Deacon Daniel

Honoured to speak at the 2026 Nayrouz ceremony: “Nayrouz, Coptic New Year, comes in the form of a paradox with both the celebration of new beginnings & new life while marking the persecution of believers who enjoy none of our freedoms. I am grateful to Archbishop @BishopAngaelos for using this gathering to raise awareness to the plight of so many whose voice is not heard in their struggle for Freedom of Religion or Belief. How appropriate that we meet in Parliament’s parish church,dedicated to St.Margaret of Antioch, a young woman,aged around 15,tortured and beheaded when,in the 4th century,she refused to renounce Christianity and to give her virginity to a Roman official. In 2015, when we gathered after the slaughter,the mass beheading,of 21 migrant workers –20 Coptic Christians and a Ghanaian – murdered on a beach in Libya  and who died professing their faith, Archbishop Angaelos said “These men paid the ultimate price, but gave us a cause to advocate for all who are persecuted. They showed us there is a level of evil that we must all stand in solidarity against & a level of courage,faithfulness & defiance that we must all aspire to.”  One year after those horrific events, standing on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount –& a few days later in Warsaw – I reflected on both the Holocaust &,in our generation,the genocide of Christians,Yazidis, Uyghur Muslims & other minorities – many targeted because of their faith. Like the canary in the mine, early indications of abuses of freedom or religion or belief are a harbinger of far worse to come.Conversely,societies that make Article 18 of the UDHR a corner stone see their societies stabilise & prosper - powerfully documented in @pmounstephen’s report for @Jeremy_Hunt Article 18 emerged from the infamies of the 20th century—the Armenian genocide, the depredations of Stalin’s gulags, Hitler’s concentration camps; from pestilential persecution;demonisation;scapegoating; hateful prejudice; & notwithstanding violence associated with religion, it emerged from ideology, nation & race.The great murderers of the 20th century—Mao, Stalin, Hitler, Kim,& Pol Pot—were united by their hatred of religious faith. It was the bloodiest century in human history with the loss of 100 million lives – and it continues to our own times. It is a moral outrage that vast swathes of humanity are being murdered, terrorized, victimized, intimidated, deprived of their homes or belongings simply because of the way they worship God or practice their faith.However long it takes, we have a duty to bring to justice those responsible for abhorrent mass executions, sexual slavery, rape and other forms of gender-based violence, torture, mutilation, the enlistment and forced recruitment of children and forced labour.And closer to home, we urgently need a persuasive new narrative which respects difference and embraces coexistence, forestalling the unceasing incitements to hatred which pour forth from the internet, capturing unformed minds & manifesting themselves in hate crimes,discrimination, persecution & worse. In doing this, we should listen far more carefully to communities like the Copts,the Chaldeans,the Armenians & the Assyrians—who have so much wisdom,have so much to teach us & who have suffered so much.We must listen, but we must also speak & act in solidarity. After witnessing the immense courage and faith of his 20 Coptic coworkers as they were forced to kneel and await their beheading on that Libyan beach, Matthew Ayariga, the Ghanaian who was murdered with the 20 Egyptian Copts  refused his captors' demands to renounce Christ, reportedly declaring, "Their God is my God," and Matthew chose to share their fate. Matthew’s solidarity must be our solidarity.  Drawn from our different faiths and traditions we must  faithfully rededicate ourselves to work for universal freedom of religion or belief & to be a voice for those who are too often without voices. Let that be our solemn vow as we mark Nayrouz. @RoyalFamily