ASIA/JORDAN - Prince Hassan invites Patriarchs and Church Leaders to a conference on the role of Arab Christians in the Middle East

Amman (Agenzia Fides) - The Sykes-Picot Agreement, the secret pact with which France and the United Kingdom divided their spheres of influence in the Middle East after the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in World War I, was the prelude to religious and sectarian fragmentation in the Middle East. This was recalled by Jordanian Prince Hassan Bin Talal, President of the Board of Directors of the Royal Institute for Inter-Faith Studies (RIIFS), on Wednesday, May 7, at the opening of a Conference organized by the institute on the role of Christians in the Middle East.
This historical reference, which contains many suggestions for the present, was one of the important themes conveyed in the Conference, which was attended by several Patriarchs of the Churches in the Middle East. In his speech, which was also widely quoted in the Jordan Times, Prince Hassan emphasized the urgency of upholding the right to diversity and full equality among citizens in order to promote coexistence among differences, free from the pitfalls of sectarian conflict and hatred.
The opening session of the Conference was also attended by Theophilos III, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem; Ignatius Aphrem II, Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch, Aram I, Catholicos of Cilicia of the Apostolic Armenians, Ignace Youssif III Younan, Patriarch of the Syriac Catholic Church, and Patriarch Raphael Bedros XXI Minassian of the Armenian Catholic Church.
In his speech, Patriarch Theophilos III praised the role of King Abdullah II in promoting interreligious dialogue and protecting the Holy Sites in Jerusalem and recalled the ongoing destruction in the Gaza Strip.
Patriarch Ignatius Aphrem II, in turn, recalled the contribution that Christians have also made to the development of Arab civilization since the 7th century. Catholicos Aram I emphasized that, in the current historical context marked by bloody wars, religious and cultural tolerance is a necessity rather than a choice and condemned the various forms of political instrumentalization of religion. Syriac Catholic Patriarch Younan recalled the essential contribution of the indigenous churches of the Middle East to the growth of nations characterized by the coexistence of different identities and faiths. Armenian Catholic Patriarch Minassian, in turn, recalled the generosity of the Jordanian people in welcoming Christians, including Armenians at the beginning of the last century and Iraqi and Syrian Christians fleeing jihadist violence. (Agenzia Fides, 8/5/2025)

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