Unfortunately, this scenario isn’t fictional or merely a nightmare to wake up from. It is exactly what took place at the Church of Saint Sinesios in occupied Cyprus. Saint Sinesios was one of seven religious sites in Rizokarpaso where, according to State Department reports, religious services could be performed on a regular basis without receiving advanced permission. Yet still, Christmas was halted by the Turkish occupation regime.

For decades our community has been pleading for religious freedom to be granted to the Orthodox Church by Turkey. Indeed, we have politely made benign requests such as, “Please open the Theological Seminary at Halki,” or “Please grant the Ecumenical Patriarchate legal personality,” or “Please let us choose our own Ecumenical Patriarch.” All the while Christianity has been dying a slow death in the very places it began.

The four original Patriarchates of the Orthodox Church are all found in the Greater Middle East – Constantinople (Turkey), Alexandria (Egypt), Antioch (Syria) and Jerusalem (Israel). Compare this list with the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom’s “countries of particular concern” (the list of the worst violators of religious freedom). This year, Turkey and Egypt were designated as “countries of particular concern.” With violence spiraling out of control in Syria, the Christian community there – 10% of the country’s population – has been targeted by both government and opposition forces. Similar trends of oppression of Christians have been identified and criticized in Iraq, Iran and Saudi Arabia.

And this takes me back to Cyprus. The first missionary trip of Christianity – by Barnabas and Paul – was to Cyprus. During their mission, they converted the Roman governor of Cyprus to Christianity, making Cyprus the first nation on earth to be governed by a Christian ruler. But today, the forces of intolerance and occupation are following in the literal footsteps of Barnabus and Paul and desecrating churches, preventing worship, and allowing historic monasteries to fall apart.

In its case to designate Turkey as a “country of particular concern,” the U.S. Commission on International Freedom (“USCIF”) identified three main issues in occupied Cyprus:
1) the inability of Orthodox Christians, other religious communities, and clergy to access and hold services at their places of worship and cemeteries in the north, particularly those in Turkish military bases and zones;
2) the disrepair of churches and cemeteries and issues relating to the preservation of religious heritage, such as iconography, mosaics, and other religious symbols; and
3) the lack of schools and opportunities for young people in the north, which has led to an exodus of Greek Cypriots and other religious minorities. These combine to hamper the freedoms of the remaining members of these communities, including religious freedom and any meaningful perpetuation of these minority faiths in the north.

These churches and small Christian communities symbolize a peaceful future for a reunified Cyprus. They are proof of cultural and religious harmony and tolerance. They are evidence that Greek and Turkish Cypriots can live together. To let these historic Christian presences be extinguished sends exactly the opposite message.

About 400 Christians in occupied Cyprus are protecting a historic cultural heritage. They could have left, but they realize if they do, no one is left to protect our religion, our culture, our identity in places where it started. It is time for us to stand by their side. As you make your resolutions for 2013, resolve that you will fight for the right of the Bishop of Karpasia to conduct Divine Liturgy in Rizokarpaso, for the restoration of the Monastery of Apostolos Andreas, and for full religious freedom of all Cypriots. Go to www.hellenicleaders.com and sign a petition to the White House asking the President to protect this and all endangered Christian minorities. Let’s all do our small part to ensure there will always be a Christmas on Cyprus..