Patriarch Kyrill of Moscow and All Russia at the recent celebration of the 1025th Anniversary of the Baptism of Rus.

Khamis recounted what happened on the night of 3 July, when the army deposed Islamist former President Mohammed Morsi.

"Angry mobs and thugs rampaged through houses owned by Christians. They started with the house of my cousin, looting and setting it on fire. We weren't taking any chances - we fled the village."

'You are doomed'

Since Mr Morsi was forced from office, there has been a string of attacks on Christians in different provinces.

He openly and bravely supports, though does not necessarily encourage, the growing number of young Christians who are interested in enlistment in the IDF. He also supports those interested in performing national service in their own communities. This sufficed to put him on the hit list of radical Arab MKs - including the only Greek Orthodox Arab MK, Basel Ghattas (Balad) - and to create inordinate pressure on the Jerusalem Patriarchate to dissociate itself from Nadaf and to punish him.

A thousand years ago, there were more Christians in the Middle East than in Europe, and Jewish communities prospered from the Nile to the Tigris.

Even a century ago, more than 20% of the region's population was Christian, and Jews still adorned Arab cities with their talents. Today, estimates put the Christian population of the region at under 5% and sinking rapidly - and only that high because of the 9 million Copts who remain, for now, in Egypt.