Prince Charles slams persecution of Christians, says family of Jesus fled violence too

Prince Charles, in his Christmas message that was broadcasted on BBC Radio 4 on Thursday, decried the persecution of Christians that is happening in the Middle East and reflected on how it mirrors the story of Nativity, in which Jesus' family also fled violent persecution.

The future king of Britain stated that it is "beyond all belief" that nearly 70 years after the horrors of the Holocaust, persecution based on race and religion is still happening. "We owe it to those who suffered and died so horribly not to repeat the horrors of the past," he said.

Charles relayed what he learned from a Jesuit priest from Syria about the horrors that Christians left in Iraq and Syria face, presumably from Islamic State and terror groups, although he did not directly say so. He also shared that the priest fears that there will be no Christians left in Iraq within five years.

"Clearly, for such people, religious freedom is a daily, stark choice between life and death," Charles described the Christians' situation in Iraq and Syria.

The prince said that apart from Christians, other religious minorities such as Ahmadis, Baha'is, Jes, and Yazidis face hostility and attacks.

He cited statistics from the United Nations which indicate that a total of 65.3 million have been driven away from their homes and that in 2015 alone, 5.8 million more people were displaced.

Per Charisma News, there were about 1.4 million Christians in Iraq prior to the Gulf War. The figure was reduced to 200,000 by 2015.

"We are literally watching the genocide of Jesus' followers in the Middle East," Steve Strang, the founding editor and publisher of Charisma magazine, stated, at last year's The Persecution of Christians Globally: A Threat to International Peace and Security, a conference aimed at raising awareness on the Christians' situation in the Middle East.

"Whichever religious path we follow, the destination is the same - to value and respect the other person, accepting their right to live out their peaceful response to the love of God," he stated, decrying the persecutions.