Pope Francis and Assyrian Church of the East Patriarch Mar Gewargis III Pledge Joint Commitment to Persecuted Christians in Middle East

Pope Francis received Patriarch Mar Cuerkis III of the Church of the East at the Holy See this morning. According to the Vatican News report, the Pope first expressed joy and thanks to God for the Patriarch’s visit to the Church of Rome and its bishop. He described the meeting as a concrete sign of fraternal embrace and Christian unity between the two churches.

The Pope also recalled a passage from St. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians about prayer for wisdom and knowledge of the truth. He said the meeting confirmed a shared commitment to religious freedom, which he described as one of the fundamental human rights that uphold human dignity.

The Patriarch said that he and the bishops with him wished to speak together about Christians in the region where Christianity began, who continue to suffer persecution because of their faith in Jesus Christ. He said that war and religious violence in the Middle East had caused suffering for the most vulnerable members of society, and that the greatest harm was damage to hearts and souls. He added that suffering, religious intolerance and exclusion had displaced the hospitality and deeply rooted faith long associated with the peoples of the Middle East, a loss he linked to the plight of the vulnerable (Psalm 82:3).

The Patriarch referred to a joint declaration signed after the meeting with Pope Francis. In it, the two sides affirmed that they would stand with oppressed fellow Christians, speak for those without a voice, and work together to help them begin new lives. The Patriarch also stated his agreement with the Pope that the Middle East would not be the Middle East without Christians.

A second church leader, whose remarks were reported at the same meeting at the Holy Palace, thanked the Holy Father on behalf of Christians in Iraq in particular. He credited the Holy See with efforts to raise international awareness of the suffering of Assyrian Christians and other Christian groups in Iraq, Syria and other parts of the Middle East. He called for continued prayer and hope that peace, justice and harmony among all peoples and religions in the Middle East would become a lasting reality for the children and future generations of Christian communities.

Source: Read the original report (translated from Arabic)