Many historic religious Communities have existed since scriptural ages and some exist in pre-Christian and even pre-Judaic locations of spiritual significance. The civil unrest of recent years as well as rising intolerance to religious and cultural differences has put considerable stress on historic faith communities.
Increased sensitivity in the west to the plight of religious and cultural minorities have resulted in favorable immigration preferences as well as easy asylum and safe-haven status. Ironically this has resulted in the dissolution of the endangered communities in their original geo-cultural context.
The financial crises resulting from recent civil unrest as well as that resulting from economic crises in southern Europe has adversely affected contributions from those countries, most notably Greece, upon which such communities historically depended.