As representatives of the Ca-tholic Churches in the Middle East gather in Cyprus, the Prefect of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches apologises for the role the western Church has histori-cally played in undermining Chri-stians in the region, and pledges the Holy See’s support.
“We Westerners bear a heavy responsibility for destabilising the Middle East, with our tendency to export our culture and ask its peoples to conform their lives to it”.
This were the words with which Archbishop Claudio Guge-rotti, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches, greeted more than 250 representatives of the Middle Eastern Catholic Churches.
They had gathered in Nicosia for the opening of the symposium “Rooted in Hope”, organised to mark the tenth anniversary of Pope Benedict XVI’s post-syno-dal apostolic exhortation Ecclesia in Medio Oriente.
“As Western Catholics,” the Prefect said, “we apologise for supporting this myopic approach. We pay tribute to your heroic efforts to be witnesses to our common faith despite difficulties of all kinds.”
Gugerotti expressed his concern for “the diaspora of Middle Eastern Christians, which is caused by the current tragic situation, deeply affecting their daily lives.”