His Holiness Patriarch Ignatios of Antioch and All the East meets with Russian mass media representatives
31.01.2003 · English
HIS HOLINESS PATRIARCH IGNATIOS OF ANTIOCH AND ALL THE EAST MEETS WITH RUSSIAN MASS MEDIA REPRESENTATIVES 
On January 24, 2003, His Holiness Patriarch Ignatios IV of Antioch and All the East met with representatives of several Russian TV channels, radio-stations, newspapers and news agencies to answer their questions.
Speaking about his impressions of his present visit to Russia, His Beatitude noted that for the fifteen years that had elapsed since his first visit the country saw serious changes. They are especially vividly manifested in the situation of the Russian Orthodox Church, which is now consistent with the historical role she has played in the development of the State of Russia and the great contribution she has made to the formation of Orthodox cultural identity and civilization.
One of the questions concerned the situation of Orthodox Christians in the Middle East, the cradle of Christianity, inhabited now mostly by adherents to Islam. His Beatitude Ignatios testified that the flock of his Church in the Middle East amounts to one and a half million people. The number and situation of Christian minorities vary from country to country in the region since the history and culture of these states are different. Thus, the situation in Syria and Lebanon radically differs from that in the countries of the Persian Gulf. But no country in the Middle East pursues the policy of discrimination against the Christian minority, said the Primate of the Orthodox Church of Antioch.
Most of the faithful of the Antiochan Patriarchate, some 5 million, live in diaspora. They are predominantly people from the Middle East countries who emigrated to North and South Americas or Australia.
In the course of the interview, His Beatitude Ignatios expressed his opinion concerning the situation around Iraq. “We cannot believe that all the evil in the world can be concentrated in only one country and in only one man”, he said. At the same time he underlined that since the September 11 terrorist actions, no evidence has been presented to the world community, pointing to Iraq’s involvement in this outrage.
The Primate of the Church of Antioch described the situation that developed in the Persian Gulf as an extremely dangerous challenge to all humanity. His Beatitude expressed bewilderment with regard to the fact that one or a few countries considered it possible for themselves not only to openly interfere in the internal affairs of another sovereign state, but also to plan an armed invasion in the territory of a country which is a member of the UN.
“The history of humanity teaches us that war cannot help resolve disputes between states. For violence and war will inevitably generate new problems”, he said.
The Primate of the Orthodox Church of Antioch called not to identify terrorists with the entire Muslim world, stressing that acts of terror have been perpetrated also by adherents of other religions. “Followers of Christianity, Islam and Judaism should learn to live together in one land”, he said, “for on the day of judgement the Lord will ask us how we treated our neighbours regardless of which nation they belong to or which faith they confess”.
The full text of the interview of His Beatitude Patriarch Ignatios IV of Antioch and All the East will be published later.
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