Patrick Saliba is from Byblos, an ancient Lebanese city. On 18 April, as part of the various events being held to celebrate Cultural Week, he gave a talk at the Sant Cugat Campus, to explain the current situation of Christians in the Middle East. During the session, Marta García Campos spoke about Ayuda a la Iglesia Necesitada (AIN), the foundation she is responsible for promoting, known in English as Aid to the Church in Need.
In September 2014 Patrick Saliba came to UIC Barcelona to take a University Master's Degree in Healthcare Management and in October 2015 he started his doctorate on infections in hospitals. Concerned about Europe's lack of knowledge about the situation of Christians in the Middle East, he decided to put together this session with AIN, which is doing so much to help those suffering from persecution in many parts of the world. As García Campos mentioned in her introduction, “Nearly a third of the world's countries are experiencing a serious situation on this very issue”.
As part of his presentation, Saliba ran through the different countries and recalled that Lebanon “has the highest percentage of Christians in the whole of this area”. Currently his country has taken in two million refugees from countries such as Syria and Iraq, and Patrick has had first-hand experience of what the Christians from these countries are going through: “Being Christian in Europe is free, but in other countries of the world it carries a heavy price. During the Daesh invasion of Syria, they killed more than five thousand Christians in just one night” he explained.
The doctoral healthcare student made reference to the various countries which, like Syria, do not have freedom of worship in spite of the fact that, historically, there has always been a high number of Christians in the Middle East and beyond: Sudan, Pakistan, Nigeria, Ethiopia, India, Vietnam, Qatar, Yemen, Somalia amongst others. “In Iran, all of the churches have cameras to ensure that there are no Muslim converts”. The fact is, he said, “that even though they are putting their own lives at risk, there are ever-increasing numbers of conversions from Islam to Christianity”.
Nevertheless, Patrick expressed optimism. He explained that “While it's true they live with the constant feeling of having to take a finals exam the following day, their faith runs so deep that it sustains them”. That is why, he concluded, “it is better to pray for them and not feel sorry for them; and to speak of these matters to the whole world so that the truth can be known".
