INTERVIEW By Javier Villamor, European Conservative.
“Evil takes various forms, expressions that are more or less barbaric, but it is always there, lurking and fighting against the people of God.”
he situation of Christians in the Middle East has largely disappeared from the headlines, but it has not stopped deteriorating. Following the territorial defeat of the Islamic State, persecution has not vanished; it has become quieter, more structural, and in many cases more definitive.
Entrenched conflicts, fragile states, radical Islamism, and ongoing geopolitical realignments are accelerating a process of disappearance that threatens to empty the very lands where Christianity was born of their Christian presence.
In this context, voices such as that of Charles de Meyer, president and co-founder of SOS Chrétiens d’Orient, are essential to understanding realities on the ground. Since 2014, the organization has deployed thousands of volunteers in countries such as Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, and Armenia, working directly with local communities on reconstruction, education, and humanitarian aid—independently of government agendas and funded exclusively through private donations.
In this interview, De Meyer offers a clear diagnosis of the present and future of Eastern Christians: the concrete impact of regional instability on daily life, the risk of becoming bargaining chips in geopolitical power games, the constant pressure to emigrate, and the discomfort their witness creates in increasingly secularized Western societies. It is a conversation that forces Europe to confront a reality it prefers to ignore—and one that continues to cost lives.
To begin with, how would you describe the situation of Christian communities in the Middle East in 2025 across the countries where you operate?
Christians in the East experience contrasting situations, but these converge on the same conclusion: a drastic reduction in the number of Christians in the Middle East. While Copts enjoy a demographic dynamism that is unique among Eastern Christian communities, they are isolated in this case.
Several factors explain this situation: the radicalization of Islamism and the numerous conflicts that regularly engulf the region, with direct or indirect effects on Christians.
Take the case of Syria, for example: before the start of the civil war, Christians accounted for 7–8% of Syria’s 20 million inhabitants. Today, their number has been reduced by at least half. There are now only about 25,000 Christians in Aleppo, compared to 150,000 at the beginning of 2010.