Fr. Georges Massouh on Orthodox Christians and the Arab Spring

 Arabic original, published in Majallat al-Nour, here.

For God So Loved the World

"The Movement rejects blind prejudice and sectarian politics..."

-The fifth principle of the Orthodox Youth Movement

In the midst of the serious events that are occuring in the Arab world, there are considerable questions that pose themselves to the consciences of Christians in general and Orthodox Christians in particular and there are challenges that face them in the course of their decisions and destinies. These questions and challenges require profound consideration and answers that spring from the heart of the tradition of our Orthodox Church. However, as far as what concerns us here, what is the role of the Orthodox Youth Movement and of our young people amidst these circumstances that surround us?

We must begin by pointing out the two open wounds on the body of this region: tyranny in all its forms and sectarianism or confessionalism. These two wounds, from which result all the other wounds and which are behind all the wars and internal conflicts, are steadily growing to the point that they are nearly putting an end to the diverse and pluralistic societies in which we have lived for centuries. And this is something that is born of revulsion and refusal to stay in our countries. It is something that constitutes a basic cause of emigration and the emptying of the region of a good portion of its faithful children.

Putting an end to these two wounds requires on the part of Christians boldness and fearlessness about the future. Political domination or grasping after a monopoly on authority is not what will protect the Christians or give them security in difficult days to come. Empires have vanished, sultanates have ceased, and many dictatorial regimes have disappeared, the last of which was the mighty Soviet Union. Whenever we cast an eye around us, we see the fate of the Christians of Iraq after the collapse of the regime that claimed to protect them, as they believed what was nothing but a mirage, pipe-dreams, and fantasies.

Neither is sectarianism what will secure the rights of Christians within the state and its institutions. The regime-- any regime-- cannot last forever. The sectarian solution has done harm to the Christian presence and to the witness of Christians in our diverse society and it has in no way secured their existence or their effectiveness. Because it is a balance of numbers and figures, sectarianism is of no use to those whose numbers are lacking or whose numerical proportion relative to others is lacking for a variety of reasons, including emigration and imbalance in birth rates, and the search for economic and social well-being.

We do not see ourselves as required to make a choice between tyrannies hovering over our necks and tyrannies emerging on the horizon. We reject them both, because they kill the freedom that God sowed within the human person to distinguish him from other creatures. They are both evil, but there is no "one of them is unavoidable." Tyranny, whether political, partisan, or religious, remains tyranny and there is no differentiation between them. To make one look good in comparison to the other is to accept the suppression of freedom-- the suppression of the image of God in man.

We do not see ourselves compelled to choose between various proposals, each one based on sectarian divisions. Sectarianism, in turn, is not "a necessary evil." Rather, it is an absolute evil because it is contrary to the spirit of citizenship based on absolute equality of rights and responsibilities for all children of the nation. Any discrimination in rights and responsibilities on the basis of religion, creed, or sect, is no less of an evil than racial and ethnic discrimination. Perhaps it even surpasses them in evil because it takes the principle of faith that is equal among all God's creation and makes it into the basis of superiority, arrogance, and bullying.

We are not required merely to make a single choice with two mutually necessary aspects, one of which cannot be complete without the other. Freedom and citizenship are our only choice, the sole basis on which we can build our views and opinions. Every viewpoint that ignores freedom and citizenship, or even that simply minimizes them, is treachery to the Christian presence and to the Christian tradition, which is based on the principle of the centrality of humankind to God's ordering of existence. It was for humankind and not for anything else, that the Eternal Word became incarnate, was crucified, and rose on the third day.

The basis of God's ordering of existence is that "God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16). How did God love the world? He had mercy on the sick and healed them. He dressed their wounds. He washed their feet. He fed them in the desert. He helped the poor, the wretched, widows and orphans. He consoled the sorrowful and the forlorn... He was the Good Samaritan, the host of the party to which "the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame" were invited.

Thus love is nothing other than the opposite of tyranny and injustice. Saint Ambrose of Milan said something to the effect that, "One who stays silent in the face of injustice is a partner with the unjust." So what about someone who is not silent but is even outspoken in his support of the unjust? This is why we must cast aside fear from our souls. Fear is the opposite of hope, one of the three pillars of Christianity: faith, hope, and love, which if one falls, they all fall.

"In the world you will have tribulations. Be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world" (John 16:33). Trusting in the Lord means, first of all, that we are not afraid to speak the word of truth in a time of hypocrisy. Beyond that, we must rely on God.

A Prayer from Tripoli in Troubled Times

This prayer was sent out to the email list of the Archdiocese of Tripoli. Please pray for the people of Tripoli, Akkar, and North Lebanon.


In these difficult times, let us lift up prayer and say:

Merciful Lord, enlighten the eyes of the peoples so that they may know you and realize how much You love us.

Merciful Lord, bestow Your grace upon all the peoples of the earth, that they may know You because if a person is deprived of Your Holy Spirit, he will not know You and he will not understand Your love.
Lord, cause all the peoples to know Your love and the sweetness of the Holy Spirit so that the world may forget earthly passions, empty itself of every evil, and cling to You in love, so they may live in peace and fulfill Your holy will unto Your glory.

Merciful Lord, save all the peoples by your great goodness.

Lord, teach us by Your Holy Spirit to love our enemies and to pray for them with tears.
Lord, I want Your peace to rest upon all peoples. You limitlessly loved them, without reservation, and You gave Your only Son so that all the world may be saved through Him.

Lord, all the peoples are the work of Your hands. Incline their hearts away from hatred and evil toward repentance, so that all of them may know Your mercy.

O Blessed Comforter, I ask You with tear-filled eyes, comfort sorrowful souls and grant all the peoples to hear Your voice which says to them gently: Your sins are known. Yes, Lord, You alone are able to work miracles and there is no miracle greater than a sinner's love in his falleness. It is easy for us to love the saint who is worthy of all honor. Yes, Lord, hear and answer the prayers of the world, for all the peoples are drowning in sorrows. They have all been made weary by sin. All of them have been deprived of Your grace and live in darkness.

I ask You, Lord, pour down the grace of the Holy Spirit upon humankind so that they may know Your love. Warm their wearied hearts so that they may glorify you in praise and joy and forget the passions and torments of the world.

Lord, give them Your grace so that they may know You and love You in peace and in love and so that, like the Apostles on Mount Tabor, they may say, "It is good, O Lord, for us to be together."


Arabic original after the jump.

Fr. Georges Massouh: The Resurrection and Witness to the Truth

The Arabic original can be found here.


 The Resurrection and Witness to the Truth


"Christ is risen. Indeed He is risen," Christians call out during the glorious Feast of Pascha. Christianity, at root, is based on faith in Christ's resurrection from the dead after He was crucified and buried. Without the Resurrection, Christianity is futile. Paul speaks of this in his first letter to the Corinthians: "If Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty" (1 Corinthians 15:14). The Apostle himself confirms that Christ's resurrection precedes the resurrection of the faithful in Him, when he says, "Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?" (1 Corinthians 15:12).

This faith in the Resurrection made the first Christians face dangers, persecutions, tortures, and martyrdom without fear or hesitation. Their conviction was deeply-rooted that death is merely a passage into true, everlasting life: "So why do we stand in jeopardy every hour?" (1 Corinthians 15:30). Thus the Resurrection freed man of his earthenness and released him into a space of freedom that leads him to profess the truth, no matter how high the price.

Christianity is not limited to a system of beliefs, slogans, and ethics. It is a way of life based on imitating Christ in all things. Christ said to His disciples after washing their feet on the night He was given over for crucifixion, "I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you" (John 13:15). The cross is the most important thing that He gave them as an example in their life: "Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me" (Mark 8:34). And so, the beginning of faith in God is man's denial of himself.

Christ did not come with philosophical theories, a complex dogmatic system,  a rigid law, or transcendent reflections about the reality surrounding man. He called for practicing the act of absolute love: "This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends" (John 15:12-13). The life of love, which sometimes requires sacrificing the self to the point of death, is the sole criterion of true faith.

Christians are not acting truthfully if the cross is for them merely a banner that they wave here and there or an ornament that they place on their chest to boast and flaunt. They are not acting truthfully if celebration of Christ's resurrection does not mean faith in their own resurrection along with Him, and an absence of fear in facing whatever fate awaits them. They are not acting truthfully if they lose hope in bearing witness-- in word, in deed, or in death-- that they believe in Him. All dogma becomes vain and untenable when it is not lived and practiced in the depths of those who believe in it.

"For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth" (John 18:37), said Christ at His trial before the governor Pilate. The Islamic tradition confirms this when it insists that Christ is "the word of truth" (Surat Maryam 34). The price for this witness to the truth was death on the cross, but also resurrection from the dead. Christ does not need for people to rejoice in His resurrection, but rather He desires that they bear their cross just as He bore His cross. And so they rejoice and He rejoices with them in their resurrection that, without a doubt, shall come. It is hoped that He will rejoice in them more than they rejoice in Him and in what He did for their sake and for the sake of the world.

Cyprus and the Church of Antioch

From the Great Cyprus Encyclopedia, translated by this blog's favorite blog, NOCTOC.




Among the hierarchs of the Cypriot church who served in the patriarchate of Antioch, were Anthemios (17th-18th century, bishop of Helenoupolis and patriarch of Antioch from 1724 until his death in 1813), Sylvester (18th century, patriarch of Antioch from 1724 until his death in 1766), Anthimos (18th century, bishop of Irinoupolis (Baghdad) of the Patriarchate of Antioch) and Ioannikios (18th century, bishop of Epiphaneia of the Patriarchate of Antioch). It is also worth mentioning the case of Athanasius, patriarch of Antioch, a non-Cypriot, who later became Archbishop of Cyprus (Athanasios II of Cyprus, Athanasios III of Antioch). Of Cypriot origin was also the patriarch of Antioch Spyridon I (late 19th century). We should also mention the Cypriot in origin (from his father's side) Nectarios, Bishop of Aleppo.

The Church of Antioch was the Church which raised several claims for control over the Church of Cyprus during the first centuries after Christ, with the excuse that Christianity prevailed in Cyprus through Antioch. The proof from the finding of the relics of Barnabas the Apostole, the apostolicity of the Church of Cyprus  put an end to these claims and patented the autocephalous Church of Cyprus. However, Antiochian designs on the Church of Cyprus still occurred during that period and later, in various forms. One example is the prerogative of the patriarchs of Antioch to ordain their own bishops. Attempts had been made to implement this privilege also in Cyprus, since 431 by John of Antioch, but the Cypriots did not succumb. Another attempt at interference by the Church of Antioch, which was aimed at the destruction of the autocephalous Church of Cyprus, was in 1600 (during the Ottoman period) by Patriarch Joachim. Taking advantage of the disruption which was caused in Cyprus by the acts of Archbishop Athanasius I (1592-1598), the patriarch intervened into the affairs of Cyprus on the grounds that the Church of Cyprus was subject to his spiritual jurisdiction rather than that of the Ecumenical Patriarchate which in turn felt that Antioch had incorrectly interfered.  The patriarch of Alexandria Meletius Pigas, who was at the time acting as Vicar of the Ecumenical Throne of Constantinople and who was asked by the Cypriots to investigate their accusations against archbishop Athanasius, successfully opposed his claims over Cyprus.

During the Ottoman period, the poverty that plagued Cyprus did not, apparently, put the island in a more difficult position than that of the Patriarchate of Antioch during the early 18th century. At the end of 1735, the patriarch of Antioch Sylvester (who was Cypriot in origin) came to Cyprus and conducted fund-raising on the island for the economic relief of the patriarchate. Even though Cyprus was in a horrible socioeconomic  position, Sylvester managed to collect the sum of 1,680 piasters from the Cypriot people.

The Patriarchate of Antioch, as the nearest to Cyprus, was asked repeatedly by the Ecumenical Patriarchate during the Ottoman period to act on the island, especially in cases of ordinations. Indicatively, we mention here the command of the Grand Vizier to the Ecumenical Patriarch Gabriel IV in 1783, and then of Gabriel to the Patriarch of Antioch Daniel, that the latter should send to Cyprus bishops to ordain new hierarchs (uncanonically) for the Church of Cyprus as replacements for Archbishop Chrysanthos and the bishops, upon the request of the tyrant of Cyprus Muhassil Haci Baki Agha.

In this case, judging correctly, the patriarch of Antioch considered any election of new prelates in Cyprus to be improper and refused to intervene.

Another case was in 1821, when, after the decapitation of archbishop Kyprianos and the bishops, Seraphim of Antioch sent three bishops to Cyprus (Cypriot Ioannikios of Epiphaneia, Gennadios of Seleucia and Methodius of Emesa) for the ordination and the establishment of new prelates for the island.

The Church of Cyprus was involved to some extent in the so-called Antiochian issue (1897-1909)  in the early 20th century even though it faced a formidable issue regarding its own archbshop. The Antiochian problem was created when the last of the Greek patriarchs of Antioch, the Cypriot in origin Spyridon (1891-1898) was forced to resign and, with Russian intervention, an Arabic-speaking patriarch was elected, Meletius Doumani. A schism occurred which was not resolved until 1908, but since that time an Arabic-speaking patriach is elected who, however, retains all the Greek Orthodox traditions and has regular relations with the other patriarchates, as with the Church of Cyprus.

Today, the Patriarchate maintains good relations with the Church of Cyprus. In recent times, we will mention the involvement of the patriarch of Antioch Elias at the ecumenical synod in Nicosia which was convened by Archbishop Makarios III in June 1973. This synod defrocked the Cypriot bishops Gennadios of Paphos, Anthimos of Kition, and Kyrianos of Kyrenia.

Fr. Georges Massouh: Man the Miracle-Worker

Arabic original here.


Man the Miracle-Worker


God is capable of all things, so it is no surprise that He works miracles. He does not need to offer evidence and proof to confirm His all-surpassing power. A priori, He would not be God if He was unable to work miracles. For this reason, miracles have no importance in themselves, but rather in their fruits. Repenting towards God, returning to Him, is the only goal that God desires man to strive towards. The same is true whether repentance is achieved by virtue of miracles or without them.

When people brought the paralyzed man to Jesus in order for Him to heal him, He did not heal him right away. Instead, He immediately addressed him saying, "My son, your sins are forgiven." Then, when He saw the legal scholars' disapproval of what He had said, since God alone has the authority to forgive sins, He said to the paralytic, "Get up, take your bed, and go to your house." So he got up, took his bed, and walked (Mark 2: 1-12). This event shows that Jesus' priority is not healing man from his bodily ailments, but rather healing him from the ailments of sin. Bodily death on account of illness does not do away with a person's life, while sin destroys him forever.

After Jesus healed the paralytic for the second time, he warned him saying, "You have been healed, so do not sin again, lest something worse afflict you" (John 5: 1-14). What is worse is that which results from sin and it is more harmful than bodily disabilities. The basic lesson of these words is that the sickness of sin is more insidious than all other sicknesses. In death, man becomes dust and the members which had been healed, through miracles or through medicine, are healed for a time and not forever. However, healing from sin, for the faithful, remains and lasts into eternal life.

God is capable of all things, but He does not compel man to do something that he does not want to do. He created man free, reasonable, and rational according to the consensus of the Church's tradition. Man does good or does evil according to his freedom. God desires for each person to come to Him by his own choice and free will. Man is capable, through the reason, heart, and free will that God has given him, of working miracles. Is going up to the moon, for example, or the world of communications and computers, the discovery of drugs and medicines and the prolongation of human life... not forms of miracles, especially when they are related to what has been happening for decades.

However, the most important miracle is something that every human being can do, without a doubt. It is moving from a state of sin to a state of repentance. This is more important than moving a mountain from one place to another. Zacchaeus, the chief tax-collector, after his repenting, said to Jesus, "Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold." And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house" (Luke 19:1-9). The reward for repentance is eternal salvation, while the healing of the body is limited to this earthly life. Repentance is a miracle whose fruits are much more valuable than the fruits of a miracle that is limited to bodily healing.

Our purpose is not to compare the healing of the soul to the healing of the body. In the healing of the body there is mercy for man, and great love. But it is expected of man that he not neglect his repentance, that all his life he strives to purify  himself from the stain of sin. In this way he becomes a miracle-worker and a partner with God in life.

Met. Ephrem Visits Mount Athos

Arabic original, with more information and pictures, here.

The Greek Orthodox metropolitan of Tripoli and al-Koura, Ephrem Kyriakos, visited Mount Athos in Greece for six days, at the head of a delegation of clergy and laity that included: Archimandrite Antonius el-Souri, Subdeacon Parthenios Abu Haidar, the writer Mazen Abboud, and the engineer Gaby el-Murr. They were greeted with open arms by a number of the abbots of the monasteries that they visited, taking part in liturgies and prayers , and exchanged gifts.

Metropolitan Ephrem first visited the capital of Mount Athos, where he was received by the governor of the Mountain, Elder Barnabas, with whom he discussed matters pertaining to the Mountain and the Church.

He then visited the abbot of the Monastery of Vatopedi, who had  recently been imprisoned  on account of a real-estate dispute with the Greek government after an intensification of the economic crisis in Greece. Archimandrite Ephrem, abbot of the second largest monastery on Mount Athos, received the delegation and remarkable welcome and gave Metropolitan Ephrem a crosier, thanking him for his love and support.

Metropolitan Ephrem presided at the divine liturgy at the Monastery of Saint Paul, along with the abbot of the monastery, Archimandrite Parthenios, and a group of priests and deacons. Metropolitan Ephrem thanked the abbot for his invitation and warm greeting.

Metropolitan Ephrem and the delegation likewise accepted the invitation of the Monastery of Simonopetra, Archimandrite Elisha, for them to stay at the monastery. Metropolitan Ephrem met both Metropolitan Kallistos Ware of the Greek Orthodox Church in Great Britain and the head of the Anglican Church, Rowan Williams, there at a breakfast held in their honor.

He then visited the Cell of the Resurrection, where the departed Father Isaac Atallah had practiced asceticism.

Before completing the visit, Metropolitan Ephrem participated in the liturgy at the Monastery of Xenophontos, where he was received by the abbot of the monastery, Archimandrite Alexios, on his final day on the Mountain.

Attempt to Assassinate Greek Priest in Libya

Greek original here.

Members of the Greek Orthodox community of Tripoli [Libya] are intensely troubled and saddened  by the recent attack against the church and against our priest, Fr. Joachim Vasilakou, Vicar General of our Holy Metropolis.

On Wednesday, May 2, between 9:00 and 9:30 AM, when Fr. Joachim was entering the Church of St. George and was within the church's courtyard, a fanatic Muslim "brother"-- probably a foreigner and not a Libyan national-- fired a Kalashnikov at the priest from a building adjacent to the church.

The bullet struck ten centimeters in front of Fr. Joachim's feet, lodging itself in the floor.

He immediately informed the president of the Greek community and the Ambassador of Cyprus, who immediately rushed to the Greek Charge d'Affaires in Tripoli. At the same time, in cooperation with Libyan friends of the community, the head of security for the Old City was contacted. He rushed to the church and made an investigation, finding with his own eyes that the bullet was not accidentally fired, but was rather an assassination attempt. 

Both the Cypriot and Greek embassies made strong protests to the Libyan government and the Greek embassy has requested police protection for the Greek Orthodox Church, the only one in Libya and surrounding cities.

On Friday, the Divine Liturgy was held and all the Greek community prayed for peace in our region and throughout the world, asking our patron saint, Saint George, to protect the church and our community.

The Ambasador of Cyprus, Pericles Stoibaros, the Greek Charge d'Affaires, Ioannis Mitzalis, President of the Greek Community in Tripoli, Dimitrios Anastasiou, and other figures in our community were present.

Thus they expressed their sympathy and support for our Holy Metropolis, to Metropolitan Theophilaktos, and to Father Joachim.