Mick Hartley

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby came in for some well deserved stick for his piece in the Sunday Times last week, written with the Anglican Archbishop in Jerusalem, on the persecution of Christians in the Holy Land. The august clerics omitted any reference to Islam, referring instead to "fringe radical groups", and leaving the clear impression that it was all down to the Jews. Well, isn't it always?

Jake Wallis Simons lambasted the piece in the Spectator, noting the ongoing systematic persecution and violence against Christians in the Middle East and elsewhere, carried out by Islamic groups and by governments. In Israel, by way of contrast, the number of Christians is increasing. Yet Israel alone was singled out for criticism.

Welby, clearly stung by Simons' harsh words, now has a piece in the Spectator – Pray for Christians in the Holy Land this Christmas. It's not quite a response to Simons: rather it's virtually the same article, but with a bit more mention of the persecution of Christians elsewhere.

Over the last 40 years, I’ve travelled extensively to be with Christians suffering for their beliefs: smuggling Bibles into Eastern Europe in the 1980s, standing by a mass grave of murdered Christians in Nigeria, sitting with a man who had lost seven children and his wife, and worshipping with Christians in Pakistan in the wake of devasting church bombings. I've prayed with bereaved and traumatised survivors of the Easter 2019 attacks in Sri Lanka — in a church whose walls and icons were still stained with blood. I've been held at gunpoint in northern Nigeria, in one of dozens of visits to support Christians living there amid great struggle and suffering.

This is not about stating credentials, but rather emphasising the seriousness with which we view the suffering of our brothers and sisters. It’s a privilege to stand alongside these Christian communities and to advocate for them in this country and internationally. We do this frequently and we will keep doing it.

The Anglican Archbishop in Jerusalem, with whom I co-wrote an article in this week’s Sunday Times, has every right to speak about the threat facing his community. As we stated in the article, “Christians in Israel enjoy democratic and religious freedoms that are a beacon in the region' and therefore evidently do not experience in Israel the persecution described above. But this does not change the facts about the plight of Christians in the land where Christianity began.

In the Old City of Jerusalem, and the West Bank city of Bethlehem — where the thoughts of Christians turn at Christmas — the facts are stark and undeniable. The numbers of Palestinian Christians have declined to such an extent that their sustainable future in these places is now in question. This has been exacerbated by the recent, concerted and vicious attacks by radical groups on church buildings and holy sites, and on clergy and other Christians in Jerusalem going about their business and seeking to worship peacefully. That is why the patriarchs and heads of churches in Jerusalem recently raised an unprecedented and urgent alarm about the future of Christians in the Holy Land. It is worth reading and reflecting on.

It’s an honour to stand alongside Archbishop Hosam, as well as other Christian leaders in the Holy Land including the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, His Beatitude Theophilos III. They are internationally respected champions of peace, committed to building bridges between faiths and communities. Despite the pressures they live under, they seek the flourishing of all people in the Holy Land and wider region; a vision I share deeply and pray for continually.

Well I suppose it's something of an improvement, but who are these "radical groups" attacking church buildings and holy sites. Again we're not told.

Anyway, Welby is praying continually for the flourishing of all people in the Holy Land and wider region, so I'm sure it'll all work out in the end.