Persecuted and Forgotten? A Report on Christians oppressed for their Faith 2011- 2013 Persecuted and Forgotten? Persecuted and Forgotten? A Report on Christians oppressed for their Faith 2011-2013 © 2013 Aid to the Church in Need. All rights reserved. Compiled and edited by John Pontifex and John Newton Additional research by Raquel Martín (Cuba) and William Lo (China). Published by Aid to the Church in Need 12-14 Benhill Avenue Sutton, Surrey SM1 4DA AUSTRALIAN OFFICE - Aid to the Church in Need PO Box 7246, BAULKHAM HILLS BC NSW 2153 PH: 02 9679 1929 Email:
[email protected] web: www.aidtochurch.org Front cover image: Destruction of the Virgin Mary Church in Imbaba, Cairo, May 2011, © EPA. Design by John Newton. Maps taken from ACN’s Religious Freedom in the World Report 2012, © Istituto Geografico De Agostini, 2010. All rights reserved. 2 Persecuted and Forgotten? © ZENIT/Kenneth Drake 3 Foreword by Patriarch Gregorios III Head of the Melkite Greek-Catholic Church © Marcin Mazur I am writing this letter in Damascus where we have been experiencing a harsh, bloody, painful and long Way of the Cross that has stretched down every road in Syria. All Syrians have been living this Way of the Cross for more than two years now. As Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour, fell under the weight of the Holy Cross, Simon of Cyrene was fetched to help. We too need a Simon to help bear our cross. Most of all, we need Jesus to bring to an end without delay our harsh Way of the Cross, enabling us to reach the joyful goal of the Resurrection.