Heir to the throne of the United Kingdom, Prince Charles, has made a video statement in response to recent persecutions of Christians and other faith members in the Middle East, Africa and Asia, calling it an “indescribable tragedy” that Christian and other communities face persecution in the Middle East and elsewhere, and offering several suggestions that might help.
“The horrendous and heartbreaking events in Iraq and Syria have brought the subject of religious freedom and persecution to the forefront of the world’s news,” said Prince Charles. “We have learned with mounting despair of the expulsion of Christians, Muslims and Yasidis from land that their ancestors have occupied for centuries.”
The prince made the statements in a video message at the launch of Aid to the Church in Need, a report on religious freedom in the world organized by an international charity group based in the UK, Pontifical Foundation of the Catholic Church.
“Sadly, incidents of violence in Iraq and Syria are not isolated,” said the prince. “They are found throughout some–though not all–of the Middle East, in some African countries, and in many countries across Asia.”
The comprehensive Aid to the Church in Need report found that in recent months, religious freedom had deteriorated in 55 of the world’s 196 countries, and 81 countries had “high” or “medium” levels of religious persecution.
Christians remain the most persecuted minority, the report found. Most nations that commit religious freedom violations are Muslim countries, although Asian authoritarian regimes also engaged significantly in persecuting religions, particularly China, Burma, North Korea, Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan.
“It is an indescribable tragedy that Christianity is now under such threat in the Middle East, an area where Christians have lived for 2,000 years and across which Islam spread in 700 AD, with people of different faiths living together peaceably for centuries,” said Prince Charles.
The prince offered “several tangible courses of actions” that he believed might be helpful.
Religious leaders could accept responsibility for their faith members and ensure that the members respected people who belong to other faiths, the prince suggested. “We have yet to see the full potential of different faith communities working together,” Charles said, while citing “inter-religious peace groups” that had been achieved in some locations.
Also, governments could uphold the rights of their citizens to practice their faiths. Charles cited Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which includes the right to change one’s faith. In some nations outside of the West, “an absence of freedom to determine one’s own faith is woven into the laws and customs of the nation,” Charles pointed out.
Finally, the prince suggested that we should not lose hope. he referred to Mariam Ibrahim, the pregnant woman who was recently imprisoned in South Sudan and facing a death sentence for converting to Christianity. She was later released in the midst of worldwide media attention.
“It seems to me that our future as a free society–both here in Britain and throughout the world–depends on recognising the crucial role played by people of faith,” said Charles.
“And, of course, religious faith is all the more convincing to those outside the faith when it is expressed with humility and compassion, giving space to others, whatever their beliefs.”
The prince left his audience with the words of St Paul.
“Suffering produces endurance, Endurance produces character, character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us,” quoted Prince Charles.
Words have come forth for years regarding the identity of the Anti-Christ. One name that has been tossed about has been Prince Charles. The Man of Sin is a man that is a peace maker, he comes in peace. He comes in ‘peaceably”. This speech that Charles has given is very thought provoking and may be the first of many.