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ZENIT: What are your thoughts on the historic event of Benedict XVI’s resignation two years ago?

Homsi: Pope Benedict’s resignation is more than a historic event. The Pope aroused a wind of reform in the Church, more than any reforming address, embodying unprecedented courage. With his resignation, he opened a new practice, changing a tradition that touches the position itself of the Pontiff, through a gesture that had not happened for centuries.

The least that can be said is that his choice manifested his personality: the humility of the great theologian, the courage of the thinker, the nature of the prolific writer, who preferred to rest among his books rather than continue the exhausting rhythm for him and for the Church. He acted in the line of free men. He is a free Pope.

ZENIT: Do you think the “beneficent” motivation of the resignation was well received?

Homsi: Perhaps the resignation was made for reasons of health. However, what he did wasn’t easy. His resignation put to the test the solidity of the Church, with an unusual situation: that of the presence of two “Popes” in the Vatican, with the presence of the nostalgic that still sing the praises of the outgoing Pontiff.

Another interesting aspect of Pope Benedict’s resignation is that, although it happened more than two years ago, it is far from being archived. This fact drove his personal secretary, Archbishop Georg Gänswein, to say on February 12, 2015, that Ratzinger’s resignation «happened without any outside pressure,” following rumors that the Pope renounced under pressure. Such suspicions are naturally raised by malevolent intentions, fruit of the discontent of some with Francis’ pontificate.  

The fact remains, however, that the resignation was made by a strong not a weak man.

ZENIT: For some Pope Francis’ pontificate is an “evangelical spring” in the Church. Do you share that opinion?

Yet there is much to gain in understanding that history, in learning its lesson, in tracing the historical and ideological lines in the hope of finding the key to the problem. Certainly the losses are sensibly reduced. If, in fact, history generally does not forgive, the history in the Middle East crushes inexorably whoever does not know how to read and manage it correctly.

Riccardo Cristiano’s book Middle East without Christians: From the End of the Ottoman Empire to the New Fundamentalisms, ventures into a sharp and documented reading of the last century to seek to understand the orientation and the consequences and to propose a sustainable position to Christians becoming ever more a “minority” in their land of origin. Riccardo Cristiano is a Vatican expert of the Giornale Radio Rai, not new in the realm of geopolitical research on the Middle East and a great connoisseur of the Iranian Revolution and of recent Lebanese history, on which he has previously published books.

The book, subdivided in three parts, begins with a consideration of the lastest sad events that have markedly upset Iraq and Syria, but which at present are also “at the south of Rome.” Even if the jihadists are not the whole of Islam, the “at” brings to light with clear-sightedness what is held by one who seeks to look at the whole picture, or the silence and the widespread lack of clarity with which a larger portion of the Islamic world witnesses the present horror in silence. Riccardo Cristiano writes: “Clarity on the jihad is an urgency for all, and it is in the hands of the Muslims, who to preserve a future for their religion must find strength to furnish such an urgent as well as clear answer, also in the actions of those who represent it politically.

Beyond clarity, these words turn out to be prophetic, given the awakening, also military, of nations of Muslim majority (such as Jordan and Egypt) that, sensing the danger of terrorism at their doors, no longer stop at words, but have turned to action. At the same time, however, these important and sporadic actions are not enough. It is urgent to put into action what His Beatitude Louis Raphael Sako I, Patriarch of the Chaldean Church, has asked for a long time. Speaking at Anversa last September during a meeting on interreligious dialogue promoted by the Sant’Egidio Community, he affirmed the acute need of a hermeneutic of the Koran, of those verses used by terrorists to legitimize their horrors in the name of Allah. The Patriarch admonishes the Muslim leaders continually: “The Christians can go, but if you do not hurry to change your record your religion risks becoming a religion without future … It’s no longer enough to read the verses of the Koran that are dear to you, it is necessary to read the others also, and to file the literal interpretation of sacred texts, as we did with the Bible., because the world has changed.”

Undoubtedly, the heart of the book is the consideration of Al-Taif. That meeting, not only put an end to the very long Lebanese civil war that lasted 15 years, but also set the basis for a possible “system of consensual democracy.” The “A” presents Taif as the key to a regional prospect of peace inscribed in the line that sees in the spirit of the Taif peace agreements a prospect of “post-individualist democracy,” which corresponds to the profound characteristics of the Semite culture, in which the individual is not a “sovereign I.”

This argument, developed already by A. in the book with Samir Frangieh, has as the turning key and turn the formula “guarantees to the community and rights to persons.” This key is exportable also to Syria and Iraq in a non-sectarian but State system, where the confessional partition of the highest magistracy is charged with ensuring the end of the hegemonies of one community, an elected Chamber on the basis of parties ensures political rights and, therefore, of citizenship, the Senate elected on a community basis assures all of the impossibility that tomorrow someone will seek to eliminate another.

This system is called by A. as a “consensual democracy.” It is a fragile way but it is, perhaps, the way out of today’s rampant sectarianism, which eliminates States in favor of “nations” and of the Umma.

In a Middle East fundamentalism takes on as many faces as the existing different factions of Islam but, according to the A., the whole is tied and fastened to the radical roots itself launched by Said Qutb. In this context of war where all will lose, Christians cannot but be mediators between Sunnis and Shi’ites, proponents of a regional conference of peace that isolates the two totalitarianisms and proposes not peace as opposed to war, but a common plan, of which Taif is probably the only application possible.

In his book, Riccardo Cristiano looks at the complex and irregular prism of the Middle East. Beyond an award for courage, he merits the award of a culture also capable of a reading. Certainly the prism seen from other perspectives (including that of the undersigned) offers other views, other prospects. So that, though not underwriting the whole analysis, I believe that the proposal of a mediating role of Christians is a happy prospect shared by the “Popes’ Sunni,” Muhammad al-Sammak, political and religious adviser of the Mufti of the Lebanese Republic, who in an interview during the Synod of Bishops on the Middle East, said to me: “The flight and emigration of Christians is a grave loss inflicted on the Middle East. Because of this exodus, the East loses its identity, its plurality, the spirit of tolerance and of mutual respect. At the level of religious practice also, the Muslim needs the other Christian to practice the moral values of his faith, such as tolerance and respect. Therefore, the emigration lacerates and enfeebles the rich fabric of this East weakening our societies and leading them to a dangerous precipice.” These are prophetic words…

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This tragedy was the main topic of the Ordinary Synod of the Syro-Antiochean Catholic Church, which ended last Wednesday. Pope Francis addressed the synod participants.

Patriarch Ignatius Youssef III Younan, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East for Syriac Catholics, spoke with ZENIT about the fundamental topics of the Synod.

ZENIT: Your Beatitude, in your opening address of the Synod, you indicated that the Synod would deal with the topic of priestly formation. Can you explain the reason for this choice, at such a critical and dramatic moment for your Church?

Patriarch Younan: The painful events that have struck our Church in the last months were the main reasons that drove us to choose this topic, and to discuss our presence and our destiny as Syrian Church in the Middle East.

As Syrian Christians we are exposed at present to a very great challenge. Our priests find themselves suddenly in a seriously unbalanced situation. And we felt the need to come together to study the most efficient ways to address the present situation.

For instance, from the Eparchy of Mosul alone, one bishop and 25 priests have fled. Many of them now live with refugees. We wished to consider seriously this difficult situation.

ZENIT: You compared the disaster that happened at Mosul with the tragedy that happened a century ago at “Sowaiqat.” Can you explain what really happened?

Patriarch Younan: Up to last June we suffered, as Christians of northern Iraq, a precarious situation of insecurity and lack of official protection by the State. The minorities were paying the highest price of that situation.

In the month of June, we were literally uprooted from Mosul. We were more than 15,000 families. However, the greatest tragedy happened in August, when a good 120,000 Christian families fled the Nineveh Plain. We had a good nine churches there.

Christians constituted the largest group among the minorities. We were 40% of the population. In a few hours, the Plain was emptied of Christians – a tragic and suffered exodus.

ZENIT: You have described the Syriac Catholic Church as a Church “witness and martyr of ancient times.” Why do you consider the Syrians as the most damaged of this tragedy?

Patriarch Younan: What happened at the Nineveh Plain hit the Syrians more than any other minority, because we were the majority there. We numbered about 60,000 persons. Now that we are in Kurdistan, we have no Eparchies supporting us, so that we are literally evacuees.

As opposed to the Chaldean brethren, who are the largest number of Christians and have the patriarchate of Babel, we no longer have structures. Therefore, our faithful live in tents in a situation of painful precariousness.

Statistically, we can say that – unfortunately – more than a third of the faithful of the Syriac Catholic Church has been evacuated and is in diaspora. And God alone knows when they will return or if they will return.

ZENIT: In the Synod’s final document, the international community is requested to “accelerate its operation to liberate Mosul and the cities of the Nineveh Plain.” How do you evaluate the present international policy in Syria and Iraq?

Patriarch Younan: We launched a heartbroken appeal to the international community. In face of the tragedy that has hit us, we cannot but condemn those who contributed to its genesis. There is no doubt that these criminals were not born from nothing. There is a larger political plan that follows a Machiavellian policy, abusing the weak to carry out wretched geopolitical ends.

Hence, it is the duty of the nations that created this monstrous situation to do their utmost to liberate the lands that have been robbed from us. It is their obligation to restore our dignity and to constitute a situation of life that is fitting and sustainable.

ZENIT: How do you evaluate the American air attacks against ISIS’ objectives? Are they sufficient and efficient?

Patriarch Younan: Every person of good will and anyone minimally cautious knows that these air attacks from afar are not sufficient. The ISIS bandits are not a regular army; therefore, they camouflage themselves among the population and it becomes very difficult to strike them. Moreover, they have taken advantage of the inter-confessional (between Sunnis and Shi’ites) and racial (between Arabs and Kurds) clashes. So the air attacks can harm them lightly, but they cannot annihilate them or strike them seriously.

ZENIT: The Synod praised the declarations of the Al-Azhar Congress held in Cairo on December 3-4 where it was stated, among other things, that “Muslims and Christians in the East are brothers, they are part of one civilization and of one nation.” How important is this declaration?

Patriarch Younan: As Christian Patriarchs and Bishops, we have for long invited Muslim brothers to come together and to denounce officially terrorism in the name of religion. And, not only that, but to combat it concretely and to protect the minorities, such as the Christian.

The Al-Azhar initiative is a truly positive sign. It stated that terrorism in the name of religion is not part of the Muslim identity.

We hope that these declarations will have a practical follow-up in reality, through a request addressed to States to fight terrorists and to launch serious formation to tolerance in religious congresses, in mosques and in schools.

ZENIT: Your visit ad limina apostolorum began yesterday. What are you going to ask the Holy Father during your conversations?

Patriarch Younan: We will be a large delegation of about 320 members between Patriarchs, Bishops, Synodal Fathers and priests. Our visit to the Holy Father is a filial visit, which intends to confirm the bonds of unity between the See of Antioch and that of Rome, the Church that presides in charity, according to the happy expression of Saint Ignatius of Antioch.

In this week, in which our Church remembers Saint John the Baptist, we desire that Pope Francis continue to be a voice that cries out for truth and for the affirmation of justice. We desire that he continue his defense of the cause of Christians in the Middle East, especially the Syro-Antiocheans persecuted in northern Iraq.

I am convinced that this visit will be a source of good and blessing for us, and a touch of consolation for the suffering of our Church.

—

On ZENIT’s Web page:

Pope’s address to synod: 

http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/pope-s-address-to-synod-of-syriac-catholic-church

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Four of the countries that the Pope has visited since his election are Muslim: Jordan, Palestine, Albania and Turkey. Yesterday, on his return trip, the Bishop of Rome mentioned to journalists the explicit hope he expressed to Recep Tayyip Erdogan: “It would be good if all Muslim leaders, political, religious and academic leaders, condemned terrorism clearly and say that that is not Islam.”

The Holy Father’s strategy is to contain the clash of civilizations and religions, inviting those who believe in the good and in coexistence to state their alignment.

An element that could be expected from the visit was, undoubtedly, that of asking Turkey to acknowledge the Armenian genocide. In regard to the reason for the Holy Father’s silence, ZENIT spoke with Armenian prelate, Msgr. Kevork Noradounguian (Dankaye), Procurator of the Armenian Catholic Church at the Holy See. He was recently appointed Apostolic Administrator of the Armenian Catholics in Jordan and Jerusalem.

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ZENIT: Turkey wanted the visit to have a distinctly political edge, receiving the Pope as Head of State. No doubt the nature of the host country conditioned very much the Holy Father’s address. How do you evaluate the visit on the whole?

Msgr. Noradounguian: The visit in itself was a great success. No doubt each one interprets it from his point of view. To some it might seem a legitimation and approval of a debated Head of State for his alleged involvement in the Arab Spring and for his support of some armed groups. For others, it will be a great disappointment because they expected from the Holy Father some allusion to Turkey as heir of the Ottoman Empire and its duty to acknowledge the genocides carried out at the beginning of the 20thcentury, especially the Armenian.

In his role as head of the smallest State in the world and as Successor of St. Peter, the Holy Father made the most difficult but correct choice. In world politics, everything is calculation and interests. The visits and meetings between the greats are the fruit of compromises, agreements and contracts reached before the meetings. When agreements are not reached, visits are not made. The Pope made the difficult choice of going first without putting any conditions to his trip. A meeting is the best remedy for all questions and problems.

I imagine that a choice was made which was that of meeting without the pretence of assuring himself the liberty of discourses or interests, or of registering ends in the other’s field for himself or for others.

It is another policy that is starting. Although it will be incomprehensible, it is good to begin to follow this way given that other ways are always less effective.

ZENIT: During the visit to the President for Religious Affairs at the “Diyanet” of Ankara, in the capacity of religious Heads, the Pope said: “We have the obligation to denounce all violations of human dignity and rights. Human life, gift of God the Creator, has a sacred character. Therefore, violence that seeks a religious justification merits the strongest condemnation.” Perhaps for Armenians this discourse sounds very close to so many others, especially in your relation with Turkey. How do you read the Pontiff’s silence regarding the acknowledgement of the “metz yeghern» (the Armenian Genocide)?

Msgr. Noradounguian: A sign in this regard would have given great pleasure to us, Armenians. It would also have been a recognition of so many martyrs. In my modest opinion, the Holy Father, Pope Francis, prefers gestures where dialogue for a cause is normally impeded. There were so many gestures. Discourses are made in dialogue and where there is willingness. A parenthesis on the genocide presupposes and requires another about other genocides of other communities. I go back to confirm that the Holy Father did not want to skip a trip and a meeting for a detail. Meanwhile, an acknowledgement of the genocide is the competence of other offices and petitions, which are the work of all parties.

ZENIT: Can we speak of an action that seeks to avoid the exacerbation of the situation of the Christian minority already tried under Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government of Muslim reformist inspiration? Or is there another reading?

Msgr. Noradounguian: Pope Francis did not lack courage. He addressed very hard subjects: terrorism, the arms trade, the dictatorship of the great powers. I think he would have no difficulty in addressing this argument also, but on the whole, the Holy Father gave a special edge to his trip, preferring a meeting and gestures to subjects that perhaps the other side is not yet ready to address for various reasons.

ZENIT: What do Armenians want from Turkey? Would they be content with a moral recognition or would they want something else, indemnification, etc.?

Msgr. Noradounguian: Recognition certainly, then just indemnification and then to see themselves again with brothers and sisters in the humanity with which, in the past, they made a stretch of road together. We do not ask for recognition and indemnification per se but precisely as premise for a reconciliation with our past and with our neighbor to embrace again so many brothers and sisters in humanity.  

Meanwhile, the lives of martyrs do not have a price and they merited the best part.

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A persecution has been going on systematically in Nigeria since 2009. It is related directly to an Islamist terrorist group known as Boko Haram (which literally means “western education is “forbidden” or is a “sin”). The official name is Jama‘at ahl as-sunna lidda‘awati wal-jihad (People committed to the prophet’s teachings for proselytism and jihad). This brutal group was founded in 2002 in Maiduguri, in northern Nigeria, by Islamist cleric Mohammed Yusuf.

It is estimated that the number of victims of the terrorist attacks has gone beyond 20,000 dead. Many of these have been killed during gatherings for Christian prayer. In just the first half of this year, 2,053 civilians were killed in an estimated 95 attacks, according to detailed analyses of media reports as well as field investigations presented by Allafrica.com.

The fear of the atrocities has led people to flee from their villages. Father Michael Walsh, a missionary from the Order of Saint Augustine (OSA), who has been operating in Nigeria for 18 years now, explains that it is unthinkable to expect ordinary people to face Boko Haram due to the extreme discrepancy in means. The terrorist group has years of training and sophisticated weaponry. Even the Nigerian Army is comparably “under-armed”.

ZENIT asked Bishop Stephen Dami Mamza of the Yola Diocese to explain the gravity of the threat that the Christian communities are facing. The answer of the Bishop was unequivocal: Christians are facing the danger of being totally exterminated.

ZENIT: There is a deafening silence about what is going on in Nigeria. Probably due to more “profitable” wars around the world. Can you explain to us what is going on?

Bishop Mamza: The situation in the North East of Nigeria is very critical especially in Southern Borno and Northern Adamawa. These regions are mostly Christian-dominated areas but they were overrun by the members of the Boko Haram including my home village, Bazza, taken over by the Boko Haram some two weeks ago. Those lucky to escape have escaped to the mountains and to the bushes; those who could not were killed by the Islamists. Others were forced to be Islamized.

The people trapped on the mountains are without food and clean water and many are dying of hunger. Most of those who escaped have arrived in Yola and are internally displaced. All the parishes on Yola are full of displaced people. In my Cathedral alone we have over 5,000 registered displaced persons. These displaced are in need of the basic necessities of life.

ZENIT: What dangers are the Christian communities facing around Nigeria?

Bishop Mamza: The Christian communities around the North east are facing the danger of being exterminated.

ZENIT: Why is there no local (national and official) real resistance against Boko Haram?

Bishop Mamza: There does not seem to be any assistance from the International community. Our military do not seem to be serious in handling the insurgency as they are on the run out of fear of Boko Haram.

ZENIT: Is Boko Haram related to and financed by the so called Caliphate? In other words, how come they are becoming this strong?

Bishop Mamza: I personally do not know the financier of Boko Haram but they seem to be funded by local and international groups and individuals.

ZENIT: What is your appeal and request to the world in this situation? How can people and nations help you out?

Bishop Mamza: My appeal and request to the world in this situation is for the world to come to our assistance before we are completely exterminated. Our military should be assisted to contain the situation. We need relief materials for those who are internally displaced. People are dying of hunger, diseases and they have no shelter.

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The Pope made the call after the priest, Father Behnam Benoka, sent a message to the Holy Father via the “Viber” messaging system. The message was sent to Rome-based journalist Alan Holdren who turned it into a letter and handed it to Pope Francis on the papal flight back from South Korea.

In the message, Father Behnam turns to the «Holy Father, our merciful shepherd» and writes: «My name is Behnam Benoka, priest of Bartella, a small Christian town near Mosul. I am vice-rector of the Catholic seminary in Ankawa. Today, however, I find myself in a tent that has been erected with a staff of doctors and volunteers who are giving medical care to our brothers fleeing persecution.»

Father Behnam explained to the Pope the tragic situation faced by hundreds of thousands of Christians: «Your holiness,” he writes, “the situation of your sheep is miserable, they are dying and they are hungry. Your little ones are scared and cannot hide anymore. We priests and religious are few and fear not being able to meet the physical and mental needs of your and our children.»

The priest does not fail to express gratitude to the Pope’s continued appeals to end the suffering of persecuted brothers and sisters in Iraq. «I would like to thank you so much – really thank you – because you always carry us in your heart, placing us on the altar where Mass is celebrated so that God erases our sins and has mercy on us, and hopefully take this cup away from us.»

The letter continues by expressing concerns and asking for a blessing: «I am writing with tears, because here we are, in a dark valley in the middle of a large pack of ferocious wolves. Holiness, I’m afraid of losing your children, especially infants who are struggling every day and weaken more and more. I’m afraid that death will take some away. Send us your blessing so we have the strength to go on and maybe still resist. I love you, Behnam Benoka.»

Francis’ reply was not long in coming. A day after his return to Italy, precisely on the morning of 19 August, the Pope called Father Behnam to express how deeply moved he was by the letter. According to what he told us, the Pope expressed his gratitude for the volunteers at work in the refugee camps.

In the telephone conversation, the Pope also reiterated his full support and closeness to the persecuted Christians, promising that he will continue to do his utmost to help give relief to their suffering. Finally, he imparted his apostolic blessing asking the Lord for the gift of perseverance in the faith.

Earlier this month, Pope Francis donated $1 million to help Christians and other religious minorities in Iraq who have been forced from their homes. The funds were given through his personal envoy to Iraq, Cardinal Fernando Filoni, who visited the country in August.

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Father Rifaat Bader, one of the organizers of the papal visit, spoke with ZENIT about the situation of the refugees in Jordan and the atmosphere preceding the Pope’s visit.

Father Bader, a Jordanian priest of the Latin Patriarchate, is the director and founder of the Abouna site and director of the Center of Catholic Studies and Information in Jordan.

ZENIT: What is the estimated number of Syrian refugees in Jordan?

Father Bader: The number of refugees in Jordan is close to one million. There are three camps, the most important of which is A-Za’tari. There are about 250,000 refugees present in the camp, while the others are scattered in several countries.

ZENIT: How do these refugees receive what is necessary for their survival? Do they have the right to work in Jordan?

Father Bader: Whoever is registered as a refugee can’t work. The same problem was lived and is still being lived by Iraqi refugees, whose number is close to half a million.

ZENIT: How do they live then?

Father Bader: The charitable organizations offer a great contribution, together with the work carried out by the United Nations. Caritas offers a great service. Every day some 100,000 refugees receive help without distinction of religion or race. The Christian charitable work isn’t exclusivist. And here I would like to stress a question of crucial importance: charitable work must not be a cover for proselytism. I say it because, unfortunately, there are realities that offer humanitarian services to then propose a proselytizing agenda. This is an error of timing because it catches man in a moment of great fragility and takes advantage of his hunger and thirst to manipulate his religious sensibility. It’s a lack of respect of the dignity of the human person.

ZENIT: How many Christians are there among these refugees?

Father Bader: There is talk of some 17,000 Syrian Christian refugees in Jordan. They all came after the Syrian crisis. Their motives for coming to Jordan are diverse. Many of them come to us only temporarily, while waiting to receive visas to immigrate in the West. This phenomenon is a motive of great grief for them, because they live two difficult exoduses, but also for the Middle East in general, because it is being emptied of its Christian children.

ZENIT: In this context, what is the importance of the Pope’s visit?

Father Bader: The timing of the Pope’s visit was dictated by the 50thanniversary of Paul VI’s historic visit. We are preparing a book for the occasion which comments on that visit, presenting the historical picture of the Holy See’s relations with Jordan, on one hand, and with Palestine on the other. The book will contain notable contributions, among them that of Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas, of Jordanian King Abdullah II, and a special word from Cardinal Paul Poupard, who has communicated to us his personal experience of Pope Paul VI’s trip.

Pope Francis is coming to commemorate that visit and to foster diplomatic relations with three States. He will go by helicopter from Jordan to Bethlehem in support of the Palestinian State. There are few Heads of State who recognize the independent status of Palestine. With this visit, the Pope will express the position of the Holy See, which recognizes Palestine and supports it.

As Jordanians we are extremely happy with this visit, although we would have liked a longer stay of the Holy Father.

ZENIT: What will be the motto of the visit?

Father Bader: The visit will be a cry of peace. We have been asked to put forward our proposals for the logo and the motto. I think it will be “Joy and Hope.” The motto of Pope Benedict’s visit to Lebanon was: “I Give You My Peace,” and that of his visit to the Holy Land was: “Blessed are the peacemakers.” This time, also to commemorate Gaudium et Spes, we have proposed: “Joy and Hope.”

ZENIT: The interlocutor of the desire for peace is not a State now. Rather, we find ourselves before a destructive and closed ideology. What (human) hope can the Pope’s visit awaken?

Father Bader: You are absolutely right. We don’t have a real interlocutor. There are so many leaders and even more ideologies. However, I don’t see the present war as a war against Christians; it is, rather, a war of terrorism in the same way against Christians and Muslims. And precisely here is the occasion for us, as Arab Christians, to show our support for dialogue and friendship between Muslims and Christians. We must be one single source against terrorism and fundamentalism, against the forced insertion of religion in political battles.

Here I am pressed to affirm that the declaration of a Jewish religious nation is not an opportune step. The only State of a religious nature and of a totally peaceful character is Vatican City. If there should be religious nations — and it’s something we don’t wish for — they must be of a similar peaceful nature. The genesis of a Jewish religious State will give an alibi to the Islamists to form Islamic religious States, which will make everything all the more complicated. We hope, rather, for democratic States constituted on the right of citizenship and on equality in rights and duties.

Two days ago Palestine decided to eliminate the box of religious confession from identity cards. I think this is a great step forward. We must not deal with people according to their religious creed but as human persons. Our hope is that the Pope’s visit will be a contribution in the direction of equality and peaceful coexistence.

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At a moment when optimism seems lost, the Maronite Patriarch, His Beatitude Mar Bechara Boutros El-Rahi, gives a glimmer of hope with a “National Memorandum” intended to solicit the population to forge ahead. It is a courageous and purposeful initiative that swims decidely against the present current in force, often marked by pessimism, violence and the wish to flee.

Monsignor Eid, Procurator of the Maronite Patriarchate to the Holy See, spoke with ZENIT to reflect not only on the “National Memorandum,” but also the challenges, the prospects, the possibilities and the task of Maronites in the Middle East and in the world.

Monsignor Eid has also been rector of the Maronite College in Rome since 2012. He is the former Archbishop of Maronites in Cairo from 2006, and before then General Superior of the Maronite Mariamita Order from 1999 to 2005.

ZENIT: Modern Lebanon, known in history as the “State of Great Lebanon” was born of the efforts of Patriarch Elias El-Huwaik. Patriarch El-Rahi recalls this at the beginning of the “National Memorandum” which came out this week on the occasion of the feast of Saint Marun. Has this Maronite role reached, perhaps, its decline?

Monsignor Eid: The contribution of Patriarch Elias El-Huwaik was the crowning of so many efforts made by the Maronites and their brothers of the nation to attain independence.

All was born from the idea of gathering the children of the nation around a clear concept: “The independence of Lebanon and its political neutrality.”

Today we see that the Lebanese have turned to drag Lebanon in the meanders of internal regional struggles depriving it of its independence and neutrality and the result is this: a dangerous vertical split that strikes the country.

The Maronite Patriarch reminded the Maronites that their forbearers and fathers contributed to unify the Lebanese around the idea of the “independence of the poli.” Today we are again before the same problem … and the responsibility falls above all on the shoulders of Maronite politicians because they have been unable to unify all the fractions of society around the idea of true independence and of a strong and just nation. Instead of unifying, they have separated between themselves.

I believe that the role of Maronites has not declined yet … Instead, they have a greater responsibility to contribute to unify the Lebanese to offer the region a Lebanon that is “a paradigm for its cultural plurality,” which respects man and his fundamental rights.

Only the Lebanese system was, and will remain the best model to govern in the time of the Jahiliyya (ignorance)to which the Jihadists are dragging us. Patriarch El-Rahi invites Maronites not to squander the great legacy of their fathers and to be up to the stature of their responsibility.

ZENIT: The original lands of the Maronites – Syria and Lebanon – have become similar lands of exile where the desire to flee is not halted by the attachment to the land, but by the difficulty to find possibilities for emigration. How can Saint Marun’s message speak to the profound and legitimate aspirations of the people?

Monsignor Eid: There is no doubt that the bloody Syrian situation and the continuous turbulence in Lebanon drive so many Maronites to emigrate. However, I believe that in time this situation will not be so acute and ferocious. And when the children of Syria – and not foreign Jihadists  — govern their nations, the situations will improve.

The Maronites are children of hope, they are risurrezioni sit! This land is the land of their sacred history. They have lived their mission here in all its aspects. Will they give up the great civilization that they built with their Muslim brothers? I don’t think so! However, I also know that their presence in this land has the flavor of martyrdom and blood.

ZENIT: The Patriarch reminds us in the “National Memorandum,” that what the Lebanese did during the period of the formation of the Republic was a sublime constitutional and political experience. What is missing to return to live at those heights?

Monsignor Eid: It’s true, what was realized was a sublime work. I look at the Lebanese situation today and I compare it with that preceding 1975 and I see a total collapse, or at least a coming close to the edge. The Maronite politicians now are “annexes” to the parties and the decisive dominations: they are “annexes” of the choices of others and not of the needs of independence and the rebirth of their country.

What we are lacking is that Maronite politicians and all of Lebanon return to true liberty and to the values of the founding Fathers and to their dedication, because a free and independent nation is more important than seats, than party interests and private privileges.

ZENIT: In the fourth part of the Memorandum, the Patriarch offers practical ways for the national rebirth to which you refer. Of these 11 ways, in your opinion which ones are fundamental and a priority to allow the Lebanese phoenix to rise from its ashes?

Monsignor Eid: I think they are the following:

1. Commitment to peaceful coexistence among the different factions, otherwise to opt for solutions of “civil separation” to a “velvet revolution” as happened, for instance, in the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic.

2. Absolute commitment to a strong and just nation. A commitment that puts an end to the marginalization of Christians, provides for the rights of all, cuts short institutional corruption, frees from sectarianism and political feudalism, and bans “obligatory” armament under whatever slogan, limiting it to the legitimate instance of the army and of the forces of order.

3. Reaffirmation of the neutrality of Lebanon in regional and global . The principal membership is in the nation and not in the Wilayat al Faqih  [the government of Shiite jurists, ndr] or in Nusrat al-Umma [the Sunnite Salafita government, ndr].

ZENIT: Your Excellency, has the long Syrian war perhaps demolished the hopes of the Special Synod on the Middle East? How could such a unique ecclesial effort, together with the Apostolic Exhortation it has already generated, guide our steps in this crucial moment?

Monsignor Eid: All wars sow destruction, not only at the material but also at the civil, human and spiritual level. Does not British historian Arnold J. Toynbee say, perhaps, that “wars are the tombs of civilization”?

Yes, the Syrian war and its ill-fated effects in Lebanon are an obstacle to the implementation of the Synod’s guidelines. However, more urgent still, first and after, is to listen to the voice of reason and to the appeal for reconciliation and collaboration between the communities. Also necessary is the witness of Eastern Christians and their fidelity to their lands, to their culture and to their faith … in a word, peaceful coexistence is an imperative!

ZENIT: What advice do you offer Maronites who live in the diaspora to preserve their tradition and to contribute to the rebirth of the area of the Levant?

Monsignor Eid: Fidelity to their spiritual and cultural traditions. I invite them to live their civilization, a civilization of pluralism and encounter wherever they are. I invite them not to carry with them, in the nations where they are living, their “political idols,” because the latter, with their obstinacy and their egoism lead the nation to “the edge of the precipice,” as Patriarch El-Rahid has reminded us.

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The instant that the news appeared on the Website of the Oeuvre d’Orient, ZENIT’s Arabic Edition was interviewing a Syrian priest of Aleppo (cf. Diary of a Parish Priest of Aleppo). In a few seconds we received several communications and confirmations from Syria of the foreseen release. The “Russia Alyawm” site had even given details furnished by local sources that affirmed that “political and religious authorities intervened […] and exerted pressure to liberate the two bishops.” The site also reported that after “exhaustive negotiations” they had come to the agreement to release the two prelates.

At 11:20 pm on Tuesday, April 23, however, ZENITt  succeeded in getting into contact with a source that collaborates closely with the Orthodox Metropolitan of Aleppo, Monsignor Boulos el-Yazgi. The source denied the news of the release and stated: “There was great confusion in the diffusion of conflicting news […] because here [in Aleppo] communications are often interrupted.”

“We wished to tell you the truth about the failed liberation so that the case of the two kidnapped bishops wouldn’t be filed prematurely,” he added.

“There is absolutely no news. The two bishops were not released and we don’t have precise news on the place where they are,” the source confirmed.

Joint Communique of Two Patriarchs

Avoiding any misunderstanding of the events, the Orthodox patriarch of Antioch and All the East, His Beatitude Mar Ignatius Zakka I, and the Syro-Orthodox patriarch of Antioch and All the East, Mar Yuhanna Yazgi X, released an official joint communique which presents the circumstances of Monday’s kidnapping. The two bishops, Metropolitan Gregorios Yuhanna Ibrahim and Metropolitan Boulos el-Yazgi, were “on the road returning to Aleppo from a humanitarian mission. The two prelates were probably working to negotiate the release of Father Michel Kayal, a very young Armenian priest, and Father Maher Mahfuz, an Orthodox priest, kidnapped on February 9, 2013.

In their communique the two patriarchs confirm that Christians in Syria “are an essential component of the fabric of the people to whom they belong. They suffer with everyone who suffers.”

The communique addresses a heartbroken appeal to the kidnappers to “respect the life of the two kidnapped brothers,” and invites everyone to “desist from all acts that spread religious and confessional divisions between the children of one nation.”

The two patriarchs also expressed their understanding of “the concern that weighs down the spirit of Christians because of this event” and invited them to be patient and trust in God, recalling that “the defense of our land happens in the first place through persevering in it, and through working to make it a land of love and peaceful coexistence.”

The communique does not fail to make a dire appeal to the whole world, so that it will do its utmost “to put an end to the tragedy taking place in our beloved Syria.”

Patriarchs Zakka and Yazgi also invited their Muslim fellow countrymen  to collaborate together and refuse to use human beings as objects “either as human shields in combats or as economic or political trade merchandise.”

Finally, the prelates appealed to the kidnappers themselves, reminding them that the two men kidnapped are “apostles of love in the world.”

“Not only do words attest to the caliber of the two kidnapped bishops, but so does their religious, social and national commitment.” Hence the invitation is to “collaborate so that this painful affair is resolved far from all violence which only serves the enemies of the nation,” the statement read.

Our hope is still dressed in rags, but as one of the last aphorisms of Metropolitan Gregorios Yohanna Ibrahim says, published on April 19 on his Facebook page: “Hope … is a small window, but despite its smallness, it opens immense horizons on life.”

The post The Liberation of Two Orthodox Bishops: Between Hope and Reality appeared first on ZENIT - English.

The bishops were released today. But a new burden of fear and of the unknown was laid on the already afflicted hearts of Syrian Christians.

What will happen after this new crossroads? ZENIT interviewed a priest who perseveres in his land and in his parish in Aleppo. To protect his safety and that of his relatives and of his community, the priest’s interview is published anonymously. He himself said to us: “My name is not important. What is important is that the voice and witness, the suffering and the hope of Christians is proclaimed.”

We wished to hear from him about the echoes of daily life in the shadow of the unknown, in the shadow of what he described as “organized” and systematic “disorder.” What surprised us was to learn that despite the dark and black cloud that hovers over the Syrian situation, there is, nevertheless, a glimmer of hope that does not stem from naïve optimism, but from a look of faith rooted in the words – which have now become experience – of Saint Paul: “Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will affliction, or anguish, or persecution, or hunger, or nakedness, or danger, or the sword? In fact, as he wrote: Because of you we are put to death daily, we are treated as sheep for the slaughter. But in all these things we are more than victorious in virtue of Him who has loved us.”

This cry of hope is not aesthetic lyricism, but a daily reality that is translated into a conscious choice: to stay, not for the land but for the people of God who – as Saint Augustine says – are making their historic pilgrimage “amid the persecutions of the world and the consolations of God.”

ZENIT: The war has imposed an “emergency calendar.” As a priest, what is your daily program?

Father N: In the present situation, pastoral work as we always lived it is suspect. It has become an endeavor of humanitarian aid. The pastoral visits and the various activities have taken on a different style precisely to respond to the present emergency situation. For instance, with the collaboration of the Syrian Committee for Development, we have transformed two schools into a place of reception for Muslim refugees, precisely to show that the Church is at the service of man, of every man, regardless of his ethnic or religious membership.

As regards the works of charity and relief of suffering, we collaborate closely as a parish with the Red Cross and with Caritas.

In any case, we continue to celebrate Mass in areas that are still inhabited, and we notice an increase in the daily frequentation of the faithful. Christians have begun to seek hope more, which comes from Christ risen from the dead!

I must stress also that very many priests are committed in a stable way beside the laity in the service of material support in the parishes and dioceses.

ZENIT: Well known, unfortunately, is the fact that so many churches – also very ancient churches that are the patrimony of the whole of humanity – have been blown apart. 

Father N: Thank God, our church has not received direct threats yet. Unfortunately, however, so many of our parishioners have been threatened and have had to leave the country or at least have had to move to less troubled areas.

All this notwithstanding, and above all given the proximity of the great feasts, car-bombs have been found near churches. Divine Providence has permitted our fellow citizens to notice the danger and so the bombs were disabled before their explosion.

ZENIT: What do the Christians of Aleppo expect from the Church?

Father N: People ask us questions daily, but I think that all agree on this point: should we leave the country or stay and keep the Christian presence in the Levant? I, and I say it with sincerity, advise those who can, to go away even if momentarily.

It’s true that we must witness Christ before the situation of daily chaos that we live. However, I don’t want this answer to be idealistic or abstract. The daily reality is tragic and we live in great disorder. We don’t know when we go out in the morning from our homes if we will return in the evening. Because of this, my answer to people is this: each one must place himself before his own conscience and weigh his choices, the situation of his family, and to make the choice dictated by discernment of the will of God.

We look at things with realism: what can the Church now offer, concretely, to Syrian Christians? We are more than grateful for the support of all Christians and particularly to Pope Francis with his repeated appeals in favor of his “beloved Syria.” We are also grateful for the aid that arrives. However, the truth remains that a basket of food aid isn’t sufficient. The Christians of Aleppo and of Syria want security, prospects, hope. Through aid, if we are not killed we can manage for a week, a month, perhaps even a year, and then? That’s why each one must give his own answer according to his conscience and his possibilities.

ZENIT: And why don’t you leave Syria?

Father N: First because Syria is my country. And I as a Christian belong to this nation. Second, and more important, for my priestly mission. Despite all the certainties and possibilities that I have to be able to leave the country (such as a resident permit in a foreign state, and the possibility of having a visa), Christ’s call remains for me as priest: to offer the smile of hope, not my personal smile or that of the ecclesiastical institutions, but that of Christ himself!

Only when there are no longer any Christians here, will I be ready to leave the country. What I feel within myself is this: if I were to leave the country, within my heart I would have a more bitter remorse than death, that of having left friends and children with whom I lived good times and that now, in the time of the storm, I abandoned.

ZENIT: The two bishops were released, but the fact of the kidnapping itself remains a grave question. What weight did it have on your spirit and that of your parishioners?

Father N: It was a great shock. It left us with a strong sense of dismay and anguish. The question we ask ourselves is this: if they violated these sacred places, what will be their next step? Then, the grave question is this: what meaning does this kidnapping have? What sense is there in kidnapping two bishops who are known for not having spared themselves in the most minimal way in seeking to lead the parties to the table of dialogue? What sense is there in kidnapping two persons whose objective is concord and peace?

Their kidnapping is an attack against dialogue and peace. This is the contradiction. This is the tragedy. It’s a stupid and arrogant gesture that does not embody any wisdom or policy, either social or religious.

ZENIT: In the face of all the mixture of horror, fear, courage, resistance and surrender, what word resounds the loudest?

Father N: The answer I give for the loudest word that remains is this: abide in Christ. This abiding is not based on weakness in face of the strength of the aggressor, but is built on daily Mass in which every day we are conformed to Christ crucified in the hope of resurrection. He is our daily food and our bulwark in this storm. In face of this desperation, we cry out: Christ is our hope.

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