Dear Brother Archons and Friends of the Ecumenical Patriarchate:

Human rights abuses are taking place today on a grand scale, and yet most Americans and Europeans have no idea that they are even happening at all.

The Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate (AEP) note with sorrow and outrage the prevailing silence of the media all over the Western world regarding the ongoing persecution of Christians by Muslims and the slaughter of innocent Ukrainian civilians in the internecine warfare that is being waged against them by their brother Orthodox Christians, the Russians.

On June 13, Islamic jihadists killed over 218 Christians in Yelwata, Nigeria. Nor was this a singular occurrence. As journalist Madeleine Kearns noted at The Free Press: “The attack, though exceptional in scale and barbarity, is part of a pattern of persecution that Christians in Nigeria have come to expect. In April, in the run-up to Easter, 170 Christians were killed in the counties of Ukum and Logo. On May 24, at least 10 Christians were fatally shot in the villages of Tse-Ubiam and Tyolaha.” And “since 2009, Islamists in northern Nigeria have destroyed over 18,000 churches and, throughout the country, have murdered over 50,000 Christians. A further 5 million Christians have been displaced within the country, according to a 2023 Vatican report.”

The New York Times carried no report about the massacre in Yelwata. Nor did the Washington Post or CNN. Kearns stated: “As Western governments have turned away from the issue, so too has the mainstream media.” Nigerian journalist Steven Kefas added: “Over 200 people were slaughtered. You can’t find it on CNN. CNN will not make it a topic. Al Jazeera will not make it a topic where you have guests coming to analyze this situation. The international community has failed these people.” It should also not be forgotten that the recent massacre of Christians in a Greek Orthodox Church in Syria likewise was sparsely reported in some of the world’s most respected media outlets.

The situation is largely the same regarding the fratricidal war that Vladimir Putin’s Russia continues to wage relentlessly against Ukraine. As His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew has pointed out, “crimes are being committed every day” by Russian forces in Ukraine; “they are actual crimes committed by a country which invaded a neighboring country of the same faith.”

His All-Holiness has repeatedly denounced what he referred to as “the horrific and abhorrent war against the people of Ukraine, in which, unfortunately, Orthodox, with demonic complicity, began a war without cause against their Orthodox brothers, without fear of God, without shame, slaughtering and murdering thousands and even civilians, insulting women, insulting holy temples, burning houses, cities and destroying and flattening them to extinction.”

Yet about these appalling atrocities, the worldwide media is largely silent. The AEP calls upon international media outlets to end this shameful silence and begin reporting accurately on the ever-worsening plight of Christians in Nigeria, Syria and elsewhere, as well as on the full horror of Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified war against Ukraine.

Meanwhile, and above all, let us remain in fervent and unceasing prayer for our sisters and brothers who are bearing the brunt of this persecution and suffering the full effects of Russia’s cruel war.

Yours in the service of the Ecumenical Patriarchate,

Anthony J. Limberakis, MD
Archon Grand Aktouarios
National Commander