Last week, representatives of various religious associations gathered in Moscow for the international conference "Freedom of Religion: the Problem of Discrimination and Persecution of Christians". The Forum was attended by Massimo Introvigne, Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairmanship on Combating Racism, Xenophobia and discrimination against Christians and representatives of other Religions, Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev) of Volokolamsk, Chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate's Department for External Church Relations, and Archbishop Erwin Josef Ender, Vatican representative. The conference also brought together representatives of Orthodox and Catholic Churches, Protestant, Jewish and Muslim communities, inter-Christian and inter-religious organizations.

In his report, which lasted more than 40 minutes, Metropolitan Hilarion, referring to the data of Massimo Introvigne, voiced the geography of persecution of Christians in the modern world. According to the representative of the Russian Orthodox Church, "Christians are the most persecuted religious community on the planet" : every year 105 thousand people die as a result of persecution. About 100 million Christians are being persecuted in different countries. christians. Among the regions of the world where the Christian minority is discriminated against, Metropolitan Hilarion mentioned the countries of North Africa (Egypt, Libya, Tunisia), the Middle East (Iraq, Syria, Palestine, Pakistan, Afghanistan), South-East Asia (Maldives, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Myanmar, Laos), and Central Asia. and South Africa (North Sudan, Nigeria, Eritrea, Somalia, Saudi Arabia), as well as India.

According to Metropolitan Hilarion, among the reasons for the persecution of Christians in the modern world, one can name not only extremism as " an ideology of hatred disguised by religion, "but also aggressive missionary activities of evangelical Churches, which, according to the representative of the Russian Orthodox Church,"humiliate Islam in their sermons." The Metropolitan also considers Europe's rejection of its Christian identity to be the reason for the feeling of defenselessness of Christians in the Islamic world. In conclusion, Metropolitan Hilarion called on the audience to take concrete measures to stop the persecution of Christians. According to the DECR chairman, to solve this problem, it is necessary to create "permanent centers for collecting and studying information about persecution on religious grounds." "Every case of persecution of Christians should be the subject of judicial proceedings," Metropolitan Hilarion concluded. Patriarch Kirill met with the forum participants in the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. According to the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church, cases of persecution of Christians and their discrimination have become systemic today. "Numerous testimonies clearly show that this religious community - the largest in number, if we talk about the global scale - is in a vulnerable position," the Patriarch said.

According to the representative of the Coptic Church in the United States, Bishop Serapion of Los Angeles, "a new era of martyrs is beginning." "The situation is very difficult, despite the fact that the revolution took place almost a year ago," Bishop Serapion described the situation of his co - religionists in Egypt. - Muslims continue to attack Copts, burn Coptic churches. Propaganda against Christian communities, especially by Salafists, is increasing."

As a result of the conference, a communique was adopted, in which the forum participants, in our opinion, were not able to formulate specific ways to combat discrimination against Christians. According to them, it is necessary to continue developing inter-Christian and inter-religious dialogue, the results of which "are intended to become the basis of good neighborliness between believers of all traditional religions." In addition, following the conference, it was decided to create a "comprehensive and effective mechanism for the protection of Christians and Christian communities", as well as an international body for monitoring discrimination against Christians and providing them with assistance. Meanwhile, on the first day of the forum, Metropolitan Hilarion noted that " persecution on religious grounds is not the subject of desk discussions."

Indeed, in the quiet of the offices, various communiques and appeals have already been written enough. Perhaps the meeting of anti-discrimination activists in the Islamic world will help consolidate this energy of protest and direct it to practical actions. It is clear that neither paperwork, nor meetings, nor banquets, nor receptions can alleviate the fate of minorities who are experiencing the wrath of the revolutionary Moloch today.

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