The Prince should not be the only defender of the faith

The Prince of Wales sees himself as the “Defender of faiths”, but today in Westminster Abbey he will speak out in defence of the faith in which he was baptised. At a service to honour the Christians of the Middle East, Prince Charles will reiterate his long-standing protest against the persecution of many millions, whose only crime is to profess their allegiance to Jesus Christ. TheArticle will report on this highly significant gathering tomorrow.

As Melanie Phillips argues in a trenchant column in The Times today, the refusal of Britain to admit more than a handful of Christian refugees from Syria and elsewhere is a scandal. Although Christians make up 10 per cent of the population of Syria, only a tiny fraction of that proportion have been granted asylum in the UK.

Yet the catastrophe that has befallen Christians, along with other religious minorities, throughout the world is on a far greater scale. Some 215 million Christians worldwide are being singled out for various forms of persecution, according to the charity Open Doors. Among the culprits are, unsurprisingly, North Korea and, disgracefully, India, the world’s largest democracy. China not only persecutes Christians, but seeks to force them to adhere to a state church run by the Communist regime. However, the majority of victims of anti-Christian bigotry live in mainly Muslim countries.

Here in Britain, not many politicians or church leaders have spoken against the global targeting of Christians by Islamist regimes, for fear of arousing Muslim hostility here. Among the brave few who have done so are the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey, the  Catholic peer Lord Alton and the former Bishop of Rochester, Michael Nazir-Ali. Last week the present Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, wrote that Christians are now facing “the worst situation since the Mongol invasions of the 13th century”.

The Archbishop is right. Yet where is the Foreign Secretary in this debate? What does the Government have to say about the denial of religious freedom in so many countries where Islam is the dominant tradition? Does Britain pass the Good Samaritan test, of being ready to help those suffering for their beliefs, or shall we pass on the other side of the road?

Above all, where is the voice of the Prime Minister, the churchgoing vicar’s daughter? It is unlikely that Theresa May is indifferent to the plight of her fellow Christians; she is certainly aware of it. Last Easter, she said: “We stand with those persecuted Christians. We will be looking to see what more the Government can do to support them.” Not only has the Government done little or nothing, but it has failed to name the perpetrators. The only possible reason why Mrs May remains silent about this is fear of causing offence among British Muslims.

This is why it is so important for leading Muslims, here and abroad, to denounce the persecution of Christians. With a few courageous exceptions, we hear nothing from the imams and secular leaders about cases such as Asia Bibi, the Pakistani Christian who has been falsely accused of blasphemy but is still waiting for an offer of asylum. Ecumenical dialogue between Muslims and Christians is necessary and right; indeed Prince Charles has been a useful catalyst for improving inter-faith relationships. The time has now come for honesty, however, about the horrors that are taking place daily. Unless Western governments are prepared to face down possible Muslim criticism when they take action to help persecuted Christians, they will fail the Good Samaritan test.