{"id":24104,"date":"2014-09-11T12:00:14","date_gmt":"2014-09-11T16:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/?p=24104"},"modified":"2014-09-15T11:30:01","modified_gmt":"2014-09-15T15:30:01","slug":"christian-concerns-religious-persecution-middle-east","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/religionandethics\/2014\/09\/11\/christian-concerns-religious-persecution-middle-east\/24104\/","title":{"rendered":" Christian Concerns of Religious Persecution in the Middle East"},"content":{"rendered":"

Religious freedom activists gathered in Washington this week (September 9-11) to speak out against the persecution of Christians across the Middle East by ISIS and other groups. The \u201cIn Defense of Christians\u201d summit was attended by patriarchs and bishops of ancient Middle Eastern churches who described the suffering of their people and urged American officials and church leaders to do more to help.<\/p>\n

Watch excerpts of statements from Princeton Professor Robert George, vice-chair of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom; Bishop Angaelos, General Bishop of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria; Mar Bechara Boutros Cardinal Rai, Maronite Patriarch of Antioch; His Holiness Catholicos Aram I of the Holy See of Cilicia of the Armenian Apostolic Church; Patriarch Ignatius Joseph III Younan, Syriac Catholic Patriarch; and Nina Shea, director of the Hudson Institute\u2019s Center for Religious Freedom.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Religious freedom activists are raising new concerns about the persecution of Christians in the Middle East. \u201cIt is nothing less than ethnic cleansing, and we cannot continue to be silent,\u201d says Bishop Angaelos of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria. More →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":103,"featured_media":24105,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6569],"tags":[7188,1857,17824,3977,17739,6943,4692,990],"class_list":["post-24104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-videocast","tag-extremism","tag-iraq","tag-isis","tag-mosul","tag-persecution","tag-religious-freedom","tag-syriac","tag-terrorism","topics-war-and-peace","faith-christian"],"yoast_head":"\nSeptember 12, 2014 ~ Christian Concerns of Religious Persecution in the Middle East | September 11, 2014 | Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly | PBS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Religious freedom activists gathered to speak out against the persecution of Christians across the Middle East.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, 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