The Government has shown that it does not care about the persecution of Christians overseas by refusing visas to three prominent Syrian Orthodox archbishops, the most senior Syrian Orthodox cleric in Britain, Archbishop Mor Athanasius Toma Dawod, has said.<\/p>\n
Archbishop Dawod, who is the Metropolitan and Patriarchal Vicar of the UK, had invited three of his colleagues from Iraq and Syria to attend the consecration of their Church\u2019s first cathedral in Britain last month.<\/p>\n
The clerics were denied visas to enter the UK, however \u201d\u201d actions which made a mockery of any claims by the authorities that they were concerned about the persecuted Church in the Middle East, Archbishop Dawod said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The Archbishop of Mosul, Mor Nicodemus Daoud Sharaf, and the Archbishop of St Matthew\u2019s, Mor Timothy Mosa Alshamany \u201d\u201d both from Iraq \u201d\u201d were denied visas on the grounds that they might claim asylum and because they did not have enough money, Archbishop Dawod said.<\/p>\n