Christian churches often reluctant to bring up issue of persecution, says Hungarian government official

Often even Christian churches are reluctant to bring up the issue of Christian persecution and acknowledge problems by their name, the deputy state secretary for aiding persecuted Christians said in an interview from Ottawa, Canada late on Thursday.

Tristan Azbej was in the Canadian capital to attend a conference on the persecution and aiding of Christians in the Middle East and Africa organised by the Hungarian embassy in collaboration with the human resources ministry. The conference also included an exhibition on the subject.

Speaking to MTI, Azbej noted that Thursday’s was not the first conference organised by Hungary on the persecution of Christians, adding, at the same time, that this forum explored new aspects of the issue.

One of the questions raised was why Christian churches are often reluctant to address the issue of Christian persecution.

“Western Christians feel a sort of guilt that shifts the blame for crimes committed during the Crusades and the era of colonisation to Christian churches, so they give in to the neoliberal principle suggesting that Christianity is an aggressive religion,” the deputy state secretary said.

Christian churches, he said, were “afraid” to point out that Islamic extremists were responsible for the persecution of Christians.

Azbej said the academics, researchers, diplomats, religious representatives and Canadian MPs in attendance at the conference had expressed their appreciation for Hungary’s “honest and straightforward” remarks on the issue of religious persecution and all that the government is doing to help persecuted Christians.