Daily Star: Abducted Bishops in Good Health, Held by Rebels

From the May 9 an-Nahar, here.

 The Free Syrian Army will not free the bishops by force

Following information that indicated the possiblity that Bishops Paul Yazigi and Youhanna Ibrahim are being held in the village of Bshaqtin, about 20km northwest of Aleppo, an-Nahar has learned that the chief military faction in the armed opposition, the Free Syrian Army, has refused to send its units to storm the place where the two bishops are being held, fearing that the bishops would be killed in any attempt to free them by force.

Sources add that the leaders of FSA units in the area have informed Syrian National Council president George Sabra that any liberation operation might have grave consequences for the life of the kidnapped bishops and so it is better to treat the matter with patience and to continue negotiations, lest harm come to the two clergymen.

Yesterday members of the Syriac Orthodox Council in Aleppo and its region conveyed to Amine Gemayyel information about the state of fear and horror that Christian communities in the region of Aleppo are living in as a result of their fears about the fate of the two bishops who had represented a protection for the existence of Christians in the region.

 

From here.


Abducted Syrian bishops in good health, held by rebels

BEIRUT: Acting President of the Syrian National Council George Sabra said Wednesday that the two Greek Orthodox bishops kidnapped in Syria are being held in a small village north west of Aleppo by a rebel group.

In a telephone conversation with Kataeb Party leader Amin Gemayel, Sabra said that Aleppo’s Greek Orthodox Archbishop Boulos Yazigi and Syriac Orthodox Archbishop Yohanna Ibrahim were both in good health and still in the custody of a small group of rebels in the Syrian town of Bshaqtin.

“The bishops are in good health and are being held by a small group in a town called Bshaqtin, 20 kilometers north west of Aleppo,” Sabra told Gemayel who was in a meeting with Syriac Orthodox bishops at the Kataeb Party’s headquarters in Saifi, according to Gemayel’s office.

Yazigi and Ibrahim were kidnapped last month by armed men while they were on their way to Aleppo from the Turkish border.

The meeting in Saifi was attended by Mount Lebanon’s Syriac Orthodox Bishop George Saliba, Beirut Bishop Daniel Koriyeh, Syriac League President Habib Efram and the Deputy Bishop of Aleppo Joseph Shabo.

Bishop Saliba also spoke to the Syrian opposition leader over the phone and urged him to secure the release of the kidnapped bishops.

When contacted by The Daily Star contacted, Sabra declined to comment on the matter.
Speaking during the meeting in Saifi, Gemayel said that the abduction of the two bishops constitutes a bad message to the Christian communities in Syria and the region.

For his part, Saliba said that fear might overwhelm Christians in the region if the bishops are not released. “I don’t know whether the Christians would leave the region because of this or stay and react to this kidnapping in a way that we do not want,” Saliba added.

Patriach John X's Paschal Message 2013

This is the official translation. From here, in pdf.

Paschal Letter 2013

With the Mercy of God

John X

Patriarch of Antioch and all the East

To all our beloved in the Lord
the children of the Antiochian See, clergy and laypersons,

On the great day of Resurrection, on which Christ rose and raised us with Him, it pleases me to remember with you the meanings of Resurrection and to explain some of its aspects.

The resurrection of the Lord is the resurrection of each one of us. In the resurrection the power of the devil, our enemy, was brought to naught. Although death terrifies human beings, yet the Lord Jesus has defeated it with his life-giving resurrection. He descended in His death to the abode of death, that is, to Hades, and exploded it from within, abolishing its effects. It is true that death is still there, however it has become a mere passage to true life, a complete liberation from temporal things and a way to eternity. Resurrection gave us grace instead of sin, immortality instead of corruption, life instead of death. The rule of the evil one is gone and the kingdom of God has appeared. Darkness gives way to light.

The resurrection is a new creation, a new man, a new people. It is a proof of the power of life and the energy of renewal. It is the supremacy of light and the everlasting rule of truth “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come” (2 Cor 5: 17). The resurrection is the victory of God over the powers of sin and death which distort creation and humankind and seek to destroy them. It is the victory which inspired the Apostle Paul to proclaim: “Oh Death, where is your victory? Oh Death, where is your sting” (1 Cor 15: 55).

In His resurrection Christ has opened to man the way of true life, the life of happiness, light, love and renewal. In His resurrection Christ renewed our old nature, and made it in the beauty of His image, enabling us to become a people of resurrection in word and deed. If we believe and truly desire it then the resurrection of Christ becomes our own personal Pascha. “Christ is buried in us as in a tomb. He unites Himself with us and raises us again in Himself.” (Saint Simeon the New Theologian) When we become pure vessels for the Holy Spirit, our celebration of Pascha becomes a continuous celebration and “happens in us mysteriously at all times”.

True resurrection is never separated from the Cross. The Cross is the way that leads to it. The resurrection of the Lord cannot be lived without remembering His cross and carrying it. In order for us to participate personally in the resurrection of the Lord we must not forget the Cross which preceded it. Without the cross we cannot have a share in the glory of the risen Christ. If we are not aware of the Cross in our lives, from what will we be risen then? If we remain where we are now, where then are the signs of our resurrection? If the darkness of sin continues to prevail in us, how can the light of resurrection dwell in us? We cannot celebrate the resurrection of Christ if the light of the Savior does not fully dispel from our souls the darkness of our sins. Easter visits us now while our concerns increase, our fears grow greater, destruction expands, evil intensifies and killing is everywhere and at all times. How can we celebrate the resurrection while our country is doomed, the number of hungry and displaced people is increasing? How can we live the resurrection when the cross is always present?

This is the mystery of Christ, “Through the cross joy came to the whole world”. There, where the Cross is, true resurrection is to found too. Otherwise Pascha would only be mere poetry and chanting. The world does not like the cross. It seeks to abolish it, while it is surrounded by crosses on all sides. True believers would never have these crosses out of sight; they face them with the spirit of resurrection and take from them the new life and put on them the clothes of the light of life. The energy of the resurrection which is in Christ transforms the cross into a tool of joy, a way of life, a witness of love and a sign of communion and solidarity.
How can we live the resurrection? How can we embody it in our lives? How can we translate it from books to the reality of our life?

We celebrate the resurrection and live it when we do not allow evil to enter us and dwell within us under any circumstances whatsoever. We live the resurrection when we do not answer evil with evil. We live it when we continuously purify ourselves from all traces of hatred and rancour. We live it when we stick with constructive truth which does not separate but gathers, which does not cause grief but happiness, and which does not destroy but builds. Let us behold then the truth to which we were called, (if we know it), the truth which liberates us from all sorts of chains of evil. Let us behold the truth which is in the others and respect it, so we might truly communicate with our fellow citizens and fulfill each other, in order to build both our homeland and humanity.

Beloved,

What we are saying about Cross and resurrection takes on today a deeper realistic meaning as some of our brethren have suffered the troubles connected to the painful events we are witnessing. Our brothers, that is a number of Metropolitans, Priests and lay persons are still being held by their kidnappers. A number of priests and lay persons have been killed here and there, and thousands of believers have been displaced from their homes. We are carrying the cross of what all of them have suffered and are still suffering. We share the grief and the tragedy of the Archdiocese of Aleppo, as well as every parish. However, we should use this grief to make a way to a greater steadfastness and an occasion to proclaim our faith in the Resurrection. We have made until today every effort with international and local authorities, asking them to help in the release of the kidnapped. This is the least of what we could do. We need to work for peace to prevail in our regions and we call for an immediate cessation of violence in actions between fellow citizens. We will not surrender to these circumstances as the Lord did not succumb on the way to Golgotha. We shall continue in our way and we shall always claim the rights of man to a decent and peaceful life, mindful that the resurrection is certainly going to happen. For these reason I call upon you for more unity, more prayer, more steadfastness in your faith, more love for your homeland and more openness toward your fellow citizens. Only then can we be more powerful and more efficient in asking for the removal of oppression, a safe return of the kidnapped and the removal of every tear from the faces of those who are sad.

We become children of the Resurrection when we become bridges of communication and encounter between those who are separated, and between those who are in conflict. Let us be bridges exactly like the Lord who did not ask anything for Himself, but gave the world everything, to such an extent that He offered Himself for the salvation of the world. Let us serve as ways of rapprochement for all. Through love, sacrifice and in deeds and truth we shall build our countries.

We become children of Resurrection when we live our faith in genuineness, depth and meaningfulness. External expressions are bound to change with cultures and ways of living, but the genuine Christian content preserves the trust which has been handed down to the saints under many different circumstances, l cases and cultures. Let us imitate the courage of Christ who did not fear anything, even death. Instead He faced the cross with love and brought us to resurrection. Let us face the cross of this crucified East with overwhelming love for all those who are crucified on it, until we reach with them the resurrection we all expect. Let us live these painful days in simplicity, enjoying the bare necessities of life and experiencing the true wealth which is life with God. Let solidarity, cooperation and communion be for us a priority. Needy persons are numerous and the numbers of those affected by troubles are increasing. Let us all be one family and one household. Let us not forget the words of the Gospel, “and whoever… gives one of these little ones a cup of cold water to drink… he shall not lose his reward” (Matt 10:42).

At this stage I address our children in the diaspora wishing them blessed days and praying for their welfare and that they may receive the blessings of God, reminding them of their role and the necessity of expressing their love toward their peoples and countries and in their communion with them. You can extend to us a helpful hand in any way that would be suitable for you.

Last but not least, we do not forget that God is the Lord of history, so we may always hold to patience and hope which do not fade away. Let us remember the words of the prophets and how much they called, in times of distress, for repentance and faith, until God intervenes and removes the distress. In these troubled days we are witnessing, we are in sore need of faithful witnesses. Let us move out of our distress with more faith, more purity and greater loyalty. When we understand that we only need God and no one else, the effects of resurrection will appear in us and in all our humanity. When this happens all around us shall be transfigured.

Christ is risen!
Indeed, He is risen!

Fr Georges Massouh: Arab Christians are Children of the Resurrection

Arabic original here. For the translations of passages from Theodore Abu Qurrah, I make use of the excellent translation of most of his works by John Lamoreaux, which can be purchased here.




Children of the Resurrection

For the Metropolitans of Aleppo, Boulos Yazigi and Youhanna Ibrahim

In the early part of the Islamic era, Arab Christian thinkers affirmed in debates with their Muslim counterparts that the origin of the Christian religion is not human, but divine. According to them, Christianity opposes the mentality of this world and requires its followers to renounce power and money, to be humble in the face of arrogance, and not to return evil with evil... Theodore Abu Qurrah of Edessa (d. 825), Orthodox bishop of Harran, who wrote in Arabic, deals with this question and in his essay entitled "On the Existence of God and the True Religion" presents numerous proofs for the divine origin of Christianity.

Theodore summarizes his arguments by saying that Christianity spread at the hands of twelve Jews "and, in the opinion of the Gentiles, the Jews were the most wretched and odious nation in the world. Indeed, these twelve were the most despised and lowly of those in their own nation. They had in this world neither rank nor nobility with which to entice others and make followers of them." Likewise, the Twelve "had in this world neither power nor authority nor influence, neither the ability to compel nor the power to exalt, nothing such that anyone would follow them, whether through compulsion or fear or out of a desire to be exalted through them." They were illiterate, "among them there was none who understood how to write or was possessed of worldly wisdom." They taught abstinence in all things, "permitting no one to indulge their appetites for the world, its many women, its delights, or its glories, such that people might follow them."

Those Twelve did not have anything with which to entice people to enter their new religion, but rather just the opposite. Everything in it is something that people's minds could not accept, across their various levels of learning and knowledge. What made their faith even stranger was their saying that "God sent His Son from heaven. He came to a virgin and took flesh from her. He was born from her both as God and as man... When He summoned the Jews to have faith in Him, they did not heed him. Instead, they rejected Him, they treated Him with insolence, they struck Him, they crucified Him, they killed Him, and they buried Him. After three days, He rose from the dead and ascended into heaven." This is a summary of the Good News that they brought to the entire world.

Theodore's words are true of the first three centuries of Christianity, but the facts show that Christians did not always abide by the requirements of the Gospel and their kingdoms did not measure up to Christ and His teachings. We Arab Christians, however, have not had an empire or a kingdom-- praise be to God!-- after the appearance of Islam. We have passed through difficult circumstances and periods of calm, according to the temperaments of caliphs, sultans, emirs, and governors and we have remained steadfast in our lands, by the grace of God and His blessings.

We, Muslims and Christians, are in a crippling crisis. The violence that we are witnessing between people of different religions and sects has not been seen before in history. A part of Islam has become more violent and hostile. This does not at all exculpate the existing regimes, from the Ocean to the Gulf, from their responsibility for this moral degradation, human backwardness, and religious extremism.

Nothing can discourage Arab Christians, in this time of Islamic extremism, from clinging to their lands and their faith. They are children of the Resurrection, and so necessarily children of the Cross. For this reason they will not be frightened by murder and kidnapping but rather it will make them even more resolute to remain as witnesses to better days that will doubtless come. We have, in Theodore's words, a lesson to emulate: "For this reason we believe in this religion, we accept it, and we hold fast to it. We endure the misfortunes of the world for it, for the hope that was promised to us. We die in this religion and we hope to meet the face of God in it."

Fr Touma Bitar on Remaining Firm in Times of Trial

Arabic original here.


ِAbduction and Being Snatched Away


On the 22nd of this month, our father Metropolitan Paul Yazigi of the diocese of Aleppo, along with the Syriac Orthodox bishop Youhanna Ibrahim, were kidnapped as they were returning to Aleppo from the Syrian-Turkish border. As of the time of writing this essay, there is nothing to confirm that they have been released. This has put us in a state of difficult suffering, amidst the prevalent tension and loss, in a storm that God only knows what it will bring us down to, where it will lead us.

Whatever the case may be, we are certain as Christians that we are in no way cast into the unknown, but rather we are in the hands of the Living God, in the most perfect sense! When a ship sails on calm waters, the role of the human seems most prominent, within the bounds of what he knows. The Lord God wants him to be at peace, even as it is the Most High and the Most High alone who in His love guides the ship in every situation. In general, the human's role, even though he does not know it, is to cooperate with God to the small degree, naturally, that he is capable of. In every case, the human only puts in a penny, while the Lord God puts in a thousand dollars! Anyone who thinks that there is no one in the arena but himself is blind and conceited in his blindness! But when the ship sails amidst dangerous waves, then the human's role with regard to the ship is diminished to practically nothing. The Lord God at that point desires to completely take the ship upon Himself, leaving the human, especially if he is a believer,  to cloak himself in repentance, to put on the armor of patience, to gird himself with humility, to arm himself with prayer, and to stand firm in hope: hope in God does not fail!

There is no doubt that these days we are passing through critical circumstances. Far be it for God to have abandoned us! We are the ones who abandon God, God does not abandon us! Sometimes it appears to our eyes that He has left us; but He remains with us, continually active in us, sometimes visibly and sometimes invisibly. Those who so desire are able to flee or to compromise or to give up on faith in God out of panic. There are those who will surrender to despair. In critical circumstances ,there is always a sifting! In them especially a person's faith and reliance on God become clear, or his lack of faith and lack of preparedness to submit totally to God. We do not have the right to condemn any person for what he does. Each according to his ability. Each is free to do what he wants. However, he must then realize that he will reap the fruit of what he has sown. In this way we know that in a time of trial, despite it painfulness, God will only allow it to be for the good. The believer increases in faith during difficulties. One who is lax in repentance awakes and offers fuller repentance. One who is lukewarm at prayer, his prayer comes alive and deepens. Reliance upon God becomes an inner burning for God's help and mercy. Submitting to God becomes an existential need, without which a believer cannot go on. Does believer experience the pain of the nails in his hands and feet, the burning wound in his side, and suffocation?! All of this is true. In every trial this is an inescapable reality! This is an extension of the cross of Christ embedded in our flesh! A person cannot grow in the Spirit unless he goes through this type of experience, in a little way or a big way, to a greater or lesser degree. To flee from the cross is to flee from salvation! One who has toil, striving, pain, and suffering in Christ firmly is given grace and blessing, growing in stature and increasing. One who passes his life searching after God in comfort, does not want to exert himself for the sake of the truth of the Gospel, but rather seeks something to numb the senses and remove the pain of staying firm in faith in God. He does not desire, or even is not able, to suffer out of love for God. The opportunities, capabilities, and gifts that have been given to him are taken away and he is left empty, wallowing in delusion, anxiety, and vanity. He has no faith in the Lord Jesus, only idleness and accusation, like a sounding brass or a clanging cymbal (1 Corinthians 13:1)!

To return to the topic of what we are going through these days, in these lands, we are not only of the soil of this land, not only part of the patchwork of peoples of this region, not only a constituent part of this country since the earliest times. First and before all else, we are Christ's apostles here. We extend His cross, His Spirit, His love, His word,and His presence! We are not here for ourselves. We are supposed to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world! Numerically, we are nothing. As a power, we are weaker than the rest. We are a little flock. The value and meaning of our existence here comes from our faith in the Lord Jesus. Otherwise, there is no value and no meaning to our existence. We remain here, not by chance, not because were are more clever than others, not because we are able, appropriately or inappropriately, to obtain our rights as a community. We remain here by the grace of God! If God rid His hands of us or, to better put it, if we relied on ourselves completely without God, then it would not be possible for us to endure here for a single day. We are here and we remain here because there are still among us those who bear witness to God and the means through which to bear witness to God. It is only as long as we preserve our faith in God and in God's Word that we remain. If God causes us to remain, then there is no power in the world that can wrench us from the soil of this land! If this is not our belief and our firm conviction, then woe to us! God planted us here to remain as long as He wills it. "No one can snatch them from My Father's hand," said the Lord Jesus (John 10: 29)! We were born here. We live here in Christ, and we will die here! We love everyone, or we must love everyone, but we love God more! Do we sometimes fear people? Naturally, we are human! But we fear God more and our fear of God is capable of plucking the fear of people out of our hearts! When the hour comes, the hour of facing death for His sake, we know in advance that it is out of our hands, but we know too that He can make us into giants! Will we die? We know that we shall die! What is important is that we die firm in our faith in Jesus to the end! It is better for us to die for the Lord Jesus' sake than it us for us to live for ourselves, out of love for the world!

Now, we pray to God that He safely return the two bishops. This comforts, strengthens, and makes firm, especially the faltering among us! But let us pray to God first of all that He strengthen the two bishops, wherever they are, to make them perfectly firm in faith and in bearing witness to Christ the Lord, and that He repel from them the snares, so that they will not grow weak. This is part of the battle that is not against flesh and blood, because "our struggle... is against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12).

Let the politicians work through politics to save them. This is blessed! Let each one work in his sphere, if he is able-- God's finger is in this! As for the Church, let earnest prayer come from her for their sake, just as she did for Peter when Herod seized him (Acts 12). If it is Satan's purpose to spread sorrow and despair, then it is God's purpose-- and God alone is Master of All-- is that we return to Him, that we rely on Him, and that we pray before Him!

We are on the path to the Heavenly Jerusalem. If it is God's will that we enter it through His passion, today, and not through rituals alone in the manner of "Hosanna to the Son of David. Hosanna in the highest," then blessed be the name of the Lord.

The important thing, O God, is for you to forgive us, even if we have sinned against you! To whom do we go, O Teacher? You have the words of eternal life!

Behold, He comes after the blackest of the night. Amen, our Lord!

Fr Younes Younes on the Bishops' Kidnapping

Arabic original here.

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, amen.

Beloved,

Here we are at the edge of Holy Week, when we accompany the Lord Jesus in his Passion, so that He may grant us the grace of beholding His glorious Resurrection. We began preparing a few weeks ago with fasting and prayers. But some of our brothers had a different preparation. Our brothers in Lebanon, and especially our brothers in Syria,  accompanied the Lord in His passion in expulsion, destruction, and oppression, ending in the martyrdom of blood. Despite everything, they remain firm in their faith. They are patient in trials. They are children of hope. The trial is becoming harder to bear, because there are still people who believe that if the shepherd is struck, then the flock will disperse (Mark 14:27). They proceeded to abduct Bishop Paul, shepherd of the Orthodox diocese of Aleppo, and Bishop Youhanna, shepherd of the Syriac Orthodox diocese of Aleppo. In doing this, they  conspire with Satan not only against our brothers in Aleppo, but also against the one Church in Lebanon, Syria, and the entire Middle East.

It slipped their minds that there is someone who preceded them in their sin and dared to conspire against the Good Shepherd and to crucify the Lord of Glory. He thought that the affair would end with a stone rolled over the door of the tomb. Did those who kidnapped Sayyedna Paul and Sayyedna Youhanna not learn that the Shepherd was struck but the sheep were not scattered, since they were established on the rock of faith? That the Shepherd was crucified and His Church was born from His pierced side? That the Shepherd was buried, but rose victorious over death?

Our brothers in Aleppo, our brothers in the entire Middle East, you are children of hope. You are children of the Resurrection. If you are faithful unto death, then the One who was dead and came back to life will give you the crown of life (Revelation 2:8 and 10).

Beloved Sayyedna Paul, we are not frightened by what is happening and we do not fear for you. You come from the way of life of the desert-dwellers, those who soar with divine love. Nothing frightens them except sin. How can we fear, when your love for God has made us disciples and we have learned from you that "Jesus being lifted up on the wood is a prefiguration of ourselves being lifted up as His disciples. When the disciple of Jesus looks at his Lord being crucified, he relies with Him on the likeness of His death and resurrection. When a brave soldier sees his leader wounded in war, he throws himself into battle even more fiercely" (Metropolitan Paul Yazigi, Safar al-Kalima, vol. 3, p. 8).

How can we fear, when you say, "Life and death are happiness, when near God, and Hell when defying Him. Death is a word and a fiction. There is death for the body, which we will get back glorified. Death does not exist. Thus, eternal life begins here" (Metropolitan Paul Yazigi, Safar al-Kalima, vol. 1, p. 145).

We only fear that we will not remain faithful to the Word of God. We rejoice to be among "the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple. And He who sits on the throne will dwell among them. They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat; for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes" (Revelation 7:14-17). Amen.

Let us pray for our father Metropolitan Paul, shepherd of the Orthodox diocese of Aleppo, and for Metropolitan Youhanna, shepherd of the Syriac Orthodox diocese of Aleppo, who were kidnapped, in the hope that they will be safely returned to their flocks.

Patriarch John X's Pastoral Letter for Palm Sunday

Downloadable here, in pdf.Official translation.

 Pastoral Letter

With God's mercy

JOHN X

Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East

To my brethren, the shepherds of the Holy Church of Antioch

and my children throughout the Holy and Apostolic See

I address you today at the end of Great Lent and the beginning of Holy Week, and at a time when we are being surrounded by much pain and suffering. Throughout our Antiochian lands, danger threatens our homes, and political conflicts storm our countries. As a result, man's livelihood, dwelling, and even life are at risk. We are tried every day by death or abduction, and our latest plight is the recent kidnapping of our beloved brothers, Bishop Paul Yazigi, Greek Orthodox Metropolitan of Aleppo, Iskenderun, and dependencies, and Bishop John Ibrahim, Syriac Orthodox Metropolitan of Aleppo, and the killing of the Deacon who was accompanying them.

I share the pain felt by a large number of believers in our Church as a result of these difficult circumstances. I strive with my brothers, the members of the Holy Synod, to lessen the impact of these conditions on our faithful and all citizens. This is an essential part of our Christian witness. We, however, refuse to accept what man is undergoing today. We are working in that our rejection of this situation reflects the tenets of our beliefs. We reject this situation and condemn it. Since we are children of the Resurrection, we are not afraid of whoever takes violence to achieve his purpose. To be killed, or kidnapped, or to have our institutions destroyed, will not change our resolve to uphold our civil life and our co-existence; to cling to our homeland and to seek the reign of justice and rights in our homelands. Therefore, each and every one of us, whether in the Antiochian motherlands or abroad, is invited to express his concern and personal rejection of the recent course of events, aside from any political realignment. Humanity is the object of Christianity, for our Lord was incarnate for our salvation.

I take this opportunity to extend, on your behalf, in the motherlands and abroad, an appeal to the international community, urging it to do everything it can toward the release of hostages whose absence affects us deeply. The speedy closure of this issue is extremely important in order to avert the risk of terrible consequences that would follow. Our appeal also includes an urgent call for action in order to find a quick solution to the situation in our beloved Syria; for the salvation of the people who are the descendants of an outstanding human civilization of thousands of years, and in order to prevent the risky consequences that could affect the entire region.

    My beloved children,

As we are entering the time of the Holy Passion and Resurrection of our Lord, I invite you to reveal the unity of our Church who fervently gathers Her flock in all that is right and just. In this time, let us exceptionally intensify our prayers and supplications. Just as our Lord was not afraid to walk on the path of Calvary; in the same way we are invited to walk with Him along this path, being fully aware that by the Cross we shall conquer, because the Lord is risen from the dead and He will raise us with Him. Let us intensify our petitions as a living testimony, asking God to remove all injustice, praying for the quick return of our abducted hierarchs to their beloved ones, for the comfort of the bereaved, and for the deterrence of those people with cruel hearts, so that they may be inspired to refrain from harming their fellow human beings.

Therefore I call on everyone, faithful and clergy, to approach Palm Sunday with a new spirit, remembering the Passion of our Lord and connecting it with what we are living today. Let the Resurrection occur in every human heart, as the Lord has raised Lazarus from the dead. Let us work to have Christ triumphantly enter into the world's heart through our service and ministry, as He entered victoriously to Jerusalem. Let our processions be this year with candles tied with black ribbons, chanting the hymn "To Thee O Champion Leader...," instead of "Rejoice O Bethany...," asking the Virgin Mary to keep our Church as a fortified city.

I urge you to pray throughout this Holy Week with a broken spirit, being aware that in our trials, we have God as our refuge. God will not overlook His little flock. May love, service, and courage be the gateway to the joy of the Resurrection, a joy that cannot be taken away.

Issued at the Patriarchal Residence in the Monastery of Our Lady of Balamand, on April 27, 2013 

al-Akhbar on the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister's Visit to Beirut

Arabic original here.



"Prince Vladimir's" Emissary forms the "Russian Party"

by Ghassan Saoud


Who loves Russia more than the member of the Orthodox Gathering Samir Naima? He has transferred his whispers from the ear of Cain to that of Abel (or vice-versa), in transferring from the political machine of the candidate for the Orthodox seat in Ashrafiya Michel Toueini to the machine of his brother and candidate for the same seat, Nicholas Toueini. "Nicholas is more honorable," they say in Ashrafiya. 

Naima intones, "Russia, you are our holy country... Russia you are our beloved country... You are an ancient union for brother-nations." As soon as the Russian national anthem ended, the competition began: the president of the Orthodox Scouting Association, Elias Hasbani, loves Russia, naturally as does the president of the Lebanese Greek Orthodox League, Nicholas Ghulam. All those who found it difficult to get up from their chairs on account of their old age were the "League". Not to forget Nicholas Toueini, who yesterday defined himself as the representative of the Orthodox families of Beirut, who does not forget the Russian czar's standing with his forefathers against the Ottomans in 1904 and against the Turkish massacres in the region. As for the president of the municipality of Amioun, Jirji Barakat, he does not mention Russia without following it with the adjective "the great": "Russia the great has not ceased for a day to love the people of Lebanon." Aside from the municipal council of Amioun, Barakat heads the "Imperial Lebanese Cultural Association" and expends more sweat than anyone just thinking about monetary proceeds for the Russian spiritual intentions of reviving the "Imperial Russian Society", which was concerned with countering Ottoman political and educational influence in the region. At the invitation of "Orthodox associations" to a meeting with the Russian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Mikhail Bogdanov, the Russian embassy in Beirut has done something unprecedented in terms of sectarian activity that no other embassy has done. The date of the meeting, at the beginning of Bogdanov's visit, which goes until this coming Sunday morning, indicates its importance for the embassy, noting that the only invited group that was absent, under the pretext that they do not participate in political gatherings.

In his speech, Bogdanov revealed aspects of Russian policy and diplomacy that had been hidden for many: "I am the Russian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and at the same time I am the deputy of the Imperial Orthodox Palestinian Society." This makes clear the weight of the connections between the Russian political position and the feeling of this group of Russian diplomats of a religious duty that requires them to turn to the Middle East. The society, which was founded in 1882, was concerned with countering Ottoman influence in Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, and Jordan, as the Russian Empire was awakened to the danger of Ottoman influence in this region. However, it withdrew when the of the French and British mandates took control over these countries, and it was practically dissolved during the days of the Soviet Union. Today, however, it is under the leadership of former Russian Prime Minister Sergei Stepashin, who is now the chairman of the Accounts Chamber of Russia, and his statements give the impression that "regaining what Russia has lost" in the region is a national duty.

In a statement that Bogdanov addressed to those present, "We are joined by a unity of faith and a unity of purpose and vision." The majority of those present do not understand the Russian language that the the Russian functionary spoke. However some of them, such as Nicholas Ghulam, Salah Rustum, and Gabriel Harmouch nodded their heads in agreement with what he was saying even before it was translated for them. When the translator made an error, Bogdanov corrected him, amidst the laughter of the audience. In the speech, the former Russian ambassador to South Yemen, Lebanon, Syria, and Occupied Palestine noted the worry in Russian society (first) and the Church (second) and leadership (third, in his enumeration) about the kidnapping of the two bishops in Syria. He promised to relay what he heard to his leaders in order to convince them to strengthen bonds, not only between Lebanese organizations and their Russian counterparts, or between the organizations and the Church, but also between the organizations and the diplomatic apparatus.

In the hotel overlooking the Bay of Saint George, a Roman military leader that the Orthodox Church considers to be one of her chief saints, it was clear that Russian diplomacy should be numbered as one of the pillars of Russian influence in the region, in addition to the military apparatus in Syria. In the opinion one of observer, there are many friendships between Russia and Lebanon, but the Russian state is no longer content to support its relations through a party that owes ultimate allegiance to a regional state or to another state. It must have a special group that understands Russian interests very well and that works to deal with them by applying the Russian line first and last. They are Orthodox interests before anything else, based on fear of an Islamic blockade around Moscow.

In that hall at the Phoenicia, the characteristics of the "Russian party" in Lebanon became clear, after the characteristics of the other parties had already been known: Saudi, Iranian, Syrian, and American. It became clear that there are two chief forces that Russia can count on, the Party of the Levant, which is a group of young activists led by Rodrigue Khoury recalling the Orthodox Youth Movement of fifty years ago; and the Orthodox Gathering, which includes the majority of Orthodox former ministers and deputies, among whom Nicholas Saba plays the role of secretary-general. Khoury grabbed the first photo-opportunity, by entering the hall accompanying Bogdanov, without it being known whether this was coincidental or if he had really arrived with him. The second photo-opportunity was taken by Saba, when he embraced the Russian guest and gave him an icon of his patron, the Archangel Michael, who bears in his right hand the sword of justice and in his left hand the whole world. In his speech, Saba recalled the long history of Christian-Muslim coexistence in this region, bringing up "the Islam of tolerance, mercy, and love." In contrast to others who were content with generalities and flattery, Saba defined the requests of the Gathering: scholarships for Lebanese University students in Russia, support for relations between the Russian and Antiochian Orthodox Churches, encouraging the Russian state to purchase substantial land in Beirut a major Russian church educational facility. As for Khoury, he distinguished himself from the other speakers by his calm voice, precise expression, and looking up from his papers to make eye-contact with Bogdanov. Khoury recalled the spread of Orthodoxy in Russia, after "Michael the Syrian" in the year 988 convinced "Prince Vladimir" of it and he thanked "Vladimir the Russian" for sending in the year 2013 "Michael the Russian" to the Middle East. Khoury outidid himself and all the others in his courtship of the Russian embassy by recalling the testimony of a Russian visitor to Lebanon in 1896: "The love of the residents and their children for Russia almost reaches the point of madness. There are children who start to cry if anyone curses the Russians in front of them," without making it clear whether this Russian was distributing money or sitting behind a canon so that "the residents and children" would love him that much. After that, Khoury took a half-step back, making eye-contact with Bogdanov, and said, "Beloved, we here are the sons and grandsons of those children.  It is up to you to assess how we have grown up and what collective memory we bear." The Russian ambassador and the Deputy Foreign Minister were almost crying, they were so strongly affected. As for Ferzli's tears, they were ready to confirm Khoury's words: curse the Russians and you will make the former deputy prime minister cry.
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 And from an-Nahar, here.

Bogdanov after his meeting with Audi: We will work to free the two bishops

After his meeting with Metropolitan Elias Audi, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov declared: "We are greatly affected by the His Eminence's assessment of what is occurring in the region, especially with regard to the situation of the Christian community. These problems raise the concern of Russian citizens and Orthodox Church circles... We in the Russian political leadership seek to strengthen the bonds that tie us to the Christian communities in the Middle East." Bogdanov condemned the kidnapping of the two bishops, affirming that "we will make the utmost effort to learn the fate of the two bishops and to secure their release."