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Did Christ in the Middle East has become an abstract idea, and is no longer a living presence?

Intervention of Archbishop Michel Kassarji at the meeting of 19 February in Beirut notes unrevised by the author. Remember that this is the transcript of the simultaneous translation from Arabic into French. I apologize for inaccuracies and expect the French tsto.

"St. Paul describes the heroic faith of those who he tasted the prison and whipping. In Iraq, everything again became current Iraqi Christians are fleeing because they are on the brink of despair. They run away, are scattered in the Diaspora and there is real danger that early Christian presence in Iraq to end.
All have contributed to the exclusion of Christians, and many will make it easy to start. From the darkness of this tunnel, but today we are beginning to become aware of the fact that if Christians are lost, then all is lost. Why is the Muslim tradition has never known such an exclusion of Christians from the life of the country.

With this conference, we want to sound the alarm about the fate of Christians Iraqis. The Iraqi model is an example, an experiment in what is bound to happen throughout the Middle East, a process whose only possible consequence is the disappearance of the Christian presence. That same fate may be that of many other countries. Our ancestors have lived through the persecution they experienced there in the veins, is our own blood, and for that we must remain. And it is possible that this is done, if there proves to be just a bit of solidarity.
Lebanon has always played an important role in the fate of Christians in the Middle East and the Maronite church can take responsibility for this cause. The Maronites were able to maintain have preserved their identity and openness to the West is, both to their homeland. Therefore we place the cause of the Christians of Iraq under the patronage of Mgr Boutros Sfeir, Patriarch of the Maronite Cardinal, because their cause is part of what he referred to the burden.
For many Christians, the faith wavers: the church is powerless to bring relief, is powerless for fear of reactions that may occur. The church in the world perceives the presence of Iraqi Christians as a hopeless cause, as if the odds had already decided that it is impossible to keep hoping. International institutions are absent, and bend only with extreme caution on this issue. The initiatives are shy and modest in size in the energy invested in their actions. So you let Christians struggling in their grief. Yet we are confident that our presence is important for the Middle East, a land that Christians have always helped to flourish.
Christian unity is the only way that this has a continued presence: we must return to our origins. And our roots are a man who is not covered with gold, but has a big heart. Did Christ in the Middle East has become an abstract idea, and is no longer a living presence?

And until we'll be here in Lebanon waiting for our turn? We hope that our conference can be a platform to launch an appeal for the Middle East is always full of plural identities, and why our Muslim brothers to take initiatives and assume the responsibilities placed upon them today. In fact, defending the presence of Iraqi Christians, we are defending at the same time the image of Islam with a human face.
that our solidarity can sustain the patience of our brothers in Iraq. "