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The Prince of Wales visits St Yeghiche Armenian Church
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The Times (London)
November 20 , 2014 Thursday
Charles: Iraqi persecution is heartbreaking
by Valentine Low
The Prince of Wales yesterday described the persecution of Armenian
Christians in the Middle East as a “souldestroying tragedy”. The
prince, who has recently taken up the cause of persecuted religious
minorities, said they were enduring “appalling suffering”.
He was speaking during a visit to the St Yeghiche Armenian Church in
south Kensington, London, where he heard the Archbishop of Iraq warn
that Christians there could be wiped out.
Christians in Iraq have been told by Islamic State (Isis) to convert
to Islam or face death. Tens of thousands have fled, and many
Christian communities in eastern Syria have been wiped out.
The prince said: “It is the most souldestroying tragedy that the
Armenian church is facing such indescribable persecution in the Middle
East in countries where Armenian Christians have long lived peacefully
with their neighbours.”
In a reference to the burning by Islamists this month of the Armenian
church in Deir el Zour, Syria, dedicated to the 1.5 million Armenians
slaughtered by the Turks in the 1915 genocide, the prince said: “It is
literally heartbreaking to learn of the attacks on the Christians and
on the churches where they gather.” He said: “Our prayers for those
who have to endure this continuing horror seem to be hopelessly
inadequate under such dreadful circumstances.”