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Perspectief 18 The Dispersion of the Syriac-Orthodox Throughout the World in the Diaspora homeland and the Diaspora. This is also to be said for the Syriac Church in Europe thanks to her financial and solidarity that the Church in homeland was able to restore its ancient churches and monasteries, and built new theological institutions and parochial schools and support a number of development projects for the benefit and growth of the Church and community. 12. Conclusion By way of conclusion, I would like to say that it is true that emigration from the land of the forefathers in the Semitic world, where the Bible and Christianity sprang, has depopulated the area of Christians and their witness to Christ and left many sacred and cultural monu- ments of great beauty and magnificence to be destroyed and left in desolation. Moreover, the recent tragic developments in the Middle East have threatened the very existence of the Syriac Christians and all the Middle Eastern Christians in their ancestral homelands. The war in Iraq and now in Syria has not only claimed the life of many people, and led to the kidnapping of a number of prominent religious leaders and monastics, but also forced very large numbers of the Middle Eastern Christians to emigrate to the West where they find themselves having to adapt to a new life in a society that is deeply secularized and to a certain extant unconcerned with their plight. On the other hand we find some signs of hope for the future. There is now an indication of monastic revival in the Syriac Orthodox Church and a growth in the number of monks, thus assuring a supply of bishops for the future (bearing in mind that in the Orthodox tradition bishops are drawn from the monasteries). Furthermore, the Western Diaspora has opened new horizons and offered many opportunities for the Syriac Church and com- munity, especially, in the fields of education, media and publishing. Conversely, the Western Diaspora has given the opportunity for the Western Churches to come into direct contact with, and learn from the experience of, the different Syriac Churches with their own rich and distinctive history and spiritual heritage.