Image: stmaron.org
Joseph Chebli serves as director of medical and scientific services at Med Learning Group, a healthcare company based in New York. Joseph Chebli is also an ordained deacon at the Eparchy of St. Maron in Brooklyn, New York.
The Eparchy in Brooklyn is currently under the leadership of Bishop Gregory John Mansour. The Bishop regularly updates his blog in the Eparchy’s website, and he recently posted about the four challenges of Christians in the East, among which is the demographic challenge.
At the moment, Eastern Christians are already a minority in a region of the world with a strong Muslim population, and their numbers continue to decline. Not only is there a declining birth rate within their group, they are also faced with sectarian laws that require non-Muslims to convert to Islam in mixed marriages. In all Arab countries except Lebanon, all marriage partners can be Muslim but cannot be Christian – otherwise, they face scrutiny under the law.
Moreover, more and more Christians are migrating from the East, thus weakening the parishes and lessening the social and political weight of Christians in these societies. Isolation and marginalization have forced Christians to maintain a low public profile in society.
Joseph Chebli (Pharmacist) 
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