What It Takes to Help Persecuted Christians – Interview with Daniel Solymári

Ten tonnes of aid on its way to Lebanon

A recent announcement of Hungarian humanitarian help being sent to Syrian Christians in need has spiked our attention. We have turned to Daniel Solymári, Director of International Relations at the Hungarian Charity Service of the Order of Malta for a first-hand account. He spoke about the difficulties Christians are experiencing in troubled regions of the world with exceptional openness. 

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You have recently informed on X that a program has been launched to help 500 Christians in Syria under the umbrella of the government’s Hungary Helps initiative. Can you tell us about the role of the Hungarian Charity Service of the Order of Malta within the Hungary Helps program?

The Hungarian Charity Service of the Order of Malta is the oldest strategic partner of the government’s international development and humanitarian initiatives. Under this cooperation we have been working in crisis situations in Africa and the Middle East for 35 years. It is important to add that we are physically, personally present in these areas.

The by now well-known Hungary Helps initiative also figures as our donor and partner, we receive funds through them from the Hungarian budget. We sometimes receive specific tasks from them, but we also come up with our own ideas. Last December, for example, we delivered three rounds of donations to Lebanon. We have also coordinated with the State Secretary for the aid of Persecuted Christians, Azbej Tristan, how we could send aid to Lebanon, where there is a serious ongoing humanitarian drama. The state secretary indicated to us that they could provide a government plane but could not themselves fill it with aid supplies. In turn we told him that we do not have a plane, on the other hand, we do have aid supplies. So we put together what we had, an excellent example of cooperation between the Charity Service of the Order of Malta and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

This seems to indicate that your Hungarian staff are personally involved in the work in these crisis areas with Christians in need, not just parking the plane on the runway for locals to take its contents on their own.

No, that is clearly not the case, it was an isolated example and rather an exception. Our strongest basic principle is that we always, in all circumstances, personally engage in cooperation.

But let me start from another angle. For instance, in Syria, at the outbreak of the civil war, we have visited the sixth-century monastery of Saint James the Mutilated in Qara. This is a Melkite Greek Catholic monastery near Homs. When we visited in 2014 the abbess had asked us to sign the visitors’ book, as is customary for all guests. When we looked at the book we discovered that the last group of visitors have left as far back as in 2009. Thus we were not surprised when the community of the monastery told us that they had resigned themselves to being forgotten by the West. By not being visited for years, their fate has been degraded into a matter of mere political discourse. They have been forgotten by the world. This is why we regard it so important to support these communities through personal visits. By being personally present, we express our love and concern for them. Of course, we must go beyond this, solidarity cannot stop at expressing concern. That is why the Maltese Charity Service is constantly supporting the survival of local Christian communities, both financially and in terms of aid.

With regards to Christian communities, I would say that when atrocities are committed against them, it is entirely unacceptable. Today we are talking about nothing less than the survival of Christianity in the Middle East. In this region, the Christian churches are the historical pillars of their societies. When these communities become fragile, the architecture of the whole society becomes fragmented. They are at the mercy of their surrounding societies to such an extent, that they have become completely unstable. At the Maltese Charity Service, we see it as our mission to listen to these communities and respond with active solidarity.

You spoke very diplomatically about the problem of a fragile state. But allow me to paraphrase that in my own words and point out that it is radical Islam in the Middle East that is targeting Christian communities. How can you guarantee the safety of those who, either as visitors or as local residents, are working specifically to help Christian communities?

It is an interesting question whether the fact of providing aid increases the risk. In the past, we have had experiences of confrontation with some local groups during our programs. In East Africa, for example, we started a clean water program in the slums of big cities in 2010. At that time, and even today, water was sold to people by illegal cartels at high prices. There, water had a higher value than drugs or weapons. In Nairobi, in a sense, our local partners were in competition with local cartels with the installation of water sources, and eventually they had to reach a consensus with them not to appropriate these new wells. So, you see, in development and humanitarian diplomacy, sometimes one has to shake hands with people one does not otherwise want to… The people we are helping live in places where these illegal groups exist. We cannot ignore them either, even though we do not cooperate with them. But I do not think that our humanitarian aid will make local communities more of a target for these violent groups, nor would it mean a higher likelihood of persecution for Christians.

You must realize just how unfashionable it is in today’s Western political discourse to provide targeted aid to Christian communities. In the EU, some people see the Hungarian government’s funding of programs to help Christians almost as a provocation. The liberal dogma is that we should not discriminate in giving aid, especially when Christians happen to be the beneficiaries.

It should be recognized that Christian communities are very often an inseparable part of local history. Christians, though now a minority, are an integral part of Middle Eastern history and societies. By supporting these communities, we support society as a whole. On the other hand, humanitarian aid is a fundamental issue of Christian ethics. Therefore, to claim that Christian faith-based organizations cannot have a role in providing aid is an unrealistic statement. Furthermore, I have yet to see a hospital run by a Christian church or funded by a church that did not accept people of other faiths. A Christian hospital does not discriminate, it helps anyone regardless of religion or ethnicity.

It is this Christian instinct to help that, unfortunately, is not only being exploited by some for their own ends but is also being used against us here in Europe. Communities are being planted among us that carry the cultural and religious traits that are directly linked to the persecution of Christians. What critical thinking is being used by your charity to make sure that our eagerness to help is not weaponized against us?

Everyone has an inner instinct to express themselves, however, as long as one works for an aid organization, as I do, one is expected to exercise a constant self-limitation in political terms. Our recently deceased founding president, Father Imre Kozma, said of this that “we cannot have a political position, only a Christian mission.” If I, as a member of a Christian and humanitarian organization, take an open stand on a political issue, I immediately close a previously fully open door shut. In doing so, I become part of a political discourse in which I reduce the circle of those who approach me. For more than 35 years, the Hungarian Charity Service of the Order of Malta has been a respected member of Hungarian society also because we guard our political neutrality. Whether or not political neutrality exists today is another question… All this should not lead us to being unprincipled! It must not mean that I would conceal my own Christian roots either. The Charity Service has to walk the line between specific European political interests, but we cannot become part of a discourse that is dominated by politics.

There are also questions concerning the churches in the Middle East and Asia as to why they do not make their voices heard more strongly on the issue of the different manifestations of religious or state domination and oppression. However, these churches always make us understand that they have to coexist in often uneasy societies on a daily basis, even with those who want to do them harm. Their acceptance of the fact that they have to live with radical Islamist groups is not a compromise, but a reality of life. And just as they have to accept this fact, we as the Charity Service must remain open to anyone who comes to us.

There is a daily struggle even in Europe today for and against the survival of Christian communities. There are many actors involved in this debate, and here aid organizations have a decisive role to play. That is why I cannot be too political, because I have to be able to work with everyone. But we also know that any Christian aid must be coherent with the security or cultural interests of the society concerned.

It is a flawed concept of Christian aid that ignores the issue of safety and security.

Are you aware of any other instances, apart from Hungary Helps, where a state has provided governmental assistance to Christians?

There are a few other civil and faith-based aid groups, such as the Aid to the Church in Need and others. But I am not aware of any state that would have launched a dedicated Christian aid initiative like ours. There are government envoys and representatives, for example in Italy and in the United Kingdom, but not, as far as I know, at such an institutionalized level. But I could be wrong about this. I feel that Hungary Helps is unique in this respect.

After the fall of the Assad government in Syria, in what direction do you think the new Islamist government will change the fate and daily life of Christians?

Some Christian leaders from Syria have spoken about this issue. All these statement have one in common: they were very cautious and filtered. This may have given the impression that Christian communities are in a wait-and-see mode. If we look at the past of the different actors that are now leading the Syrian Government, it is not wrong to conclude that these Christian communities are uncertain and are waiting until they can assess the situation with more clarity.

We are witnessing a process that some call Islamization, not only in Syria but all around the world since the 1950s and most recently since the Post-9/11 Era. In this context some political, religious groups are trying to remove secular elements of the state’s legal system, and replace it with religious ones, such as Sharia law. This is affecting the lives of Christian communities. Here, safeguards that have previously offered guarantees for their lives may disappear. At present, therefore, Christian leaders are in a position of a stand-by, just like the global community is.

Unfortunately, from the side of the Western donors this wait-and-see attitude has been going on for 10 years. In the meantime, people still need to be fed, nurtured and Christian communities maintained. The Hungarian Charity Service has now launched a program to help 500 Christians in Syria, this time helping priests, monks, churches, monasteries and parishes.

We have received information from the Melekite Church that there are many communities where priests and monks have nothing to eat!

Can you believe that? The wait-and-see position is understandable to a point, especially from the side of the Churches, but if there is no action, especially from a Christian point of view, then local communities will be left without support, they will become orphans, as it were. If we do not show solidarity with Christians in the Middle East, we will end up cancelling part of our own history. This is a responsibility that should be of concern to all Christians.

Do you get any positive feedback from these communities with regards to the fact that they are receiving Hungarian help? How can the impact of this work come back to our country?

Hungary Helps is what I call the active, compassionate state. The echo of this work is that communities in Africa and the Middle East are extremely grateful for the help. All the more so as very few people today are focusing on Christian communities. Unfortunately, for this reason, it is not too difficult to stand out in this kind of relief work.

The Hungarian Charity of the @orderofmalta has been working in #Syria for 25 years without interruption.

All of us at the Hungarian @orderofmalta stand with the #Levant in solidarity! Let’s redouble our efforts for the Middle East!#Hungary @HungaryHelps @HungaryToday pic.twitter.com/IFBf9jlxIt

— Solymári Dániel (@solymaridaniel) February 14, 2025

Worryingly, today, because of the political context in the West, we sometimes have to defend the idea that supporting Christians is a legitimate thing to do. In many cases, our assistance to Christians is seen as a provocation on the part of Hungary, or at best an anachronistic act. Yet Christian aid, like many other forms of aid, has no vested interest. But when the donor is a state, it must have an interest in doing so, after all, it is taxpayers’ money that is being used. Still, if this aid is based on Christian principles, then it has an ethical basis instead.

We at the Hungarian Charity Service of the Order of Malta have no other interest than to make life better for others.

You can donate to the charity following THIS LINK (only in Hungarian at this time).

Featured Image: X Dániel Solymári, Magyar Máltai Szeretetszolgálat