Photo above Courtesy of DaveMackay.com

Cyprus Archbishop Chrysostomos ΙΙ has attended a gathering of the Primates of the four Patriarchates and the Αutocephalous Church of Cyprus, at the seat of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Constantinople (Istanbul), speaking about the dangers which Christians face in Middle Eastern countries, due to potential prevalence of extremist elements. The Archbishop referred to raids in places of worship, killings of innocent people, acts against Christian property and violations of even the most basic human rights, which Christians in the Middle East face today.

He added that “we personally experience the tragedy of violent displacement of our people from their ancestral homes. We watch, without being able to react, the colonization of our land with settlers and the destruction of our holy sites”. The objective of extreme elements is to force Christians out of these lands, the Archbishop continued and noted that the prestige of the Ecumenical Patriarch needs to be utilized in order to protest these acts to the UN, the EU and other organisations.

Cyprus has been divided since the 1974 Turkish invasion. The island’s cultural and religious heritage, in northern Turkish occupied Cyprus, has been badly pillaged over the years and many religious and other artifacts have found their way in the black market abroad.