In the face of the “indescribable tragedy” of the persecution of Christians in the Middle East, faith leaders cannot remain silent. These remarks were part of the strong appeal made by Prince Charles of England in a video message which was broadcast on Tuesday, 4 November, recorded on the occasion of the publication of the Religious Freedom in the World Report 2014. 

The Report, compiled by “Aid to the Church in Need”, clearly indicates that “Christians are the most persecuted religious minority”. This was also brutally demonstrated at nearly the same time in Pakistan by the latest bloody episode of religion-based violence, in which a young Christian couple were burned alive for alleged blasphemy.

According to the heir to the British throne, “'The horrendous and heart-breaking events in Iraq and Syria have brought the subject of religious freedom and persecution to the forefront of the world's news”. It is indeed “an indescribable tragedy that Christianity is now under such threat in the Middle East, an area where Christians have lived for 2,000 years … with people of different faiths living together peaceably for centuries”.