"Prayer and solidarity". These two "requests" by Card. Leonardo Sandri to the "Christians of the West" to meet the needs of their brothers who "are escaping from the land where they were born". "The Christians of the West said Card. Sandri are asked to share real needs, remarkable needs, through prayer and solidarity (of material character, too). At the same time, they are asked to sensitise and involve civilians with administrative powers to really respect the fundamental rights of the people, including religious freedom. There must be a spirit of real reciprocity. We are asked to be more aware and convinced of the hard conditions which the Christian communities have to face, as minorities". As prefect, stated the cardinal, "I recently visited Israel, Palestine and Jordan, and I met the patriarchs and bishops in the area, above all, the pastors of Lebanon and Iraq. The tired and indifferent West, unfortunately, is unduly insensitive, and perhaps not grateful to the Christian faith. There are more and more speeches of freedom, but then, we don’t realize the personal and community conditioning in which good men and women live. They may be admired for their religious faithfulness. And we don’t have a passion for their destiny, but we should".
