Syrian Patriarch, Speaking for Eastern Christians: ‘The West Has Betrayed Us’

The head of the Syrian Catholic Church, Mar Ignace Youssif III Youan, has accused the West of betraying Syrians in their time of need.

Christian Today reports that Youan said that Western governments have ignored the pleas of Syrians who are oppressed by the Islamic State and have not listened to Syrian advice for how to combat the terrorists.

"We Christians are not able to live in this chaos," the Syrian Patriarch said. "The West has betrayed us."

The Syrian Patriarch has even accused the West of wanting to prolong the conflict in Syria.

“We explained from the beginning that our situation was different from that of other nations in the region, they were not listened to. And now we mourn deaths over the past five years,” said Youan.

Youan continued to denounce the West’s policy’s for dealing with the Islamic State threat:

The Islamic State "have already infiltrated in European populations. For years they have received money, weapons and religious indoctrination from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf countries, with the supervision of the West. To claim that the solution is to carry out air strikes [in Syria and Iraq] is a lie", he said.

Youan stressed the pain and violence Syrian Christians face daily living under the threat of the Islamic State.

"It's a shame that the West has abandoned Christians to this situation," he said.

Publication date: November 19, 2015