famous Arab Christian scholars to its creation, development and flourishing is the brightest page in the history of Middle Eastern Christianity.

The two-thousand-year history of our co-religionists in the Holy Land is filled with torment, suffering and innumerable deeds and sacrifices brought to the altar of serving Christ's truth. Persecution, persecution and execution of Christians by the Roman pagans. The invasion of the Persians, who destroyed many Christians, destroyed their churches and monasteries, stole the Holy Cross of the Lord.

Arab Christians, primarily Orthodox, Jacobites and Copts, were repeatedly victims of the Crusades to the Holy Land. The crusaders founded the Catholic Patriarchates on the ruins of the Eastern Church, which operated in Jerusalem from 1099 to 1187, in Antioch from 1098 to 1268. and in Constantinople from 1204 to 1261. The Latins actively seduced local Christians into their Catholic faith. The crusaders who remained in the Holy Land after the defeat by the Arabs gradually merged with the local population, intermarried with them through joint marriages. Their descendants, who inherited the faith of the Latins, can now be found in the West Bank of the Jordan River and in the Gaza Strip. Arab Christians were subjected to brutal persecution and murder during the reign of the Mamluks in the Holy Land. Like their co-religionists in Russia, they experienced all the horrors of the Mongol invasion.

From the XVI to the beginning of the XX centuries. Arab Christians in the Holy Land, which became part of the Ottoman Empire, were considered an alien element in the state and their lives were determined by the millet law, which puts them in an unequal position with Muslims. Under Turkish Islamic rule, the position of Christians worsened compared to the Arab-Islamic era. Nevertheless, despite all the restrictions, the role of Arab Christians in a society with an overwhelming numerical superiority of Muslims remained very noticeable. Here it is appropriate to cite the eloquent confession of the son of the Jordanian king, al-Hassan bin Talal: “The importance of Christians in the economic, cultural and political life of the modern Arab world is incommensurable with their small number among us. During the 19th century Christians in Syria, Lebanon and Palestine played a major role in the Arab revival. From their ranks came a whole galaxy of eminent scholars who restored the Arabic language to its former glory and, after centuries of decline, revived the Arab cultural heritage and laid the foundations of Arab nationalism” (5). Arab Christians made a significant contribution not only to the so-called "Arab revival", which opposes the Turkification of foreign subjects of the Ottoman Empire, but also, along with those who became more active on the political scene at the beginning of the 20th century. Muslims, clearly declared themselves in the Arab national liberation movement with the aim of liberation from the Turkish hegemonists. With the end of Turkish rule in the Holy Land, fraternal ties between Muslims and Christians began to strengthen.

After the First World War, during the national liberation struggle against Western imperialism and the Zionist threat, there is an increase in the solidarity of Muslims with Arab Christians, who feel and manifest themselves as convinced Arab patriots, completely denying confessional isolation. By the way, quite a few Western politicians, clerics and researchers still reproach Arab Christians for choosing their nationality over their confessional identity. Moderate Muslims are convinced that Christians whose mother tongue is Arabic are just as Arab as they are and have no reason to renounce their faith or convert to Islam. Gamal Abdel Nasser fought against the religious fanaticism of the Muslim Brotherhood and called for the union of the Cross and the Crescent in a nationwide struggle against British imperialism and then Zionism.

The contribution of Arab Christians to the fight against imperialism and Zionism in the Holy Land cannot be overestimated. Their role is especially noticeable in the political and information fields. A whole galaxy of bright personalities who emerged from their ranks, selflessly serving the fatherland, in their numbers significantly exceeded the percentage of Christians in the population. Among them are leaders of political parties, trade unions, editors of newspapers and magazines. Interestingly, it was from among the Orthodox that the most convinced propagandists of Marxism came forward. Among the well-known names Michel Aflaq is a Christian from Damascus, the founder of a pan-Arab political party called the Arab Renaissance Party, abbreviated as Baath (revival); Georges Habash - leader of the Popular Patriotic Front for the Liberation of Palestine; Naeem Hawatme is the leader of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Emil Tuma is the creator and editor-in-chief of the Al-Ittihad newspaper, the central organ of the Israeli Communist Party, and many others.

In the first half of the twentieth century. Christians represented the most educated part of traditional Arab society. The founder of the college in Bir Zeit, later turned into the first university in Palestine, was a Palestinian Christian, Hannah Nasser. The first rector of the university in Damascus was a Christian, Constantine Zureik. A whole pleiad of Christian writers and poets appeared who gained all-Arab fame. The circle of Arab intellectuals was seriously enlarged by graduates of the schools of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society (IOPS).

After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the bulk of Arab Christians began to leave their villages and settle in cities, where access to education contributed to their gradual transformation into an educated middle class. In Palestine, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon, they mastered free professions, were in demand in the administrative apparatus, trade and highly professional work. However, as a result of the growth of the educational level among Muslims and strong competition for jobs, Christians began to lose ground in their traditional areas of activity. The loss of their usual positions in administrative bodies, trade, and handicrafts contributed to the growth of emigration sentiments among Christians. After the establishment of the State of Israel, the population balance in Palestine was sharply disturbed due to the massive influx of Jews into the country. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, including Christians, have been expelled or forced to leave their homes. Those who remained in Israel, as well as those living in the West Bank, Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, suffered from unemployment and a sharply worsening housing problem for young families. Many Christians reached out to their relatives and acquaintances, who emigrated back in the days of the Ottoman Empire to Latin America, the USA, Canada and Australia.

What are the numerical indicators of such a capable, talented, patient, but, alas, minority Arab Christian population in the Holy Land and more widely - in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq? The statistics of these states and Israel do not always reflect the religious affiliation of their inhabitants because of, if not the explosiveness, then the understandable delicacy of this topic. Researchers usually operate with approximate figures that are not confirmed by official statistics.

According to the data provided by Jean-Pierre Valeigne, a French scientist, historian, diplomat who spent a long time in the Middle East, representatives of the main Christian denominations of this region entered the 21st century. approximately with the following quantitative indicators indicated in table No. 1 (in thousands):

Table No. 1(6)

Judging by the table, at the end of the twentieth century. there were about 900,000 Christians in Syria, and about 130,000 in the occupied Palestinian territories and Israel. The same table shows that the bulk of Arab Christians in exile by that time were Greek Orthodox, Syro-Jacobites and Greek Catholics. Many of them emigrated at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. According to statistics dated April 30, 2010, there are 1 million in Syria, 1.7 million in Lebanon (mostly Maronites), in Egypt, according to government data, 9 million, and according to the Copts themselves, 12-14 million. ; in Iraq, 1 million; and in Jordan, 160,000 Christians. According to the same data, 178,000 Christians live in the Holy Land itself, that is, in the territories controlled by the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) in Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip and Israel. Of these, there are 43,290 Christians in the West Bank of the Jordan, 1,800 in the Gaza Strip and 11,000 in East Jerusalem, and 122,000 in Israel. In the so-called "Christian triangle" there are 11,390 Christians in Bethlehem, 10,400 in Beit Sahure and 9,300 Christians in Beit Jala respectively. In Ramallah, the administrative center of the PNA, there are 7,000 Christians and 5,200,000 in the towns and villages of Bir Zeit, at-Teyyib, Jifna, Abboud, Ain-Ariq and Al-Zababda. Of the 122,000 Christians in Israel, 21,500 live in Nazareth and 15,960 in Haifa. In percentage terms, the first place among Christians living in the Holy Land is occupied by Greek Orthodox - 52%. On the second place are Catholics - 30.5%, on the third - Greek Catholics - 5.7%. They are followed by Protestants, Syro-Jacobites, Armenian-Gregorians, etc. (7)

With a lack of official statistics and difficulties in counting due to the ongoing emigration process, various sources agree that if at the beginning of the 20th century. Christians of different denominations made up 10% of the total population of Palestine, today they are no more than 2% here. The percentage of Christians to the population of the State of Israel that appeared on Palestinian land in 1949 was 2.9%, and in 2003 it was already 1.9%, including foreign Christians, including clerics, mostly of Greek origin. Today, only 11 thousand Christians live in the Holy City - less than 2% of the population. Christians in Bethlehem after World War II accounted for 85% of the population, today their number is 12% (8). Arab researchers estimate the number of Palestinian Christians at just over 400,000 out of more than 7 million Palestinians, or about 5.7%. The number of Arab Christians in the Holy Land (West Bank, Jerusalem, Gaza and Israel) does not exceed 42% or less than half of the Palestinian Christians living in all parts of the world. There are over 70,000 Palestinian Christians in Santiago, Chile alone.

As for the Holy Land in a broad sense, according to fairly reliable data, Christians today make up 10% in Syria, 34% in Lebanon (the main contingent is the Maronites), in Jordan - 6%, in Iraq - 3%. Even 100 years ago, every fourth inhabitant of the region, which includes modern Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and geographical Palestine, considered himself a Christian. Today, Christians here make up no more than 5% of the population (9). Of course, the reasons for the rapid decline in the proportion of the Christian population in the Arab countries and Israel are not only political, economic, and related to security issues. A certain role is also played by the low birth rate in Christian families compared to Muslim ones. However, this is far from the main catalyst for the de-Christianization of the Middle East.

Of course, we are primarily interested in the situation of our co-religionists, the children of the Jerusalem and Antioch Orthodox Churches, who represent the majority among Christians in Syria, the Palestinian territories, Jordan and Israel, and occupy second place in Lebanon. The largest Orthodox community in Syria enjoys wide religious and cultural freedom. In recent decades, Syria has always served as an example of interfaith peace in the Middle East. Some Israeli researchers are wrong or unscrupulous when they claim that Middle Eastern Christians are forced to emigrate because of the hostile Muslim environment. There is no basis for this hostility. Islam and Christianity have common spiritual values. Adherents of both religions believe in the Creator God, the afterlife and retribution, and are guided by the call to goodness and love and neighbor. If in Islamic doctrine a person “by the command of Allah inherited the earth”, then in Christianity he was created “in the image and likeness of God”. At the everyday level, Christians and Muslims in Syria and neighboring countries, nourished by the Patriarchate of Antioch, live in complete good neighborliness, and emphasizing confessional affiliation is considered inappropriate and even indecent here. “Ordinary Muslims in Syria have no confrontations with Christians,” testifies the representative of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia under the Patriarch of Great Antioch and the whole East, Archimandrite Alexander (Elisov) (10). Primate of the Orthodox Church of Antioch Ignatius IV, who was awarded the Order of Friendship in May 2010 by the President of the Russian Federation D.A. Churches. Christmas and Easter are included in the list of national holidays, and on other Christian holidays, believers can come to work later to be able to pray, and Christian churches, like mosques, have benefits for paying for electricity and water. Christians in Syria are represented in legislative and executive power, diplomacy and in all other spheres of state and public activity. Recently, Lieutenant General Fayed Rajha, an Orthodox Christian by religion, was appointed Minister of Defense in Syria. Syria in 2003 served as a refuge for Christians who flocked here because of the intolerable situation in Iraq as a result of the American occupation. Syria has always been a haven for those who fled persecution from Islamic extremist movements. The Orthodox community in Lebanon does not experience discrimination on religious grounds either. The Lebanese Metropolis is part of the Antiochian Church. Here is the Orthodox Balamand University, the winner of the 2005 Orthodox Nations Unity Foundation Prize. As the Primate of the Orthodox Church of Antioch Ignatius IV rightly notes, no other Arab country has such rights as the Orthodox of Syria and Lebanon have.

The position of Christians in the Palestinian territories, Jordan and Israel, which are within the canonical jurisdiction of the Jerusalem Orthodox Patriarchate, is radically different. First, here Christians of all denominations suffer from the expansionist policies of Tel Aviv. As a result of the creation of the State of Israel, thousands of Christians have been evicted from the country. A characteristic fact: the lands on which the residence of the President of Israel, the buildings of the Israeli government and the Knesset (parliament) are located were taken away from the Jerusalem Orthodox Church. The Christians who remained in Israel, like their Muslim compatriots, are second-class citizens, with all the ensuing consequences. All the hardships of the occupation regime, along with Muslims, are experienced by Christians in the West Bank of the Jordan, in East Jerusalem and in the Gaza Strip. In addition to economic and domestic problems, and often threats to life itself, Christians in the occupied territories are also openly discriminated against in worship. The Israeli occupation authorities do not allow Christians from the West Bank to enter Jerusalem, and their fellow believers in the Gaza Strip have been living under a complete blockade for years. Orthodox deputies of the Palestinian parliament can go to Jerusalem as parliamentarians, but not as Christians. Even communication between cities with Christian populations in the West Bank is difficult due to numerous Israeli checkpoints. The Israelis do not allow Jordanian, Lebanese and Egyptian Christians into Bethlehem and Jerusalem, not to mention the Syrian ones. The world is silent about the gigantic so-called "Separation Wall" built by the Israelis with a total length of more than 700 km, which turned Palestinian cities and villages into a kind of concentration camp. The erection of a section of this shameful racist wall, in front of the scale of which the Berlin Wall pales, in front of Bethlehem, according to the angry statement of the Latin Patriarch in Jerusalem Michel Sabah, "turned the city of the Nativity into a large prison."

The attitude of the PNA towards the Christian part of the population is the most favorable. Yasser Arafat called Jesus Christ a Palestinian prophet and repeatedly stated that the preservation of the Holy Christian sites was among his primary concerns. Christian Canaan Ashrawi has long been one of the closest advisers to the Palestinian leader. The PNA encourages Christians to remain heads of municipalities in ten cities where the Christian population is no longer in the majority. This is Bethlehem, whose mayor is Victor Batarsa ​​of the Catholic faith, is an associate member of the IOPS; Ramallah, Beit Jala, Beit Sakhur and Bir Zeit with Orthodox mayors; Teyiba, Abboud, Zababda and Rafidia with mayors from other Christian communities. According to the official quota, there are five Orthodox among the deputies of the parliament. At least two Christians hold ministerial posts. Christians have made a significant contribution to the struggle of the Palestinians for the recognition of their legitimate usurped rights. Thus, for many years the representative of the Palestine Liberation Organization in the UN was the Orthodox Christian Zuhdi Tarazi. Known as a brilliant specialist in international affairs, who was briefly the Ambassador of the State of Palestine in Moscow and also an associate member of the IOPS, Catholic Afif Safiye.

Christians in Jordan are full members of society. Among the representatives of their community there are many scientists, successful businessmen, representatives of the arts. Christians have up to 10 seats in the lower house of parliament. They are also present in the Senate and the government. At an August 2011 meeting with leaders of Orthodox Churches in the Middle East, King Abdullah II of Jordan stated that Muslims and Christians in the country “comprise one family working for the good of society.”(11)

If Palestinian and Jordanian Christians, with the exception of those living in Israel, do not experience any particular problems from the secular authorities, then for the parishioners of the Orthodox Church of Jerusalem, who make up the majority of the Christian population, the relationship between the flock and church leadership is regrettable and even unacceptable. The Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulcher, founded by Greek clergy, prepares their successors for the highest church posts. The access to the brotherhood was practically closed to the Palestinians. The Arabs were almost completely ousted from the environment of the black clergy. Only the places of ordinary clergy in minor parishes were allocated to their share. At the end of the XIX century. The Patriarchate of Antioch, with the support of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), was able to finally get rid of Greek hegemony in 1899. The Jerusalem Patriarchate stubbornly opposed following the practice of other Christian communities in the Holy Land, which gradually pushed foreigners out of the power of church power and were Arabized like the Church of Antioch. The Greek hierarchs tenaciously held on to power in the Jerusalem Orthodox Patriarchate, considering it a Greek heritage. A negative opinion about the Greek leadership of the Church spread more and more among the Orthodox flock. Things got to the point that the Greek church xenocracy began to be seen as a manifestation of colonialism in a church package. The indifference of the church authorities to the needs of the parishioners, the lack of trust and harmony between the Greek clergy and the Palestinian flock gave rise among it to feelings of alienation from the Church and its institutions, made it easier for Western missionaries - "soul-catchers" the task of transferring Orthodox Christian families to the bosom of the Catholic, Uniate and Protestant Churches. The Greek clergy with all their might resisted cooperation between the ecclesiastical authority in their hands and the Arab laity. They disrupted the recognition of laws in favor of Orthodox Arabs and boycotted even officially adopted laws, such as the well-known Jordanian law of 1958, which prescribed the need to create a committee of clergy and laity representatives under the Jerusalem Patriarchate to solve the problems of parishioners. Lost hope for cooperation, the Palestinian Orthodox eventually formed local councils of parishioners, working independently of the church leadership. (12)

Unfortunately, the relationship between the Greek clergy, despite the presence of worthy clergymen who are respected by Arabs, and the Arab parishioners has not changed for the better in the 21st century. In 2005, after the defrocking of Patriarch Irenaeus, who was accused of illegally selling part of the church lands in East Jerusalem to Israel, Theophilos III assumed the patriarchal throne. The attitude of the Patriarch towards the Arab Christians is characterized by his refusal to elevate to the position of the deceased Arab bishop a Jordanian priest recommended by the prince. The only Palestinian bishop, Atalla Khanna, is subject to obstruction, he has been repeatedly banned from the priesthood. The resolute rejection of the flock is caused by the ongoing sales and leasing by the Patriarchate to the detriment of the interests of the dioceses in the long-term lease of waqf church lands to foreigners. In the summer of 2011, in the capital of Jordan, Amman, in front of the residence of the Jordanian Archbishop, who is under the jurisdiction of the Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, several hundred Arab Orthodox Christians protested against the recently reached, as they claimed, agreement between the Patriarchate and the State of Israel on the renewal of rental contracts under Israeli state institutions of lands belonging to the Church (13). The Catholic, Armenian, Protestant and Anglican Churches in the Holy Land, to the extent possible, help their flocks in acquiring land on favorable terms for housing construction on their reserve waqf plots. These and other Churches maintain and build new schools. The Greeks don't build anything. Previously, there were seven Orthodox schools in the current Palestinian territories, now there are only two: in Ramallah and Beit Sahur. It should be noted that Catholics, as part of their proselytizing activities, build apartments for young Orthodox couples converting to their faith and provide them practically free of charge or on very favorable terms. The patriotic feelings of Orthodox Arab Christians are also offended by the fact that the Arabized Churches in the Holy Land and their leadership participate in the nationwide struggle for the legitimate rights of the Palestinians, while the Greek Orthodox hierarchs remain neutral or even aid the Israeli expansionists. (fourteen)

Since the spring of this year, we have been witnessing structural, systemic changes in the Arab world. The entire geopolitical and religious alignment in the region is changing, state structures are collapsing, traditional ideas about the development of society are breaking down. Some seemingly unshakable regimes have been overthrown, while others are teetering on the brink of overthrow.

Chairman of the World Union of Syro-Jacobites Habib Afram talks about the fate of Arab Christians in the light of tectonic transformations in the region on the pages of the influential and largest Lebanese newspaper An-Nahar. “From the first days of the revolutions that shook the Arab East,” says the author of the article, “from the first minutes of the collapse of regimes and the arrival of favorable changes in the region, Arab Christians faced a choice. At a crossroads: to join the opposition with its rosy and illusory dreams, or to remain faithful to the regimes, accepting them as they are - with all the shortcomings and qualities that are far from perfect "(15). “Arab Christians are in anxiety,” states the representative of the ancient Syrian Orthodox Church, and continues, “Anxiety is waving its black wing over the holy biblical lands of Palestine.” Habib Afram argues that today the vast majority of Arab Christians remain of the opinion that only a strong government can ensure their vital interests, human rights and freedom of worship. He believes that the so-called dictatorial regimes of Saddam Hussein, Hosni Mubarak and Muammar Gaddafi had the right to proudly declare to the whole world that not a single non-believer has experienced any deprivation or even worse - segregation, discrimination, racism. Such manifestations immediately caused the prompt intervention of the security services, up to the highest measure. Not at all, Habib Afram believes, that the dictators were filled with spiritual concern for the Orthodox, Armenians, Copts, Chaldeans, Assyrians. Subtle politicians, they understood how dangerous ethnic and confessional strife was, in the flames of which entire empires burned to the ground.

The chairman of the Union of Syro-Jacobites, most of whom, due to various upheavals in the Middle East, are forced to live in Latin America and other parts of the world, asks the question - will the “creators of a new life” be imbued with the consciousness of the former Arab leaders? And then he answers that Christians strongly doubt this against the backdrop of bloody clashes between Muslims and Copts at the very crest of the reformist wave in Egypt, the mass exodus of Syro-Chaldeans and Nestorians - the first settlers of Mesopotamia and Mesopotamia from Iraq, packing belongings before the possible outcome of Syrian and Lebanese Christians . Crackling slogans about freedom mean for many of them the freedom to act in order to destroy Christian identity.

A somewhat different opinion on the development of events in the region is held by the scholar of Christianity Suleiman Yousef In the article “On the fears of Syrian Christians” in the Lebanese newspaper As-Safir, the author, like his colleague Habib Afram, admits that all revolutions in the Arab world led to waves of violence over Christians and their forced emigration. The peoples in the region, he writes, are optimistic about the Arab Spring revolutions. However, Christians fear that these revolutions will bring them sorrow and suffering, turning them into marginals and emigrants. He believes that further escalation in Syria, which throughout history has been an example of confessional cohabitation in the region, will inevitably affect the fate of the Christian minority. As the examples of Iraq and Egypt show, during exacerbations, Christians find themselves between a rock and a hard place, and today the Christians of Syria are not only afraid of infringement on their rights and freedoms, but they are afraid that they may suffer the fate of the Christians of Iraq with the robberies, murders, and arson of churches that have occurred there, leading to mass Christian exodus. They are against the influx into the country of "Islamic extremist terrorist organizations and groups such as al-Qaeda, Fighters of Islam, Fighters of Allah, Victory of Islam, raised in neighboring countries" (16). At the same time, Suleiman Yousef argues that those who believe that Christians do not seek to overthrow the regime of Bashar al-Assad as their protector are mistaken. He confidently states that Christians, who have always been champions of democracy in Syria, are enthusiastic about the "winds of democratic change" in the region and that they will certainly be with the "people's movement" for the overthrow of the dictatorship and the transition of Syria to a secular, democratic, pluralistic state.

However, the highest Christian authorities in the Holy Land take a different position. In August 2011, Patriarch of the Antichian Orthodox Church Ignatius IV, receiving in Damascus a delegation of Russian public figures, which included the author of the proposed material, assured us that both Christians and Muslims of Syria feel like a single people, and the Syrian government and the President of the Republic treat representatives of both religions equally well and therefore enjoy the full support of the Christian Orthodox and other communities. Earlier, in June 2011, the Patriarch, receiving the Chairman of the Russian-Syrian Friendship Society A.S. Dzasokhov, assured him that the Christians of Syria, who are the indigenous inhabitants of this country, enjoy complete freedom and have always felt completely safe. “I have been the head of the patriarchal throne for 33 years, and during this time no one has ever said what I should say and what not.”(17)

Syro-Catholic Patriarch Yousef III Younan of Antioch said that "the demonstrators opposed to President Bashar al-Assad do not at all intend to demand equal rights for all citizens, but seek privileges for the Sunni majority at the expense of the Alawite minority." He is convinced that behind the artificially inflated anger of the West, which fell upon Syria, "which is one of the most secularized states of the Arab world, its aggressive intentions towards Iran, whose only ally among the Arabs is now Syria, are hiding." (17)

In June 2011, Patriarch of the Greek Catholic Church Gregory III Laham warned in an interview with Vatican Radio that "the first victims of anarchy in Syria, if the system of power in the country collapses due to mass unrest, will be Christians." The patriarch expressed confidence that if President Bashar al-Assad resigns under pressure from the United States and Western Europe, this will lead to an attack by Islamic radicals on Christians who will become defenseless against extremists, like Christians in Iraq. Most of the messages in the European media, Gregory III Laham called lies (18)

The de facto leader of the Palestinian Christian community, the disgraced Bishop of Sebastian Atallah Khanna, spoke out most strongly in support of Syria. He declared his "solidarity with Syria in its struggle against the American-Zionist conspiracy against all national-patriotic forces in the region." The Bishop confirmed that the threats he receives from Israel and his friends "will not affect his position in supporting the Syrian Arab Republic, its ongoing reforms and countering the foreign anti-Syrian conspiracy." The People's Committee of Solidarity with the Syrian people and their patriotic leadership, established in the occupied Palestinian territories, expressed support for the bold position of Atallah Khan and condemned the campaign of persecution launched against him" (19)

In unison with the position of Christian hierarchs, staunch supporters of Christian-Islamic solidarity, the Supreme Mufti of Syria, Ahmad Badr al-Din Hasun, who lost his son, was killed by terrorists operating in Syria, speaks. He sharply condemns both Muslims in violation of the Koran, using Islam to undermine and overthrow the Syrian political regime, and the West and, above all, the United States, seeking to inflame inter-confessional strife in the region and divide it into small religious states in the interests of their domination. According to a prominent Syrian cleric, this policy is also in the interests of Israel, so that it "can stand firmly on its feet." (20)

The justified concern of Arab Christians and at the same time the common position of various Christian denominations is evidenced by the Appeal of the Inter-Christian Commission in Jerusalem, adopted and distributed on September 2, 2011, which includes the heads of Christian Churches in the Holy Land, calling on Christians around the world to pray for Syria, about the security of all its inhabitants, regardless of religion, about the early end of the conflict and the beginning of a peaceful process of social reforms. The appeal of the Commission was supported by the Council of Churches of the Middle East.

The United States, Western Europe, their NATO ally Turkey, as well as Israel are not only waging an information war against Syria of unprecedented scale and sophistication, arming and sending terrorist groups to its territory, but also cynically directly approaching Middle Eastern Christians, intimidating them and urging them to to emigration. Thus, adopted on September 5, 2011 at the Elysee Palace, the Maronite Patriarch Bechara Rai was notified that France and its allies would soon carry out military intervention in Syria to facilitate the Muslim Brotherhood's coming to power in this country. According to information published in the press, N. Sarkozy informed the Patriarch about his plan to evict the Christians of the East by Westerners. (21) A press campaign has been launched against those who do not want to leave their family nests in Europe, accusing Eastern Christians of "colluding with the dictatorship." In this regard, of interest is the interview given on October 8, 2011 by Mother Agnes Mariam de la Croix, abbess of the monastery of St. Jacob (Syria) to the famous French journalist Thierry Meyssan, known for his objective articles and reports on the most important events in the Arab world. To the question of a journalist “whether the Christian minority in the Middle East is really afraid of democracy, supporting the“ dictatorship of Assad ”, the abbess answers: “No one realizes that we are plunging into a totalitarianism much more rabid and dangerous than these authoritarian regimes that are about to be overthrown. Their merit is that they have preserved the social, personal, family, tribal and planned ties of our mysterious East. Our happy life at a distance is completely incomprehensible to the West.” The reasoning of the abbess of the monastery and her analysis of the situation surprisingly coincide with the opinion of Russian observers and orientalists from patriotic circles. “The union of the Muslim Brotherhood with the West has become a scandal for both Christians and Muslims who do not want religion to dominate the secular beginning. The Muslim Brotherhood has refused any talks with Assad over his proposed reforms, preferring violence instead. The opposition National Council of Syria is not a natural expression of the real aspirations of the Syrian people. This is the fruit of secret cooperation in the interests of forces hostile to Syria,” says the abbess. To understand the hidden causes of destabilization in the region, the end of the interview is important:

Thierry Meissan: Western priests living in the Arab world actively supported the "Arab Spring" under the pretext that all peoples have the right to live by Western standards and enjoy the fruits of democracy. Speaking of Christians, do they have a common position or are they politically divided?

Agnia Mariam de la Croix: Those priests who support the "Arab Spring" are "paper" revolutionaries. They do not understand the real sentiments of the vast silent majority, both Christian and Muslim. As for the patriarch and the Christians, they are not afraid of the revolution, but of the intervention of the West, which makes one think that we are talking about a conspiracy and a controlled, and by no means a spontaneous movement. (22)

Mother Agnia Mariam de la Croix, who occupies a modest position in the church hierarchy, lives in the midst of the Syrian people, adequately expresses the opinion of the majority of ordinary Syrian and Middle Eastern Christians. Of course, it must be admitted that individual Christian elements are also present in the ranks of the irreconcilable Syrian opposition, which has mainly settled in the West. However, the vast majority of representatives of Christian communities in the Middle East follow their pastors, strongly oppose external information, cultural, economic and especially military interference in the internal affairs of Syria, for a peaceful settlement of the crisis in the country and the gradual implementation of reforms. If some of them joined the ranks of the opposition, then the opposition is healthy, constructive, ready not only for a dialogue with the authorities, but also for reforming the country together with it and building a new, more just society.

The aspirations and position of Syrian Christians are reflected in the Appeal of the Citizenship and Belonging Forum, which took place from 17 to 18 September 2011 in Syria, at the private university Al-Hauash. The forum was attended by clerics and laity of the Christian denomination. It was also attended and participated in discussions by numerous invited representatives of other faiths, mainly Muslims. Christian clergy and laity discussed topics related to the present and future of the country, citizenship and confessional affiliation, contacts with Syrian Christian immigrants in foreign countries. At the final meeting, the forum participants adopted a number of postulates, starting with the confirmation by Syrian Christians of belonging to their homeland of Syria, which they put "in the first place before their religious affiliation." “Syrian Christians,” said the forum participants, “are an important component of the national fabric of their country, on whose land they have lived for thousands of years. They are rooted in this land and do not accept emigration from the country under any circumstances.” Paragraph 6 of the Appeal “rejects the use of the term “minority”, be it religious, sectarian, ethnic, racial. All citizens of the country are equal before the law.” Particular emphasis in the Address is placed on "the rejection by Syrian Christians of any foreign or Arab interference in Syrian affairs." “Syria,” Christian clerics and laity declare, “belongs to her sons, who can and know how to preserve her. Any calls for the defense of Syria by external forces are condemned and rejected.” The Appeal calls for establishing effective contacts with the large Christian Syrian diaspora abroad in order to involve them in the political, social and economic life of their homeland and include them in the fight against anti-Syrian conspiracies. The document emphasizes the conviction of Syrian Christians that "only a secular state and freedom of conscience can solve the pressing problems of both Christians and Muslims in Syria." The Forum decided to establish a standing committee to disseminate and explain the text of the Appeal inside and outside the country in order to consolidate the Syrian society in order to resolve the internal crisis (23). The very fact of the convening of the Forum and its agenda testify to the uncertainty of the Syrian Christians in the future, in their future, and are their defensive reaction.

The Statement of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church of May 30, 2011 is imbued with anxiety for the fate of fellow believers. It condemns “Christianophobia in the world, which manifests itself primarily when religious differences are used in political struggle, mainly by extremist forces pursuing goals incompatible with the good of everything society.”(24) It is these phenomena that we observe in the Middle East, whether we are talking about Islamic or Jewish fundamentalism. Christian fundamentalists from radical Protestant communities in various parts of the world stand in close positions with Islamic and Jewish fundamentalists. Thus they support the Jewish claims to the whole of Palestine, backing them up with theological arguments. They are known as "Christian Zionists". The document of the Holy Synod contains the conclusion that “manifestations of Christianophobia are becoming a steady trend in some regions of the world” and directly refers to “Iraq and some other countries of the Middle East region”, whose Christian population is forced to leave the land on which they lived en masse centuries, or preparing to emigrate.

On the final day of his visit to Chisinau on October 12, 2011, Patriarch Kirill II of Moscow and All Russia, in an interview with Moldovan, Romanian and Russian TV channels, called Europe "godless, secular and not very associated with Christianity" and warned European countries "against excessive involvement in problems in the Arab world. Describing popular uprisings against the authorities in the Arab countries, the Patriarch refrained from "final analysis of events", referring to the lack of information, but at the same time unequivocally pointed out the fact of foreign interference in the internal affairs of the Arab world, in particular stating: "Neither you nor me , it is not clear to the world community what percentage of everything that is happening there today belongs to the actual people's initiative, and what percentage is the result - let's choose the mildest wording - of assistance to this process from abroad. To what extent this is a spontaneous and natural will of the people, who did not agree with their rulers, and to what extent this situation was organized” (25)

A few days later, on October 17, 2011, the honorary chairman of the National Front of France, Jean Marie Le Pen, a supporter of France's withdrawal from NATO, sharply condemning the crimes of this aggressive bloc in Libya, as if in the development of the Patriarch's reasoning, stated that "the West, which by no means not so Christian, participated in the overthrow of Mubarak, Gaddafi and Saddam Hussein - Arab anti-Islamist leaders who defended Christians. The oldest leader of the French nationalists accuses the West of intending to overthrow Bashar al-Assad, "who has already begun to implement the reforms required of him and is the main defender of Christians in the Middle East." Jean-Marie Le Pen believes that "the Syrian government is legitimate in its fight against armed gangs trying to seize power in the country." (26)

Russian Muslims, who have lived side by side with Christians for centuries, also express concern about the plight of Middle Eastern Christians. The head of the ulema of the All-Russian Muftiate, Farid Salman, in his message to the rector of the largest Islamic university Al-Azhar in Cairo, Ahmad al-Tayyib, writes: “Muslims in Russia are anxiously watching the exodus of Christians from Iraq, the Palestinian lands, and other countries of the Middle East. The ongoing exodus of Christians from the countries of the Middle East, attacks on churches and monasteries, the killing of clergy and the taking of Christian hostages are the best gift to the open and secret enemies of Islam and one of the reasons for the growing Islamophobia all over the world” (27)

On June 24, 2011, the chairman of the Department for External Church Relations (DECR) of the Moscow Patriarchate, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, at a press conference on the topic "The persecution of Christians - an accident or a pattern?", Speaking about the plight of Christians living in countries where they constitute a minority, said that "according to studies and information coming from different sources, Christians are today the most persecuted religious group on the planet." In the opinion of the DECR chairman, “in fact, the very existence of Christianity is threatened in those regions where Christian Churches have served for centuries and peacefully coexisted with Muslims and representatives of other religions” (28). At a press conference in September 2011, Metropolitan Hilarion, commenting on the escalation of events in the Arab world and in particular in Libya and Syria, again speaks of a threat to the very existence of Christianity in this region, directly linking it with "very great pressure from Western powers" on political regimes in these countries. The DECR chairman, foreseeing the coming to power of Islamic extremists in these countries, which has already happened in Libya today, asks a legitimate question how these Western powers “are going to and are they going to ensure the safety of the Christians of Syria”, representing the majority of the Christian population of the Middle East. (29)

So, the Christians of the Middle East, who have preserved the unquenchable fire of the Christian faith since the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles, are entering the third millennium full of confusion in the face of, perhaps, the most severe trials in their history, threatening their very existence in the Holy Land. Author of the book Life and Death of Eastern Christians. From the Beginnings to the Present Day" writes: "When Christians disappear in the Middle East, its shrines will turn into the scenery of a "spiritual Disneyland", the contours of which are already showing through in Christian Jerusalem. (30) The policy of Judaization of Jerusalem has already robbed it of many historical features, desecrated the purity and sanctity of the "City of Peace". Christian and Muslim Jerusalem is on the verge of destruction. Jerusalem is in danger of destruction and disappearance. The Israeli occupation is pushing both the Christian and Muslim population out of Jerusalem. The Palestinians continue to be exiles scattered all over the world, or live under occupation, deprived of the most basic human rights. Palestinian Christian Afif Safiye, a former ambassador of the State of Palestine in Moscow, says: “…anti-Semitism today is the persecution of the Palestinian people by Israel” (31). The mission of the Holy Land without an Arab Christian presence is meaningless. What does the Church without believers and believers without the Mother Church mean? What does the Christian heritage of Palestine, Greater Syria mean without Palestinian, Syrian, Lebanese Christians? Another researcher of the history of Arab Christians in the Holy Land, who called his book "Living Stones", addresses his readers, or rather, all of humanity, bowing before the holy stones of Palestine, and implores him not to show indifference to the fate of "living stones" - confessors of the Christian faith in Holy Land. Many politicians and scholars in the West think it is normal for Christians in the East to eventually choose to enrich their vast Western world talents over the threatening life in the Middle East. Russia has a different view of the future of the Holy Land. She returns here spiritually, culturally and financially to help her brothers in faith. It considers it its sacred duty to preserve the Christian heritage of Palestine.

Saint Metropolitan Macarius (Parvitsky-Nevsky), when he was Bishop of Tomsk and Semipalatinsk, in his “Conversation about the Holy Land and the Imperial Orthodox Palestinian Society” in 1895, said that this charitable organization in 13 years managed to do a lot not only for Russian pilgrims, worshipers Holy places, but also concerned about the situation of Orthodox Arabs or, as he calls them, "native Orthodox Christians of the Holy Land." The hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church noted the neglect of the Greek church leadership by his flock: “The Greek clergy, not understanding the language of native Christians - Arabs and Syrians, could not teach and confirm them in the faith, and sometimes completely left their flock, living far from it. And the Orthodox inhabitants of the Holy Land began to be seduced into the Mohammedan faith, then to go to the Roman church or to accept the wrong religion of the Germans and other non-Orthodox peoples. It was hard for the Orthodox. They didn't have any protection." The bishop concluded his Word with an appeal: “... we will not be silent for the sake of Zion, and we will not rest for the sake of Jerusalem, until piety reigns there again and until the Holy Land becomes, as it were, for the Orthodox Christians of all tribes, just as for the Russian people. native land, in which some could walk without sorrow, while others could live there, as in the days of David and in the times of pious Orthodox kings, in all piety, peace and contentment ”(32) The call of the metropolitan, sounded 116 years ago, today is the same as relevant as then. This is the order of our ancestors to all Orthodox Russian people, and first of all to us, members of the Imperial Orthodox Palestinian Society.

Note

1. Joseph Zaya. "A History of the Assyrians from Ancient Times to the Fall of Byzantium". M., LLC IPC "Maska", 2009, p.74

2. Fuad Farah "Al-hajarat - ul - heya. Al - masihiyun - ul - arab fi - d-diyar al - mukaddasa ”(“ Living stones. Arab Christians in the Holy Land ”) An Nasyr (Nazareth). 2005., p.17

3. The said essay, p.17

4. The said essay, p.21

5. The specified essay, p.102

6. Jean-Pierre Valognes “Vie et mort des chretiens d'Orient. Des origines a nos jours. Fayard, 1994, p.838

7. Statistical data prepared and transmitted to Bethlehem researchers of Christian problems by Samir Kumsia. The editorial board of the Orthodox Palestine Collection thanks the colleague for the provided materials.

8. V.N. Bilan “Christianity in the Middle East: the ghost of new catacombs?” Online magazine "New Eastern Outlook". 09.11.2010

10. Daily online media "Orthodoxy and the World", 27.04.2011

11. News.ru. com //Religion and society//25.08.2011

12. Fuad Farah. "Al-hajarat-ul-heya. Al-masihiyun-ul-arab fi-d-diyar al muqaddasa ”(“ Living stones. Arab Christians in the Holy Land ”) An-Nasyr (Nazareth). 2005., p.255

18. Novosibirsk. Siberian Catholic Newspaper, 10/12/2011

19. Site of NIRA "Aksakal" 20.06.2011

20.wffw. info. 27.06.2011

21. http:/www/ fondsk. ru / news 08.10.2011

23. Materials received from the representative of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia under the Patriarch of Antioch and the whole East, Archimandrite Alexander (Elisov). The editors thank his Reverend.

25. Official website of the Moscow Patriarchate "Russian Orthodox Church", 10.10.2011.

27. Umma News.com 14.06.2011

28. Website "Faith and Time" 06/25/2011

29. Official website of the Moscow Patriarchate "Russian Orthodox Church". 09.09.2011

30. Jean-Pierre Valognes "Vie et mort des chretiens d Orient Des origines a nos jours Fayard". 1994, p.9

31. Afif Safiye "On Palestinian Diplomacy". M. "Circle". 2009. p.123

32. Op. Quoted from: Words, conversations, teachings and speeches of His Grace Macarius, Bishop of Tomsk and Semipalatinsk. Issue. 1-3 Tomsk, 1898-1916, pp. 30-32

Oleg Fomin

Christians, in this article, include natives of Arab countries, regardless of their ethnic origin, who profess Christianity. For the most part, these are the descendants of the peoples who lived in the Middle East before the conquest of this region by the Arabs and retained their religious affiliation. The exception is the Christian Arabs living in Israel and the Palestinian territories, who are descendants of the population of the Kingdom of Jerusalem created by the crusaders. Christian Arabs have largely lost their original national identity and consider themselves Arabs.

Most of them have lost their languages ​​and speak various dialects of Arabic. Christianity is also practiced by representatives of non-Arab ethnic groups - Armenians, Assyrians, Greeks, etc. At present, a significant number of Christians in the countries of the Arab East are represented by foreigners, mainly citizens of European states. (According to the Institute for the Study of Israel and the Middle East)

The number of Christians in the Arab countries before the events associated with the "Arab spring" was approximately 15 million people. They belong to 28 Christian denominations, which can be conventionally grouped into three groups: Eastern Christian, Uniate (Eastern Catholic) and Western Christian.

Eastern Christian Churches are organizations of local origin that retain their own independence. These include: the Coptic Church, the Antiochian Orthodox Church, the Jerusalem Orthodox Church, the Syrian Orthodox Church (Syro-Orthodox or Syro-Jacobite), the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church, Nestorians, etc. Adherents of the Eastern churches live mainly in Egypt, Syria and Lebanon.

Uniate (Eastern Catholic) churches are religious organizations whose adherents at various times separated from the Eastern Christian churches and are in alliance with the Roman Catholic Church. These include: the Maronite Church, Greek Catholics, Chaldeans, Syro-Catholics, Armenian Catholics, etc. The largest Uniate communities are found in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, Jordan and the Palestinian territories.

Western Christian churches are represented by Christian churches and religious organizations of Western European and North American origin in two directions - Roman Catholic and Protestant. There are large communities of these branches of Christianity in Lebanon and Kuwait.

About three-quarters of the Arab Christian population lives in Egypt, Syria and Lebanon. In other Arab states, the number of Christians rarely exceeds 1 percent of their inhabitants. In a predominantly Muslim environment, the Arab followers of Jesus live mostly compactly: in villages, in cities - neighborhoods. There are large communities of Christian Arabs in the USA, Canada, Australia and Western Europe (mainly in France and the UK), as well as in Latin America, primarily in Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Venezuela. There are also Arab Christian communities in African countries, in particular, in Nigeria.

There is a steady trend downsizing the Christian population in the Arab countries, which has noticeably increased during the period of political changes taking place now in the region. Experts note that “all revolutions in the Arab world led to waves of violence against Christians and their forced emigration”, and “the changes that took place in the countries of the Middle East brought only repression against the followers of Christ”, who lost their rights after the fall of the dictators. Christians, as practice shows, can become a bargaining chip in relations between secular regimes and Islamists. It is noted that, paradoxically, “under dictatorships, the rights of Christians were better protected than they are now.” At the same time, “the ongoing exodus of Christians from the countries of the Middle East, attacks on churches and monasteries, the killing of clergy and the taking of Christian hostages are the best gift to the open and secret enemies of Islam and one of the reasons for the growing Islamophobia throughout the world.”

The largest group of Christian Arabs in the Middle East and North Africa are Copts Egypt (up to 9 million people). The situation with the position of the Copts in the ARE is becoming more and more alarming. The Copts fear that the coming to power of Islamists in the country, the growth of the influence of conservative followers of Islam will lead to a further deterioration of their position. Islamists regularly attack Coptic churches and monasteries and kill SLFs.” And there are good reasons for this.

Attacks on churches and parishioners, killings, robberies and looting by Islamist militants and their supporters have become a characteristic phenomenon in civil war-torn Syria. An estimated 10 to 20 percent of local Christians were forced to leave the country after the outbreak of the conflict in 2011. At the same time, a significant number of Christians are ready to support the "wind of democratic change" and the transition of Syria to a democratic, pluralistic state. Separate Christian elements are also present in the ranks of the irreconcilable opposition. As for the highest authorities of the church, they officially support the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. In general, the Syrian followers of Jesus are in favor of an early end to the bloodshed and "the beginning of a peaceful process of social reform."

Until 2003, a large Christian community (about 1 million people) lived in Iraq. Moreover, under S. Hussein, the authorities were more loyal to them than to the Shiites. After the overthrow of the Saddam regime by the Americans as a result of the terror unleashed against Christians, the latter began to leave the country en masse, and now there are from 300 to 500 thousand of them left. Only in 2003-2008. more than 40 Christian churches were destroyed in Iraq. It is noteworthy that all this happened in front of the eyes of the Americans.

About 56,000 Christians live in the Palestinian territories, including 43,000 in the West Bank of the Jordan River, 1,800 in the Gaza Strip and 11,000 in East Jerusalem. There is a mass emigration of Christian Arabs from the region. Their number in the Palestinian territories for 50 years has decreased from 22 percent of the total number of Palestinians to 2 percent. Christians are discriminated against, there are cases of their forced conversion to Islam. At the same time, the rights of the Christian population are formally enshrined in the Palestinian constitution.

There are 160-180 thousand Christians in Jordan. They are full members of society and are represented in government bodies. King Abdullah II stated that Muslims and Christians in the country "comprise one family working for the good of society."

Up to 1.7 million Christians live in Lebanon (about 34 percent of the population, mostly Maronites). The community continues to shrink, with many Lebanese Christians emigrating to other countries. Before the civil war of 1975-1990. the Christian community occupied a dominant position in the state and society. Currently, their influence in the country has decreased, but still remains significant.

Relatively large Christian communities exist in Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. They are represented mainly by foreigners living in these countries. There are a small number of Christians (foreigners) in Qatar and Oman. The Saudi authorities allow people of other religions to enter the country, but they are prohibited from worshiping.

According to the international charitable Christian organization "Open Doors" for 2012, Saudi Arabia ranks 3rd (after the DPRK and Afghanistan) in the list of states where the rights of Christians are most often oppressed. Christians are also severely persecuted in Yemen (6th place). In the countries of the Arab Maghreb, the largest Christian communities live in Tunisia and Libya. The number of Christians in Sudan is constantly decreasing, where the authorities are forcing them to move to the Republic of South Sudan.

Editorial opinion may not reflect the views of the author

Christians in North America are often confused by the relationship between the religion of Islam and the ethnic identity of Muslims. This confusion has two forms. The first concerns the relationship between the religious Muslim and the Arab ethnic component. The second concerns the depth to which the religious Muslim identity has penetrated the ethnic identities of all Muslim groups of people.

If Christians are to understand their Muslim neighbors (locally and globally), love them as Christ commanded them, and effectively spread the gospel among them, then we need to be aware of how they understand themselves.

"Arab" and "Muslim"

The terms "Arab" and "Muslim" are not synonymous. Muslims are followers of the religion of Islam. Arabs are an ethnic-linguistic group of people, most of whom are Muslims religiously, but there are also many who do not practice Islam. Their roots are on the territory of the Arabian Peninsula, but in the 7th-8th centuries they broke into the world around them with impressive conquests that followed the death of the prophet Muhammad in 632 AD. For 100 years they moved west through North Africa and Spain, and reached the south of France. To the east, the Arabs conquered the Persian Empire and entered what is now Pakistan and Central Asia. They did it as followers of Islam, but also ethnically, linguistically and culturally - like Arabs. From the beginning, these Muslim Arabs lived as a ruling minority over much of their empire. Most of the people they conquered spoke other languages ​​(such as Aramaic, Coptic, Berber and Persian) and practiced other religions (Christianity in the west and Zoroastrianism in the east).

After some time, however, the dual processes of Islamization and Arabization began, which proceeded differently and unevenly in different regions. Egypt, North Africa, and the Aramaic-speaking Middle East became virtually completely Arabized linguistically and Muslim religiously. In places like Iraq, Syria, Libya, and Egypt, significant minorities held on to their historical Christian identities. Thus, today in each of these countries there are communities of people who are regarded ethnically and linguistically as Arabs, but who are adherents of ancient Christian communities: the Coptic Orthodox Church in Egypt, the Maronite Catholic Church in Lebanon, the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches in Palestine , Eastern and Syrian Orthodox Churches in Syria and Chaldean Catholic and Assyrian Orthodox Churches in Iraq. These groups have been caught between two fires in the clashes that have engulfed these countries in the 20th and 21st centuries.

Chaoyue PAN - Coptic Good Friday Mass

The historical Christian population in the Middle East has drastically declined in the past few decades as Christians have been killed or forced to flee. For example, a significant proportion of the population of Palestine were historically Christians in the early 20th century, but Israel does not separate them from Palestinian Muslims, and many have left their homes. Similarly, the Assyrian and Chaldean believers in Iraq fled en masse from the regime of Saddam Hussein. But since the regime was overthrown, they have been targeted again, now by various Islamic groups, and many have had to flee. A significant percentage of the Arab population in the United States belongs to one of the ancient Eastern churches (hence they are not Muslim), and the patriarch of the Assyrian Orthodox Church currently lives in Chicago.

On the other hand, many other peoples under Islamic rule became Muslims but never became Arabs. In the Middle East itself, Persians (Iranians), Kurds and Turks are, for the most part, Muslims. But they do not regard themselves as Arabs and do not speak Arabic. Moreover, most of the world's Muslim population lives in countries where Arabic is not spoken: Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh and India, along with a few others.

The majority of Muslims in the world are not Arabs in linguistic and ethnic terms.

Arab center

And yet, the influence of the Arabs on these non-Arab Muslims is enormous. The Qur'an was written in Arabic and only the Qur'an in the original language is regarded by true Muslims. The prayers that Muslims read five times a day are read in Arabic, and it does not matter whether the person who prays understands this language or not. Hadiths and all authoritative documents of Islamic law were written in Arabic. Muslims in Southeast Asia who do not know Arabic still give their children Arabic names. It is true that most of the communities living in the neighborhood of the Arab world (Turks, Persians, Kurds and Berbers) experience something like a mixed love-hate feeling towards the Arabs, often expressing their superiority or hostility towards them. Until now, this influence is very strong, and the Muslim world is inseparably connected with the Arab world.

And here the second, widespread, but erroneous idea plays its role. North Americans tend to view religious identity as private and personal. It is true that we still think in stereotypes: Poles and Italians are typical Catholics, residents of the southern states of the USA are Protestants. Jewish families will sometimes reject children who convert to Christianity. However, by and large, religion is seen as a choice, and the issue is kept out of public opinion. A person may have no religious identity, and be American. In a large part of the Muslim world, however, the exact opposite is considered correct. Islam is part of their ethnic identity. To be a Turk, a Persian, or a Malaysian, or a member of another Muslim group of people, is to be a Muslim. You can try to stop being a Turk or a Persian, but not an ex-Muslim in terms of Islam. As a Muslim, you are not even required to strictly follow all the precepts of your religion, but you cannot leave Islam.

Joining another religion means committing ethnic and cultural treason, it means cutting yourself off from the ties to your family and society that are the foundation of your identity. This is one of the most difficult problems Christians face when proclaiming the gospel to Muslims. Islam does not divide religion, culture and politics into different spheres, but considers them as an indivisible whole. For this reason, evangelism and service to Muslims is seen as a political and cultural provocation, as well as a religious threat.

Our response

What should Christians do with this knowledge?

(1) Don't take every Arab you meet as a Muslim. They may be, but they may also be members of one of the ancient Near Eastern Christian churches.

(2) Don't mistake every Muslim you meet for an Arab. Most Muslims are not Arabs and they will appreciate that you know and understand the difference.

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(3) Understand that for many Muslims, Islam is a religion that they practice in a language they do not know. And their adherence to it is based more on ethnic identity, cultural practices and family ties than on theological understanding.

(4) Realize the price Muslims have to pay to follow Jesus. Not only do they face a high likelihood of outside persecution, they also face feelings of familial, cultural and ethnic betrayal from those closest to them, revolutionizing their own identity. Jesus must be extolled as something of the highest value, at a price that is worth paying for it.