<![CDATA[The Prince of Wales will visit the Syrian Orthodox
Church, St Thomas Cathedral in Acton On Wednesday. Whilst there, he
will meet members of the congregation from Iraq and Syria who have
first-hand experience of persecution.
The Prince for years has worked tirelessly to foster inter-faith
dialogue and a stronger awareness of different religions in Britain
and abroad.
On arrival at the Syrian Orthodox Church, Charles will be welcomed
by Archbishop of the Syriac (Syrian) Orthodox Church in the United
Kingdom, His Eminence Mor Athanasius Toma Dawod Dakkama.
The Prince will meet privately with members of the congregation
from Iraq and Syria who have witnessed the tragedy of persecution
first hand. After meeting with the group, he will join the
congregation for a brief service of prayers and hymns.
There are around 3000 people belonging to the Syriac Orthodox
Church in the UK, 2000 live in London and the surrounding area.
There are two parishes in London and other parishes in Brighton,
Manchester and Cardiff. The church was established in the
1960s.
There are nearly 5,000,000 followers of the Syriac Orthodox Church
worldwide- 500,000 in Syria, 70,000 in Iraq at present, 50,000 in
Lebanon, 30,000 in Turkey, 10,000 in Israel and Jordan and few
thousand in Egypt and the Gulf States. A considerable majority live
in India, while the rest are spread after immigrating since the
early 20th century across Europe, North and South America,
Australia and New Zealand as well as the addition of Guatemala and
Central America.
Earlier this month, Charles delivered a video
message for the charity Aid to the Church in Need to introduce
their report: “Religious Freedom in the World.”
During his recorded message, The Prince of Wales commented: “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 700AD, with people of
different faiths living together peaceably for centuries.”
[youtube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-f60mjxYmBo?list=UUTkC3Jt91QkqNAE4FGWkEIQ&w=640&h=360]
In December 2013, The Prince of Wales and HRH Prince Ghazi of
Jordan jointly visited the Coptic Orthodox Church Centre in
Stevenage and the Syrian Orthodox Church in Acton.
Charles has visited both Coptic and Orthodox centres of worship
both home and abroad over the years. Meeting with members of both
communities, he has voiced concern about the challenges that exist
for Christians in Middle Eastern countries as well as get together
with those who live in the UK, to discuss said challenges in his
own country.
Featured Photo Credit: Mazur/catholicchurch.org.uk
via photopin cc]]>
