In a speech to the House of Lords, the Archbishop of Canterbury has said that Christians in the Middle East are still anxious about their future, a full year after the Arab Spring revolutions began breaking out.
Dr Rowan Williams added that while Christians were not looking for special status, they must have a “guaranteed place” in their historic homelands, including in political discourse, civic equality and rule of law.
“It is possible to argue, on the basis of Christian and Islamic thought alike, in favour of transparent government and a proper notion of civic equality.
“That is the sort of argument about good governance as such that needs to be pursued if Christian communities are going to be secure in the future.
“Not any sort of case for special treatment but a strong argument for justice, honesty and respectful diversity in the societies of the region.
“It is certainly not the case that we can assume that ‘extremists’ are poised to take over the region tomorrow, but we still need to take with utmost seriousness the anxieties that are felt by communities already feeling exposed and uncertain,” the leader of the world’s Anglicans said.
“The Arab spring has meant dramatically different things in different countries and, as these last remarks underline, there are a number of different political possibilities for governance grounded in Islamic principles,” Williams added.
“But against such a background we may get a clearer sense of how and why the Christian presence matters, and why its future is surrounded by so many anxieties.
“No one is seeking a privileged position for Christians in the Middle East, nor should they be. But what we can say is that the continued presence of Christians in the region is essential to the political and social health of the countries of the Middle East.”