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Vatican City, January 11 2025

(Nova Agency/Vatican News) – Christians represent a “constituent part” of the Middle East. Cardinal Peter Parolin, Secretary of State, visiting Jordan, who this morning presided over the liturgy for the dedication of the new church of the Latin Patriarchate which stands on the site of the Baptism of Jesus.

“Christians have been present in these countries since time immemorial, they continue to be a full part of the states and societies of the Middle East, even if unfortunately their presence following all the events of the distant and recent past, and of the present unfortunately favor their departure and therefore numerically the Christian communities of all countries are thinning. I would like to reiterate this constitutive dimension of the Christian presence: Arabic also means Christian because in these lands there is a Christian community that has roots in the past. I would therefore underline this fundamental and constitutive dimension of the Christian presence. Christians, being a constitutive part, can give a contribution in all areas. As the Pope has said many times, a Middle East without Christians would be a poorer Middle East, an expression that is fundamental in the very reality of this region would be missing,” the cardinal said.

Regarding the situation in Syria, Parolin commented: “I read the positive statements that have been made and that go in the direction hoped for by the Pope in his speech to the diplomatic corps: we hope that a new era can begin for Syria, where all citizens will have the same rights and the same prerogatives. Which is also the concept of citizenship that the Holy See also proposes for all countries: all citizens are equal, have equal rights and have equal duties before the law. We truly hope that these statements will find a follow-up and that therefore the rights of minorities and the rights of Christians will also be protected”.

The recent election of the President of Lebanon, according to the cardinal, is "a positive signal". "We have always maintained in these two years that it was important for the continuity and the very existence of the country as it is configured, that is - to use the famous phrase of Saint John Paul II 'a message country' – a country where social diversity, political diversity, religious diversity coexist. We have always maintained that the first thing to do was to secure the presidency, that is, to strengthen the institutions. It is therefore a sign of hope. We truly hope that this election marks a new phase for Lebanon in which all political forces come together to find common ground and work for the good of the country and above all for those reforms that the country absolutely needs”.