Lavrov to Raise Issue of Christians' Protection With UNHRC in Geneva

Interfax ^ | 3/2/15

[marshmallow]

Moscow, March 2, Interfax - Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will open a high-level event on the subject of protecting Christians on the sidelines of the 28th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.

"Russia is seriously concerned by conflicts in the Middle East which has been the center of monotheistic religions since time immemorial. Regrettably, during these conflicts Christians are not only being harassed and discriminated against, but they also become victims of actions which fall under the definition of the genocide," the Russian Foreign Ministry's Department of Information and Press said.

Christians in Iraq and Syria are under threat of physical extermination by extremists who see themselves as "the only right" Muslims, it said. They face numerous problems and difficulties in other Middle Eastern countries too, the Department said.

"Christians are being persecuted not only in the Middle East. Difficult times have also come to Ukraine where the fratricidal war started by the Kiev authorities saw Orthodox Christian churches and monasteries being destroyed and priests and believers intimidated and harassed by Ukrainian nationalists. Many clergymen have fled to Russia, fearing persecutions," the ministry said.

"We are also alarmed by the widespread religious intolerance in Western countries, where movements propagating aggressive secularism, are gaining pace and attempting to undermine the moral foundations and religious component of the European civilization. Christians are feeling discriminated in daily life. Hostility towards them is manifested in multiple acts of vandalism and desecration of churches, holy sites, cemeteries, Christian symbols and so on," the foreign ministry said.

[mac_truck]

"We are also alarmed by the widespread religious intolerance in Western countries, where movements propagating aggressive secularism, are gaining pace and attempting to undermine the moral foundations and religious component of the European civilization. Christians are feeling discriminated in daily life. Hostility towards them is manifested in multiple acts of vandalism and desecration of churches, holy sites, cemeteries, Christian symbols and so on,"

Worth repeating...bump

[livius]

The Russians are being much better on this issue than the US.

[grania]

If US foreign policy had any morality left to it, it wouldn’t be in the business of destabilizing governments that protect and defend Christians and other minorities.

[leopardseal]

Has any American pol ever said anything about trying to protect Christians lately?

[Ban Draoi Marbh Draoi]

Indeed.

Wouldn’t it be a hoot if Putin were to offer asylum to Christians?

[tlozo]

Lavrov is a hypocrite. Russian government persecutes non-orthodox Christians. The Law on Freedom of Conscience and Religious Associations, enacted in 1997 under President Boris N. Yeltsin to define the state’s relationship with religion, says respect should be accorded firstly to Orthodoxy, and secondly to Islam, Judaism, Buddhism and [non-Orthodox] Christianity.

http://www.christiansincrisis.net/latest-news/643-why-russia-persecutes-non-orthodox-churches.html