The Moscow Patriarchate’s Metropolitan of Volokolamsk, His Eminence Hilarion, on Thursday commented on this week’s stern announcement, in the Holy Land, by the patriarchs and heads of local Churches of Jerusalem, including the most ancient and venerable of all Christian Primates there, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, His Most Godly Beatitude Theophilos III.
In his reaction, Metropolitan Hilarion, who is also the chairman of the Department of External Church Relations and a permanent member of the Holy Synod of the Moscow Patriarchate, noted that the Jerusalem Patriarchate has for years attempted to dispute the illegal sale of properties located in the Christian quarter, next to the Jaffa Gate, to extremist groups.
The Russian Church hierarch also referred to a dangerous trend that could lead to the loss of the current status quo and to the gradual displacement of Christians from cradle of Christianity.
The statement this week by the Christian Primates warned against a current threat to the Christian presence in the Holy Land, adding that “…Christians have become the target of frequent and sustained attacks by fringe radical groups. Since 2012 there have been countless incidents of physical and verbal assaults against priests and other clergy, attacks on Christian churches, with holy sites regularly vandalized and desecrated, and ongoing intimidation of local Christians who simply seek to worship freely and go about their daily lives.”