Pope and patriarch condemn Middle East persecution of Christians

The pope has concluded a three-day trip to Turkey by attending a religious service in Istanbul led by the ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, the pre-eminent spiritual leader of 300 million Orthodox Christians worldwide, the Guardian reported.

Afterwards, both men condemned the violent persecution of many Christian communities in the Middle East, and called for peace in Ukraine.

In a joint declaration signed by Pope Francis and Bartholomew after the divine liturgy to commemorate the Feast of Saint Andrew the Apostle, the leaders expressed concern for the increasingly volatile situation in both Syria and Iraq, and urged the international community not to turn away from their responsibility to those being oppressed and driven from their homes.

“Many of our brothers and sisters are being persecuted and have been forced violently from their homes,” the text read. “It even seems that the value of human life has been lost, that the human person no longer matters and may be sacrificed to other interests. And, tragically, all this is met by the indifference of many.”

They also highlighted the importance of inter-faith dialogue and religious tolerance and freedom, calling for “constructive dialogue with Islam based on mutual respect and friendship.”

On Sunday, the 77-year-old Argentinian pontiff repeated his call to put an end to all forms of fundamentalism not through military interventions, but by eradicating poverty, hunger and marginalisation around the world, all of which facilitated the recruitment of terrorists.

During his three-day visit to Turkey, the pope has drawn attention to the persecution of Christians in the Middle East while discussing relations with Islam. He has also addressed the schism between Catholicism and Orthodoxy.