"The witness of the Church of Antioch during the…

"The witness of the Church of Antioch during the Crisis in Syria and the East"
A Presentation at the Conference
"Freedom of Religion or Belief of the Orthodox in the World"
Cyprus 8-10 October 2016

 

Introduction:
The Church of Antioch was founded in the very early beginnings of Christianity, and in the City of Antioch “the disciples were first called Christians” (Acts 11: 26). The geographical boundaries of the Patriarchate of Antioch included "Syria, Arabia, Cilicia, Georgia, Mesopotamia and all the East", as stipulated in the historic "Phimi" of the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and all the East. The headquarters of the Patriarchate moved, with the passage of time from Antioch to the city of Damascus, and Her pastoral horizon expanded during the past two centuries to include taking care of Her children in the Diaspora after the displacement of many of them from their homeland due to wars and economic factors that have been imposed on the Middle East.

The Church of Antioch has been struggling constantly, since the time of Her foundation and throughout history, to witness for the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. This witness continued through the times of the persecution under the Pagan Roman Empire, the Islamic Conquests, the conquests of the Persians, the Mongols, the Mameluk, the Ottoman and other foreign armies’ invasions, and under the shadow of the conquerors and of all the religious oppression that followed, and did not stop in modern ages through the grinding ongoing war in Her Motherland generally, and especially, in Syria and Iraq.

This presentation does not aim to prepare a historical study of the results of this war and its effects in the region and the world and on the Church of Antioch and Her children, but to clarify the current situation that Christians in general, and the Orthodox Church of Antioch in particular, have to live in during the years of the crisis in Syria, and the huge difficulties they are straining beneath in the face of the repercussions of this violent war that is going on in the region.

 

• Pluralism and freedom of religious practice in Syria before the war:

Syria occupies an area of 185.180 square kilometers, and Its population reached 23 million during the pre-crisis years. Christians of various tradition make up 10 percent of the total population. The largest Church numerically is the Roman Orthodox Church of Antioch and All the East. The majority of the citizens of Armenian origins belong to the Armenian Orthodox Church, which uses the Armenian ritual and the Armenian language, so does the majority of the citizens of Syriac origins who belong to the Syriac Orthodox Church and uses Syriac language and tradition. Syria, also, includes other Churches, such as the Catholic Churches which recognize the authority of the Pope of Vatican, and the Protestant Churches.
The Constitution of the Syrian Arab Republic provides religious freedom, and there is no official state religion, but the Constitution requires that the president be Muslim, and stipulates that "Islamic Shari'a is the main source of legislation". Churches and mosques receive some free utilities, such as water and electricity, and are exempt from real estate taxes and taxes on official cars. The government does not interfere with purely internal affairs of religions, and permits the use of religious language in public places, including the lifting of religious symbols.

The Syrian Government's policy officially disavows sectarianism of any kind. All schools are officially government-run and non-sectarian, although in practice some schools are run by religious groups. There is mandatory religious instruction in all schools, and religious instruction is provided on Islam and Christianity. Although Arabic is the official language in public schools, the government permits the teaching in foreign languages, and in Armenian, Syriac, and Chaldean in some schools. The Government has increased Its support for the practice and study of moderate forms of Islam.

Religious groups are subject to their respective religious laws for matters dealing with personal status. Churches have their independent spiritual laws and Spiritual Courts, the decisions of which are in force in the State. And the Muslims, as well, have their own laws of personal status and their Islamic Courts, while, Civil and Criminal Courts have jurisdiction for criminal matters. The official Christian holidays, such as Christmas, Orthodox and Western Easter, are national holidays, and so are the Islamic holidays.

Although, the majority of Syria's population are Muslims, people of Syria do not live according to the logic of majorities and minorities, as citizens reject extremism and live moderate Islam. In Syria, the tradition of peaceful, brotherly coexistence among religions is a national trait of which all Syrian groups have always been proud.

Before the war, Syria was opened up to foreign trade, to tourism within the country and from abroad, to freedom of movement and of education for both men and women. Before the Crisis started, the number of women in the professional world had been constantly increasing, the university was open to all, and there was no discrimination on the basis of sex. The Country was at peace, prosperity was on the rise. A common home and fatherland to many ethnicities and different religious groups, Syria has always been a place where all were free to believe and live out their creed, all relationships were characterized by mutual respect. And freedom advocated by protesters in the beginning of the crisis, which is essentially a Divine Gift and a rightful demand for all people, has evolved into bigotry that steals this same freedom from the people of Syria, Iraq, and the countries of the region and the world.

• Christians of the Orthodox Church of Antioch in the face of the War in Syria and the East:

The spark of the grinding war started in the year 2011 aiming to destroy Syria, the home to a unique and multireligious society. And, in the year 2013, ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria) appeared on the scene, cutting through a third of Syria and Iraq and advancing rapidly, tragically, into the area with the strongest Christian presence in Iraq and Syria. And, since then, a shocked world has been witnessing the ghastly beheadings of innocent people, along with the displacement, raping, and murdering of the Christians of this region, with their brothers and sisters Muslims and Yazidis and the people of all other religious groups, whose their only crime is that they live in these countries, and the world now is watching the looting and burning down of churches and mosques and the marking out of Christians' homes in support of continuing these heinous acts.
The Orthodox Church of Antioch, having understood the imminent danger that threatens, not only Syria and Iraq and the Middle East, but the entire World as well, She stood in the face of this brutal war, with her pastors and her entire flock, who have been paying, with their Muslim and Christian brothers, a heavy price with their lives and properties and their displacement. And the ways of Her witness to the Lord and the Homeland are varied and reflected in the following three points:

• The witness of the Church of Antioch in the face of the dangers that threaten life: The serial of public killing and abducting Christians started in the year 2008 by kidnapping and murdering the Archbishop of the Chaldeans Mar Paulos Faraj Rahho in Iraq, and it is continuing during the war in Syria. In the year 2012, two Antiochian Orthodox priests were murdered, the first is Father Basil Nassar in Hama, and the second is Father Fadi Haddad in Damascus, who had been negotiating for the release of a kidnapped young man from his parishioners. In the year 2013, two priests were abducted on their way out of Aleppo, Greek Orthodox Father Isaac Mahfoud and Armenian Catholic Father Michelle Kayal, and there is no information concerning their fate right now. In the same year, Archbishops Paul Yazigi of Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Aleppo, Alexandretta and Dependencies, and John Ibrahim of the Syriac Orthodox Archdiocese of Aleppo, were abducted as well on their way back to Aleppo from a humanitarian mission to bring back the two kidnapped priests, with no definite information about their fate until now, while the World is watching their case with silence which is almost as dangerous as their abduction. Also, we must mention the kidnapping of the Nuns of St. Thekla Orthodox Monastery in Ma'aloula which lasted for 4 months, and the killing of the Jesuit Dutch Father Frans Van der Lugt who was murdered by gunmen in Homs despite the help he offered to all people there, and the murder of Father Francois Murad who gave his life in defense of the Latin Convent in Ghassaniya village in the countryside Idlib and of the elderly who took refuge in It. And, till now, the children of the Church of Antioch, along with their pastors, offer their lives daily on the altar of the Church and the Homeland dying by sword, bullets or shells in Damascus, Aleppo, Homs, Hama, Idleb and all parts of Syria and Iraq, following the example of their crucified Master and His Saints and Apostles, who offered their lives to spread the Gospel and the Church in the Levant and the entire world after witnessing the Light of the Resurrection.

• The witness of the Church of Antioch in the face of economic destitution: This war destroyed churches, mosques, monasteries and people's properties in every place it entered. In 2013, the Monastery of St. Thekla in Ma'aloula was destroyed and the Nuns were abducted. The Archdiocese of Aleppo, Alexandretta and Dependencies, has the largest amount of destruction and devastation, and most of Its churches and endowments, institutions and schools in Aleppo were destroyed by shells, so were Its two parishes in the city of Idleb and the town of Tabqa in the countryside of Raqqa. The unique Aleppian Icons were looted from the Church in Idleb, and the ancient Monastery of St. Symeon the Stylite, in the countryside of Aleppo, which dates back to the fifth century, was destroyed and vandalized as well. The same applies in Homs, the churches and schools of which were destroyed, and in other parts of Syria and Iraq. And many of the children of the Church of Antioch lost their homes and all their properties and possessions either by shells or by theft, especially in Aleppo and Homs, along with their hopes and dreams of a happy life. All of this was accompanied by the loss of jobs causing extreme poverty and huge needs even for essentials. And, in the face of this great economic destitution, the Church of Antioch is trying hard to support the steadfastness of the Church in the Levant, and to help Her children remain in their Homeland by all means and possibilities available.

• The witness of the Church of Antioch in the face of the displacement of Christians: All these huge threats, along with the economic factor and the other multiple factors, led many of the children of the Church of Antioch to emigrate in search of security and a human life worth living, thereby increasing internal migration dramatically, especially from Aleppo and Homs to more stable and secure areas in Syria, which led to significant changes in the demographic structure. Some Orthodox Christians, also, formed, with many of the people of Syria and Iraq, a massive surge of legal and illegal emigration to the Americas, Australia and the European Countries. The Church of Antioch is trying hard to raise awareness among Her children of the importance of their attachment to the land of their ancestors, and that it is their responsibility in front of their grandchildren to keep the religious diversity and the inherent cultural heritage in the face of the threat of atonement, which seeks to draw a monochrome policy of sectarian entities. Christians have been authentic component of Syria for more than 2000 years, they are full-fledged Syrians, Syria is their home, and wherever they go they will be foreigners. However, the Church of Antioch strives to help the expatriates who reach their destination with all means and possibilities available, through Her Dioceses in the Diaspora, embracing them spiritually and materially.

Therefore, the Church of Antioch, through Her witness in Syria, Iraq, the Middle East and the whole World, emphasizes that the Church of Jesus Christ is Emmanuel within the World, and has a profound and intimate relationship with the Levant and the whole World, with Its pain and Its hopes, Its joys and Its sorrows, Its problems and Its crisis, and, at the same time, She offers Herself for the whole World, following the example of Her Master, without forgetting Her Eastern roots and identity. So, She calls for the preservation of world peace and the territorial integrity of Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and all the countries of the Middle East, and seeks, in the midst of this violence and destruction, to maintain a secular State, even in the Muslim-majority countries of the Middle East, with widely popular multireligious support, which guarantees religious freedom. 
The Church of Antioch emphasizes, through Her long experience in witnessing for the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, that countering the blind and takfiri intolerance which hits Syria cannot be achieved without vigilant and paying attention to the existence of a project to destroy Its rich, pluralist, and unbelievably intricate culture, and replace it with a monochrome version of radical Islam, the repercussions of which will extend to affect the whole World, and history may come to judge very severely those who invest in this war for self-interests.

Conclusion:

The conclusion of this presentation is best described by the inspired words of His Beatitude John X Patriarch of Antioch and all the East: "the Christians of the Levant are looking for someone to hear their call; but in vain. In our country, we are ones who call for peace; we call for reconciliation, for harmony and fraternity. We do not beg the powers of this world for mercy, but we rather shout at them: enough takfirism, terrorism, and garbling reality; enough exporting barbarism and displaying propaganda; enough of your fabricated statements that call nations to receive Christians. The world would assist both Christians and Moslems much better if it spreads the culture of dialogue in our East and wipes away the culture of the sword… Release our country from the grasp of terrorism; stop the flow of weapons, and retrieve your ships! The vessels of war cannot protect us, nor can the ships of emigration! Only implanting peace in our mainland can protect us, for we have been rooted here for two thousand years now! We were born here, we have lived here, and here will we die... In Antioch, despite our agony, the many tribulations, kidnappings, dispersion, deprivation of the basics needs for a respectable existence, we still love our brothers and perceive any encounter and authentic dialogue as an image of hope, and as a witness to Him who conquered death and shone upon on the third day the Light of His Resurrection and great mercy. Glory to Him in everything. Amen."