Christians in the Middle East

Lord Mackay of Clashfern Excerpts

Friday 9th December 2011 Lords Chamber

[Lord Mackay of Clashfern]

My Lords, I would like very warmly to thank the most reverend Primate for the opportunity of having this debate in your Lordships’ House, and for the scholarly and profound speech with which the debate has been opened. I regret to say that the standard, so far as this particular contribution is concerned, will now fall. I am particularly grateful for the opportunity that those of us who profess the Christian faith now have in this debate of standing alongside and showing support for our communities in the region to which the most reverend Primate has referred. It is very important that we show our fellow feeling with those of our fellow Christians who are under stress. I often wonder if my faith would be strong enough to respond adequately to such stress.

What can we do? One of the things we can do, as we are invited by Paul in his first letter to Timothy, is pray for the Governments of the region to which we are referring. We have to remember that Paul was thinking of the Roman imperial point of view when he said that we should pray for,

“kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty”.

It is incumbent on those of us who profess the Christian faith and others who feel the same way to pray for the Governments of the region as the new political institutions emerge. A prayer of this kind for the region might not be altogether inappropriate for our own Government at this time.

It is also extremely important to show in our attitudes a sympathy with all people who are under stress—not just Christians, but all those who are under stress in the region, and there are many of them. The most reverend Primate has expressed this better than I can by a wide margin, but we should remember the people who are struggling to get rid of repression and all sorts of problems that have beset them in the past, and we have to hope that their expectations will not be disappointed. That is because sometimes getting rid of one repression leads to some other form of repression, so we have to hope that these emerging situations are in fact beneficial to those who have suffered so much in the past.

I also wish briefly to mention the situation of the Christian missions, based on Christian principles but serving local communities in the region. I believe that the example of practical service, not just preaching, in helping to meet the needs of the communities is great and important work. Some years ago I wrote to a representative in this country of one of the Governments in the region to express regret that restrictions had been put on the right of Christians to worship in their own way in his country. The reply I received said that his country did not wish to follow the example of the West with binge drinking, unwanted pregnancies and the prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases. He wanted to stick to the regime that they had, and I think that this illustrates the importance of good example.

In relation to Christian missions and Christian stations in the region, today I want particularly to mention the position of Canon Andrew White as the vicar of Baghdad. He has played a very important part in maintaining Christian witness in Iraq under extremely difficult circumstances. Some years ago my wife and I were privileged to form part of a group that Andrew White led in Israel. I have to say that the relationships he had with people from right across the community were very remarkable. During that visit we met people representing every strand of opinion in Israel, and your Lordships will know that that is a very considerable variety. He has shown in more recent times a fine example of Christian fortitude in the troubles that now beset Iraq. On that occasion he brought our group to the house of John Mark in Jerusalem, where a Syrian Orthodox pastor was officiating. While the Syrian pastor’s mastery of English was a great deal better than my mastery of Syrian Arabic, it was still rather poor, so he had difficulty in expressing himself to us, but the warmth of his welcome was absolutely extraordinary. It is an impression that I have retained ever since. I wish particularly to pay tribute to Andrew White’s work and I hope that he will be able to continue for a long time in his office.