Maronite church head urges French president help stem ME Christian emigration

(June 18, 2010) The head of the Maronite Catholics has urged French president Nicolas Sarkozy to help stem the emigration of Christians from the Middle East. Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Nasrallah Sfeir raised the matter during his meeting with the French president on Wednesday in Paris. For his part, Sarkozy said Christian presence in the Middle East was a guarantee against intolerance. “The emigration of young Lebanese must be stopped,” the patriarch said later during a press briefing with reporters. “They cannot be blamed for leaving in search of work. But whilst those who go to Arab countries can come back, it is harder for those who go to Australia or Canada.” The cardinal was visiting France and meeting major government and political leaders. The issues discussed included Hizbollah’s weapons, which most Lebanese would like to see gone, and relations with Syria, which “have not always been the way they ought to be.” The number of Christians in Lebanon and the Middle East is declining rapidly because of conflict, regional tensions as well as a persistent economic crisis that drives many to seek the future elsewhere. The issue is one of great concern for the Catholic Church, as Pope Benedict XVI has said on several occasions, the latest during his June 4-6 visit to Cyprus.