Friday, October 31, 2014
Wednesday, October 29, 2014
Patriarch John X's Words at the Divine Liturgy in Athens on October 26, 2014
Arabic original here.
The Words of Patriarch John X at the Divine Liturgy on October 26, 2014 in Athens, Greece
Your Beatitude,
Your Eminences,
"Christ is with us and among us." I say this today, beloved, greeting in you, Your Beatitude, every brother in the Church of Greece. I say this greeting your kind people. As I say this, two phrases are intertwined in my mind: "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" and "in whom we live and move and have our being." "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" is well-known to the walls of Damascus, whose street called straight I come to you from. It was known to the Great City of God, Antioch, where the name "Christian" was first uttered. This phrase was engraved deeply in Saul's soul, transforming him into Paul. The spirit of Christ pulsed within him and he arrived here to Greece to bring the people of Athens the good news of their unknown God. He proclaimed His good news in words held by the ears of the Acropolis. He proclaimed the good news of Jesus, "in whom we live and move and have our being." I do not feel myself to be a stranger here, since I am, as my predecessor Elias IV of thrice-blessed memory said, "in the second church established by the Apostle Paul after the Church of Antioch."
I come to you from Cilicia, which gave us the divine Paul, from the Antioch of Peter and Paul, from the country of Ignatius the God-Bearer, Theophilus and Chrysostom. I come to you from Damascus, which was baptized by Ananias and enlightened by John Damascene. I come to you from Seidnaya which borders heaven and from Maaloula, adopted daughter of Saint Thekla. I come to you from the Beirut of the Apostle Quartus and from Sidon where Jesus visited. I come to you from Aleppo, from the shadow of Simeon's pillar. I come to you from the Homs of Elian and Romanos the Melodist. I come to you from the lands that gave us the saint of repentance, Ephrem the Syrian. All of this is to say that we in Antioch bear the glory of Jesus' Church and we continue to bear it, despite all the difficulties, through the power of our faith in God, our hope in Him, the through the help and support of you, our brothers.
Yes, beloved, I also come to you bearing Antioch's agonies, agonies of people in Syria who demand a life with dignity. A people who are being killed and expelled from their homes. Their children are forced to flee into places without shelter. Their homes, churches and mosques are destroyed. Their children are starving and patients are dying on account of the exorbitant cost of medicine or the lack of care. A crucified people, greatly suffering from terrorism and takfirism. A people yearning-- and they have the right to yearn-- to return to safety first, and then to return to their homes. A people fearing for their fate and for the future of their children.
I come to you with a candle lit for Lebanon, which suffers under this Middle East's cross of misery. I come to you from Iraq, which has suffered and is suffering horrors. We bury all the horrors of this world at Golgotha, at the cross of our Lord. We cover them with the stone of His empty tomb. We forget all obstacles when we remember that our ancestors have been there for two thousand years and that their descendants remain there and shall remain there.
Because I bear the glory and the agony of Antioch, this qualifies me to say that Christians are an essential element of the identity and history of the Middle East. Without them, this region not only loses its identity, but also the particular quality of its cultural existence. This leads me to affirm that the bells of our churches, which have hung from time immemorial, will continue to ring in harmony with the mosques' call to prayer and the teachings of other religions. We Christians of this land were planted here and are rooted like the ceders in Lebanon. We shall remain like the olive trees of the Mount of Olives. There we were born and there we shall remain. We hold its soil to our breast when we depart for eternal life. Therefore, the exodus of Christians from the Middle East is the Middle East's exodus from it own history and being. Their estrangement from it is its estrangement from itself. My message here to the entire world is: stopping the hemorrhaging of Christians in the Middle East depends on efforts to establish peace there. The entire international community and governments must play the role needed of them in order to bring peace, stop acts of terrorism against unarmed civilians and obtain the release of those who have been abducted, especially Metropolitans Yuhanna Ibrahim and Paul Yazigi, who were kidnapped more than a year and a half ago amidst a terrifying international silence and commitment to interests at the expense of commitment to humanity.
Between Antioch and Athens there is brotherhood of faith and bonds of history. Between them the logic of debt melts away and is replaced by the logic of sincere, mutually-supportive brotherhood. I have known you personally, Your Beatitude, and I have known in you a dear brother who visited our Church and our homes at a time when many were leaving them during the last days of Patriarch Ignatius. I knew your predecessors Christophoros and Seraphim of thrice-blessed memory. I received my theological education in your country and I lived in its monasteries, where I saw how theology is kneaded with the leaven of humility and becomes incarnate as love and prayer. The Church of Greece has given much to the Church of Antioch. She has welcomed many of our children, opening to them the doors of her institutes and universities and graduating from them priests and bishops to pastor Christ's people in their lands. The Church of Greece has especially accompanied Antiochian Orthodoxy's entrance into the modern era. Balamand is the best evidence for this. The Institute of Theology was launched in 1970 and Antioch benefited from Greek expertise, entrusting leadership of the Institute to Metropolitan Pandeleimon Rhodopoulos. The Saint John of Damascus Institute of Theology was tied to the Church of Greece which supported it with her best professors and with Greek language programs. The Greek government also contributed, granting our students the opportunity to come to study theology in the language of the fathers. All of this qualifies us to say that that which unites us to Greece as a country and people is a yearning for apostolic zeal for one, Catholic Orthodox faith, where ethnicities melt in the crucible of Orthodoxy and where different languages and customs are interwoven before the Eucharistic table and its Lord who spoke to us in the language of love, which is poured out upon the pages of His Gospel, which used the language of the time, Greek, to make a home for the Lord in people's hearts.
Brothers, at the level of Orthodoxy, we stand before a great test, the Great Orthodox Council that is to be held in two years. Because we desire the success of this council, we will say that it is important to us that this council issue decisions that go beyond the ordering of sees. It is important to us that it touch on issues of life and faith that not only theologians and researchers-- with all the respect that we have for them all-- but as many segments of society as possible. It is important to us that the council be an embodiment of what we call Orthodoxy. For this reason we are careful to resolve all the disagreements that might prevent brothers from sitting down together, perhaps the most serious of which being the issue of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem's intervention in Qatar and their sending an "archbishop" into Antiochian territory. It is important to us that the council address an issue that is no less important than anything else on the agendas, the issue of Middle Eastern Christianity, which has come to the forefront after the changes that occurred in 2011 in the so-called "Arab Spring". Why must we always watch history as observers instead of acting in it, especially when Orthodoxy in our days is not without strength? Let us go back a hundred years and look at what happened to the demographics of the four Orthodox patriarchates of Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem. Do the last hundred years and the events of the past three years not call for putting ways to secure Christians in their first homes as the first item on the agenda of the Great Council? Here we are not thinking of worldly glory, since we have no lasting home. However, we have an identity and it must remain.
The success of this council is a single Orthodox witness in today's world. This witness is also the first brick of Christian witness in today's world. We in Antioch are Greek Orthodoxy's gateway to the non-Chalcedonian Churches. What brings us together with these churches is greater than what separates us. We hope and we constantly work so that everyone will come to understand that the logic of geography, history and present theological reality make it imperative for us to draw closer together and actively strive to eliminate all the dross of history. The Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch is also Orthodoxy's gateway to the Arab and Islamic world on account of factors of history, geography and language. This gateway is part of the great Orthodox body whose head is Christ and whose heart is the faith passed down to us by His pure Apostles.
In my name and in the name of the delegation accompanying me, I would like to address greetings to President Karolos Papoulias and to Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, lifting up my prayer to the Lord that He will bless their efforts for the good of Greece.
In closing, I thank you, Your Beatitude, and I pray with you for Greece, which is so dear to our hearts. May God remove every distress from this good people and may He crown your efforts in the service of the people of this country with success. We ask you, in the words of Saint Ignatius of Antioch to "pray for the church that is in Antioch and that is watched over by Christ and your love." We ask God most high to send His peace to hearts and to give us an opportunity to welcome you to Syria and Lebanon.
And, once more, Christ is with us and among us. He was, He is and He shall be.
The Words of Patriarch John X at the Divine Liturgy on October 26, 2014 in Athens, Greece
Your Beatitude,
Your Eminences,
"Christ is with us and among us." I say this today, beloved, greeting in you, Your Beatitude, every brother in the Church of Greece. I say this greeting your kind people. As I say this, two phrases are intertwined in my mind: "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" and "in whom we live and move and have our being." "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" is well-known to the walls of Damascus, whose street called straight I come to you from. It was known to the Great City of God, Antioch, where the name "Christian" was first uttered. This phrase was engraved deeply in Saul's soul, transforming him into Paul. The spirit of Christ pulsed within him and he arrived here to Greece to bring the people of Athens the good news of their unknown God. He proclaimed His good news in words held by the ears of the Acropolis. He proclaimed the good news of Jesus, "in whom we live and move and have our being." I do not feel myself to be a stranger here, since I am, as my predecessor Elias IV of thrice-blessed memory said, "in the second church established by the Apostle Paul after the Church of Antioch."
I come to you from Cilicia, which gave us the divine Paul, from the Antioch of Peter and Paul, from the country of Ignatius the God-Bearer, Theophilus and Chrysostom. I come to you from Damascus, which was baptized by Ananias and enlightened by John Damascene. I come to you from Seidnaya which borders heaven and from Maaloula, adopted daughter of Saint Thekla. I come to you from the Beirut of the Apostle Quartus and from Sidon where Jesus visited. I come to you from Aleppo, from the shadow of Simeon's pillar. I come to you from the Homs of Elian and Romanos the Melodist. I come to you from the lands that gave us the saint of repentance, Ephrem the Syrian. All of this is to say that we in Antioch bear the glory of Jesus' Church and we continue to bear it, despite all the difficulties, through the power of our faith in God, our hope in Him, the through the help and support of you, our brothers.
Yes, beloved, I also come to you bearing Antioch's agonies, agonies of people in Syria who demand a life with dignity. A people who are being killed and expelled from their homes. Their children are forced to flee into places without shelter. Their homes, churches and mosques are destroyed. Their children are starving and patients are dying on account of the exorbitant cost of medicine or the lack of care. A crucified people, greatly suffering from terrorism and takfirism. A people yearning-- and they have the right to yearn-- to return to safety first, and then to return to their homes. A people fearing for their fate and for the future of their children.
I come to you with a candle lit for Lebanon, which suffers under this Middle East's cross of misery. I come to you from Iraq, which has suffered and is suffering horrors. We bury all the horrors of this world at Golgotha, at the cross of our Lord. We cover them with the stone of His empty tomb. We forget all obstacles when we remember that our ancestors have been there for two thousand years and that their descendants remain there and shall remain there.
Because I bear the glory and the agony of Antioch, this qualifies me to say that Christians are an essential element of the identity and history of the Middle East. Without them, this region not only loses its identity, but also the particular quality of its cultural existence. This leads me to affirm that the bells of our churches, which have hung from time immemorial, will continue to ring in harmony with the mosques' call to prayer and the teachings of other religions. We Christians of this land were planted here and are rooted like the ceders in Lebanon. We shall remain like the olive trees of the Mount of Olives. There we were born and there we shall remain. We hold its soil to our breast when we depart for eternal life. Therefore, the exodus of Christians from the Middle East is the Middle East's exodus from it own history and being. Their estrangement from it is its estrangement from itself. My message here to the entire world is: stopping the hemorrhaging of Christians in the Middle East depends on efforts to establish peace there. The entire international community and governments must play the role needed of them in order to bring peace, stop acts of terrorism against unarmed civilians and obtain the release of those who have been abducted, especially Metropolitans Yuhanna Ibrahim and Paul Yazigi, who were kidnapped more than a year and a half ago amidst a terrifying international silence and commitment to interests at the expense of commitment to humanity.
Between Antioch and Athens there is brotherhood of faith and bonds of history. Between them the logic of debt melts away and is replaced by the logic of sincere, mutually-supportive brotherhood. I have known you personally, Your Beatitude, and I have known in you a dear brother who visited our Church and our homes at a time when many were leaving them during the last days of Patriarch Ignatius. I knew your predecessors Christophoros and Seraphim of thrice-blessed memory. I received my theological education in your country and I lived in its monasteries, where I saw how theology is kneaded with the leaven of humility and becomes incarnate as love and prayer. The Church of Greece has given much to the Church of Antioch. She has welcomed many of our children, opening to them the doors of her institutes and universities and graduating from them priests and bishops to pastor Christ's people in their lands. The Church of Greece has especially accompanied Antiochian Orthodoxy's entrance into the modern era. Balamand is the best evidence for this. The Institute of Theology was launched in 1970 and Antioch benefited from Greek expertise, entrusting leadership of the Institute to Metropolitan Pandeleimon Rhodopoulos. The Saint John of Damascus Institute of Theology was tied to the Church of Greece which supported it with her best professors and with Greek language programs. The Greek government also contributed, granting our students the opportunity to come to study theology in the language of the fathers. All of this qualifies us to say that that which unites us to Greece as a country and people is a yearning for apostolic zeal for one, Catholic Orthodox faith, where ethnicities melt in the crucible of Orthodoxy and where different languages and customs are interwoven before the Eucharistic table and its Lord who spoke to us in the language of love, which is poured out upon the pages of His Gospel, which used the language of the time, Greek, to make a home for the Lord in people's hearts.
Brothers, at the level of Orthodoxy, we stand before a great test, the Great Orthodox Council that is to be held in two years. Because we desire the success of this council, we will say that it is important to us that this council issue decisions that go beyond the ordering of sees. It is important to us that it touch on issues of life and faith that not only theologians and researchers-- with all the respect that we have for them all-- but as many segments of society as possible. It is important to us that the council be an embodiment of what we call Orthodoxy. For this reason we are careful to resolve all the disagreements that might prevent brothers from sitting down together, perhaps the most serious of which being the issue of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem's intervention in Qatar and their sending an "archbishop" into Antiochian territory. It is important to us that the council address an issue that is no less important than anything else on the agendas, the issue of Middle Eastern Christianity, which has come to the forefront after the changes that occurred in 2011 in the so-called "Arab Spring". Why must we always watch history as observers instead of acting in it, especially when Orthodoxy in our days is not without strength? Let us go back a hundred years and look at what happened to the demographics of the four Orthodox patriarchates of Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem. Do the last hundred years and the events of the past three years not call for putting ways to secure Christians in their first homes as the first item on the agenda of the Great Council? Here we are not thinking of worldly glory, since we have no lasting home. However, we have an identity and it must remain.
The success of this council is a single Orthodox witness in today's world. This witness is also the first brick of Christian witness in today's world. We in Antioch are Greek Orthodoxy's gateway to the non-Chalcedonian Churches. What brings us together with these churches is greater than what separates us. We hope and we constantly work so that everyone will come to understand that the logic of geography, history and present theological reality make it imperative for us to draw closer together and actively strive to eliminate all the dross of history. The Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch is also Orthodoxy's gateway to the Arab and Islamic world on account of factors of history, geography and language. This gateway is part of the great Orthodox body whose head is Christ and whose heart is the faith passed down to us by His pure Apostles.
In my name and in the name of the delegation accompanying me, I would like to address greetings to President Karolos Papoulias and to Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, lifting up my prayer to the Lord that He will bless their efforts for the good of Greece.
In closing, I thank you, Your Beatitude, and I pray with you for Greece, which is so dear to our hearts. May God remove every distress from this good people and may He crown your efforts in the service of the people of this country with success. We ask you, in the words of Saint Ignatius of Antioch to "pray for the church that is in Antioch and that is watched over by Christ and your love." We ask God most high to send His peace to hearts and to give us an opportunity to welcome you to Syria and Lebanon.
And, once more, Christ is with us and among us. He was, He is and He shall be.
Fr Georges Massouh: When Our Religions Enslave Us
Arabic original here.
When Our Religions Enslave Us
Religious people in general all agree that religions were founded for man, not man for religions. Man is the summit of creation and the noblest of creatures, God created him "in his image and likeness", made him His "vicegerent on earth" and entrusted him with the entire world.
Let us also not forget that man existed for millions of years before the appearance of religions. Man alone, among all the visible creatures, has been promised eternal life by God. Everything will pass away, say the religions, and nothing will remain except for God and those humans He has chosen to live in His presence forever. Then, even the religions, laws and commandments will pass away, because in the presence of God they are pointless.
Nevertheless, historical realities are not so glorious as the intentions of foundational texts and theological theories. History shows us how concepts have been turned on their head. Instead of being the central point of concern for those in charge of religions, man has become a pliable tool in the hands of religious decision-makers. They have exploited religious sentiments among their followers and manipulated them, under the guise of defending religion, in the service of their political or military alliances with the princes of this world.
Religions, which were founded in principle for the service of man, make man their servant when they transform into ideologies that must be defended at any price. The conflicts that we have seen over the course of history until today have religion as their basic motivating force, under whose banners wars have been waged between nations or within a single country.
In all these wars, man has been crushed in the name of religions. Instead of being master over creation, like God intended, he became a servant to his religious institution through its clergy, jurists, priests and leaders. Man has become a slave to his sheikh and his teacher, like a disciple who has no will of his own, like a ring on the finger of his master. Man became the means instead of the end. Man's death for the sake of religion is the end and it came to no longer be the case that the end is life for man's sake.
As for us Lebanese, we are not different from this description. People are provoked over time in order to protect the honor of the sect or religion. The sect's glory or the religion's honor deserve to have lives sacrificed for their sake. Instead of God being the object of veneration and worship, the religious sect takes God's place. Shirk is not only when one takes another god besides God. Shirk is also when sect or dogma becomes an object of worship alongside God. God created man free, but man enslaves himself of his own will to his religion and its dogmas.
Man is in a state of idolatry, in a state of slavery. He can only be saved from it by reconsidering reason, something praised by all religious texts. Instead of reason, ignorance and superstition prevail. Instead of building the future, the return to a distant past prevails, and the evocation of conflicts.
If religious discourse remains as it is today, inflammatory and divisive for the sake of boosting religions or sects, then people will lose more and more of their humanity that God created them with. Religions will not have any true meaning if people are not liberated from worshiping them and religion does not return to God alone who has no partner.
When Our Religions Enslave Us
Religious people in general all agree that religions were founded for man, not man for religions. Man is the summit of creation and the noblest of creatures, God created him "in his image and likeness", made him His "vicegerent on earth" and entrusted him with the entire world.
Let us also not forget that man existed for millions of years before the appearance of religions. Man alone, among all the visible creatures, has been promised eternal life by God. Everything will pass away, say the religions, and nothing will remain except for God and those humans He has chosen to live in His presence forever. Then, even the religions, laws and commandments will pass away, because in the presence of God they are pointless.
Nevertheless, historical realities are not so glorious as the intentions of foundational texts and theological theories. History shows us how concepts have been turned on their head. Instead of being the central point of concern for those in charge of religions, man has become a pliable tool in the hands of religious decision-makers. They have exploited religious sentiments among their followers and manipulated them, under the guise of defending religion, in the service of their political or military alliances with the princes of this world.
Religions, which were founded in principle for the service of man, make man their servant when they transform into ideologies that must be defended at any price. The conflicts that we have seen over the course of history until today have religion as their basic motivating force, under whose banners wars have been waged between nations or within a single country.
In all these wars, man has been crushed in the name of religions. Instead of being master over creation, like God intended, he became a servant to his religious institution through its clergy, jurists, priests and leaders. Man has become a slave to his sheikh and his teacher, like a disciple who has no will of his own, like a ring on the finger of his master. Man became the means instead of the end. Man's death for the sake of religion is the end and it came to no longer be the case that the end is life for man's sake.
As for us Lebanese, we are not different from this description. People are provoked over time in order to protect the honor of the sect or religion. The sect's glory or the religion's honor deserve to have lives sacrificed for their sake. Instead of God being the object of veneration and worship, the religious sect takes God's place. Shirk is not only when one takes another god besides God. Shirk is also when sect or dogma becomes an object of worship alongside God. God created man free, but man enslaves himself of his own will to his religion and its dogmas.
Man is in a state of idolatry, in a state of slavery. He can only be saved from it by reconsidering reason, something praised by all religious texts. Instead of reason, ignorance and superstition prevail. Instead of building the future, the return to a distant past prevails, and the evocation of conflicts.
If religious discourse remains as it is today, inflammatory and divisive for the sake of boosting religions or sects, then people will lose more and more of their humanity that God created them with. Religions will not have any true meaning if people are not liberated from worshiping them and religion does not return to God alone who has no partner.
Monday, October 27, 2014
An Interview with Patriarch John X in Greece
Greek original here.
Patriarch of Antioch: "The Jihadists are a Foreign Body"
Interview with Maria Antoniades | VIMA
In his interview with VIMA, Patriarch John of Antioch highlighted the necessity of international mobilization for peace in the Middle East and the release of the two bishops of Aleppo who were kidnapped 18 months ago on the Turkish-Syrian border. The primate of the Church of Antioch, based in Damascus, lives these tragic circumstances every day and characterizes the two kidnapped bishops as "apostles of peace." Even more tragic is that the drama of the kidnapping takes place within his family, as one of the two abducted hierarchs is not only his spiritual brother, but his brother according to the flesh. "They do not frighten us," he stressed and expressed his love for the Greeks shortly before his meeting with Prime Minister Antonis Samaras. Patriarch John, who has been on an official visit to the Church of Greece last Thursday as part of the customary eirenical visits as a new primate, is having ongoing meetings with with Archbishop Ieronymos and in the coming days will visit Mount Athos, where he lived during his studies in Greece.
Your Beatitude, you are coming from the most troubled region in the world right now. What is the situation of the Christians in the Middle East?
First, I want to express all the love, joy and honor I feel to be in Greece. We in the Patriarchate of Antioch, in Syria, Lebanon and Iraq, throughout the region, as you know we very much love Greece and the Greek people and we wish you the best. Greece is a beloved place for us. We are living in very difficult conditions. Particularly in Syria, churches, mosques, shrines and monasteries have been destroyed, but our faithful Orthodox Christians remain there. They still live there. We are about 1.5 million Christians in Syria, where we live in every city. And we are living normally, despite the difficulties. We bear them and hope that this cloud will pass as quickly as possible.
Two tears ago, when leaders of the Patriarchate of Antioch stated that the jihadists have nothing to do with the tradition of Islam in the Middle East, many people listened attentively to these statements.
It is a foreign spirit. There was never such a spirit in Syria or in Lebanon. Sadly, this phenomenon has come from outside and certain major powers bear some responsibility for this. This extremist phenomenon, which has reached the point of them killing each other in God's name, had never existed. It is not accepted by anyone. Neither do Muslims accept it.
Do the Muslims also have problems?
Everyone has. Syria has, Lebanon has. All inhabitants do. All the population, Christians and Muslims. And we as a Patriarchate, you know, we always say that we come from these places. We were born there. Our fathers were there and our grandfathers. We were there before Islam, together with Islam and after Islam. We always say that we all have a common history and a common future. Whatever happens to one happens to the other. For this reason we stress that we all belong to the same country. We have the same rights, every Christian and every Muslim. And you know that in Syria, the Christian feasts, Easter and Christmas, are official holidays...
Those people are fanatics. They are a foreign body. We as a Patriarchate tell the truth. There are special interests. If something happens to an Israeli soldier, then the whole world rises up, but if there are other victims, then there is silence...
Your Beatitude, you have a brother who...
There is my brother and another bishop. Two bishops from Aleppo who were kidnapped a year and a half ago and the whole world keeps silent. They don't know anything, they say. No country says what is happening. Who knows about this story! Both are lost.
At the same time, we are all talking about human rights. Where are people's rights when you do not speak out? When do you not say a single word about such an issue? And if there are some people who think that such an event will frighten us Christians because they are kidnapping and disappearing our bishops, our priests and members of the Christian communities, they should know that these threats do not frighten us.
Orthodox nuns were also kidnapped.
After six months they were released and returned to the monastery.
What moved you about what they experienced?
These things are not spoken of. They are a matter of monastics' confession to their pastor.
Your Beatitude, what would you wish, how do you see the future of Christians from now on?
We always have hope. We remain standing and strong despite the trials. We do not want to repeat what happened in Iraq, where the Christians slowly started to disappear. Where there had lived 1.5 million Christians, today 300,000 live in the country.
I understand from what you are saying to VIMA, you want an international mobilization to protect the Christians in the Middle East and rescue the two bishops.
This is the main thing that must be done. We need help and support. The two hierarchs are apostles of peace and we hope that their physical condition is good and that we will be together soon.
Patriarch of Antioch: "The Jihadists are a Foreign Body"
Interview with Maria Antoniades | VIMA
In his interview with VIMA, Patriarch John of Antioch highlighted the necessity of international mobilization for peace in the Middle East and the release of the two bishops of Aleppo who were kidnapped 18 months ago on the Turkish-Syrian border. The primate of the Church of Antioch, based in Damascus, lives these tragic circumstances every day and characterizes the two kidnapped bishops as "apostles of peace." Even more tragic is that the drama of the kidnapping takes place within his family, as one of the two abducted hierarchs is not only his spiritual brother, but his brother according to the flesh. "They do not frighten us," he stressed and expressed his love for the Greeks shortly before his meeting with Prime Minister Antonis Samaras. Patriarch John, who has been on an official visit to the Church of Greece last Thursday as part of the customary eirenical visits as a new primate, is having ongoing meetings with with Archbishop Ieronymos and in the coming days will visit Mount Athos, where he lived during his studies in Greece.
Your Beatitude, you are coming from the most troubled region in the world right now. What is the situation of the Christians in the Middle East?
First, I want to express all the love, joy and honor I feel to be in Greece. We in the Patriarchate of Antioch, in Syria, Lebanon and Iraq, throughout the region, as you know we very much love Greece and the Greek people and we wish you the best. Greece is a beloved place for us. We are living in very difficult conditions. Particularly in Syria, churches, mosques, shrines and monasteries have been destroyed, but our faithful Orthodox Christians remain there. They still live there. We are about 1.5 million Christians in Syria, where we live in every city. And we are living normally, despite the difficulties. We bear them and hope that this cloud will pass as quickly as possible.
Two tears ago, when leaders of the Patriarchate of Antioch stated that the jihadists have nothing to do with the tradition of Islam in the Middle East, many people listened attentively to these statements.
It is a foreign spirit. There was never such a spirit in Syria or in Lebanon. Sadly, this phenomenon has come from outside and certain major powers bear some responsibility for this. This extremist phenomenon, which has reached the point of them killing each other in God's name, had never existed. It is not accepted by anyone. Neither do Muslims accept it.
Do the Muslims also have problems?
Everyone has. Syria has, Lebanon has. All inhabitants do. All the population, Christians and Muslims. And we as a Patriarchate, you know, we always say that we come from these places. We were born there. Our fathers were there and our grandfathers. We were there before Islam, together with Islam and after Islam. We always say that we all have a common history and a common future. Whatever happens to one happens to the other. For this reason we stress that we all belong to the same country. We have the same rights, every Christian and every Muslim. And you know that in Syria, the Christian feasts, Easter and Christmas, are official holidays...
Those people are fanatics. They are a foreign body. We as a Patriarchate tell the truth. There are special interests. If something happens to an Israeli soldier, then the whole world rises up, but if there are other victims, then there is silence...
Your Beatitude, you have a brother who...
There is my brother and another bishop. Two bishops from Aleppo who were kidnapped a year and a half ago and the whole world keeps silent. They don't know anything, they say. No country says what is happening. Who knows about this story! Both are lost.
At the same time, we are all talking about human rights. Where are people's rights when you do not speak out? When do you not say a single word about such an issue? And if there are some people who think that such an event will frighten us Christians because they are kidnapping and disappearing our bishops, our priests and members of the Christian communities, they should know that these threats do not frighten us.
Orthodox nuns were also kidnapped.
After six months they were released and returned to the monastery.
What moved you about what they experienced?
These things are not spoken of. They are a matter of monastics' confession to their pastor.
Your Beatitude, what would you wish, how do you see the future of Christians from now on?
We always have hope. We remain standing and strong despite the trials. We do not want to repeat what happened in Iraq, where the Christians slowly started to disappear. Where there had lived 1.5 million Christians, today 300,000 live in the country.
I understand from what you are saying to VIMA, you want an international mobilization to protect the Christians in the Middle East and rescue the two bishops.
This is the main thing that must be done. We need help and support. The two hierarchs are apostles of peace and we hope that their physical condition is good and that we will be together soon.
Friday, October 24, 2014
Day One of Patriarch John X's Visit to Greece
Yesterday, October 23, 2014, Patriarch John X began his official visit to Greece, the third of his official eirenical visits after those to Constantinople and Moscow.
Arabic version of this speech here. Video of Patriarch John delivering it in Greek here.
Patriarch John X's Words at the Prayer of Thanksgiving in Athens on October 23, 2014
Your Beatitude,
Brothers and loved ones,
I am happy to be among you.
This is a visit of peace, peace of the heart from me to each one of you. Peace to you, Your Beatitude and brother bishops, in my name and in the name of the delegation accompanying me. Peace to you and through you to every individual and every place in Greece. Peace of love from the people of our lands that have been and continue to be wounded by the tumult of wars. Peace from your brothers, the faithful of the Church of Antioch. Peace from victims of kidnapping, martyrs and people expelled from their homes. Peace from our brothers and your brothers, the kidnapped bishops and priests of Aleppo. Peace and a prayer for your kind people and country. Peace of resurrection from the ashes of trial while at the very same time it is a peace of will, hope, determination and conviction that no power on this earth will uproot us from our land, that we cast all our hardships before the cross of our Savior and place them before His crown of thorns.
I have known you personally, Your Beatitude, and I have known you as a dear brother who has visited our Church and our monasteries at a time when many were leaving, during the last days of the reign of Patriarch Ignatius. I knew your predecessors Christodoulos and Seraphim of blessed memory. I received my theological education in your country. I lived in its monasteries and I saw how theology is leavened with the leaven of humility and becomes incarnate as love and prayer.
The Church of Greece has given much to the Church of Antioch She has welcomed many of our children, opening to them the doors of her institutes and universities and graduating from them priests and bishops to pastor Christ's people in their lands. The Church of Greece has especially accompanied Antiochian Orthodoxy's entrance into the modern era.
Balamand is the best evidence for this. The Institute of Theology was launched in 1970 and Antioch benefited from Greek expertise, entrusting leadership of the Institute to Metropolitan Pandeleimon Rhodopoulos. The Saint John of Damascus Institute of Theology was tied to the Church of Greece which supported it with her best professors and with Greek language programs. The Greek government also contributed, granting our students the opportunity to come to study theology in the language of the fathers. All of this qualifies us to say that that which unites us to Greece as a country and people is a yearning for apostolic zeal for one, Catholic Orthodox faith, where ethnicities melt in the crucible of Orthodoxy and where different languages and customs are interwoven before the Eucharistic table and its Lord who spoke to us in the language of love.
In the language of love I close today by asking the mighty Lord to preserve you and to preserve Greece and her kind people and that He may take her leaders by the hand and guide them to what is good for her people.
I likewise ask Him to give the lands of Antioch peace so she might welcome you with her kind people who have been endowed with the love of the saints, the remembrance of the Apostles, and the achievements of martyrs, ancient and new.
Many years, Master.
Coverage of Patriarch John's day from Romfea.gr by Emilios Polygeni. Go to the links for many pictures..
Greek original here.
Archbishop to Patriarch, "We welcome you as a brother and a witness"
Patriarch John of Antioch began his eirenical visit to the Church of Greece today October 23, 2014, arriving at Eleftherios Venizelos Airport.
Patriarch John was welcomed at the airport by Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and All Greece, His Eminence Metropolitan Nikolaos of Mesogaia and Lavreotiki, His Eminence Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Peristeri, president of the Synodal Commission for Inter-Orthodox and Inter-Christian Relations of the Church of Greece, a representative of the Greek government, the ambassador of Lebanon, and other church and civil officials.
Then, at 11:50 at the Church of Saint Andrew the First-Called, located on the grounds of the Holy Archdiocese of Athens, a prayer of thanksgiving was celebrated for the arrival in Greece of Patriarch John of Antioch and his entourage.
The Archbishop welcomed the Patriarch and others and said, "We welcome you as a brother and as a witness who is to give a Christian witness, an Orthodox witness, a witness of faith."
Archbishop Ieronymos also said, "You are with us here today at a time of persecution, of abuse of human rights, to declare to civilized Europe and international organizations that that you are still on your feet and you have not lost your faith in Christ, that Antioch and Damascus continue to shine out into the world."
The Archbishop concluded, "The Athens of the saints, of the martyrs and heroes, welcomes you as an angel of peace, as a witness to Christ, and as a fighter for the saints and heroes, our Christian brothers, our brothers in the Middle East."
Greek original here.
Archbishop Ieronymos, "National bonds are good, but what unites us is Christ"
Patriarch John of Antioch has just visited Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens. The primate of the Church of Antioch was warmly welcomed by Archbishop Ieronymos, who received him in his office. There the Archbishop welcomed the Patriarch, stressing, among other things, "I welcome you to Greece and to the Holy Archdiocese of Athens."
Then the Patriarch of Antioch reported on relations between the two churches and the difficulties experienced in Syria. For his part, Archbishop Ieronymos said, "Your visit brings us a message that love is not something theoretical. Rather, love is actions. It is experience and that is exactly what we we fell right now, that we are one family."
"National bonds are good and we do not deny them, but above all else we have the One who unites us, Jesus Christ. All other things are ideologies. Ideologies come and go, creating huge problems. Our faith, our Christianity, our love, our fathers, what they taught us is the experience of the Church and it is precisely what we are living right now," the Archbishop added.
In conclusion, Archbishop Ieronymos said, "We want to thank you for traveling from your region, which is experiencing a great hardship at this time, but we here are also experiencing difficulties of another form."
Finally it should be noted that Patriarch John of Antioch signed the guest-book.
Greek original here.
The Patriarch of Antioch at the Areios Pagos
His Beatitude Patriarch John of Antioch, who is making an official irenical visit to the Church of Greece, has just visited the Areios Pagos. The Primate of the Church of Antioch came to the Sacred Rock of the Acropolis accompanied by Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and All Greece and his entourage. There Patriarch John went up the Hill of Pnyx and toured the site where the Apostle Paul preached to the Athenians.
Arabic version of this speech here. Video of Patriarch John delivering it in Greek here.
Patriarch John X's Words at the Prayer of Thanksgiving in Athens on October 23, 2014
Your Beatitude,
Brothers and loved ones,
I am happy to be among you.
This is a visit of peace, peace of the heart from me to each one of you. Peace to you, Your Beatitude and brother bishops, in my name and in the name of the delegation accompanying me. Peace to you and through you to every individual and every place in Greece. Peace of love from the people of our lands that have been and continue to be wounded by the tumult of wars. Peace from your brothers, the faithful of the Church of Antioch. Peace from victims of kidnapping, martyrs and people expelled from their homes. Peace from our brothers and your brothers, the kidnapped bishops and priests of Aleppo. Peace and a prayer for your kind people and country. Peace of resurrection from the ashes of trial while at the very same time it is a peace of will, hope, determination and conviction that no power on this earth will uproot us from our land, that we cast all our hardships before the cross of our Savior and place them before His crown of thorns.
I have known you personally, Your Beatitude, and I have known you as a dear brother who has visited our Church and our monasteries at a time when many were leaving, during the last days of the reign of Patriarch Ignatius. I knew your predecessors Christodoulos and Seraphim of blessed memory. I received my theological education in your country. I lived in its monasteries and I saw how theology is leavened with the leaven of humility and becomes incarnate as love and prayer.
The Church of Greece has given much to the Church of Antioch She has welcomed many of our children, opening to them the doors of her institutes and universities and graduating from them priests and bishops to pastor Christ's people in their lands. The Church of Greece has especially accompanied Antiochian Orthodoxy's entrance into the modern era.
Balamand is the best evidence for this. The Institute of Theology was launched in 1970 and Antioch benefited from Greek expertise, entrusting leadership of the Institute to Metropolitan Pandeleimon Rhodopoulos. The Saint John of Damascus Institute of Theology was tied to the Church of Greece which supported it with her best professors and with Greek language programs. The Greek government also contributed, granting our students the opportunity to come to study theology in the language of the fathers. All of this qualifies us to say that that which unites us to Greece as a country and people is a yearning for apostolic zeal for one, Catholic Orthodox faith, where ethnicities melt in the crucible of Orthodoxy and where different languages and customs are interwoven before the Eucharistic table and its Lord who spoke to us in the language of love.
In the language of love I close today by asking the mighty Lord to preserve you and to preserve Greece and her kind people and that He may take her leaders by the hand and guide them to what is good for her people.
I likewise ask Him to give the lands of Antioch peace so she might welcome you with her kind people who have been endowed with the love of the saints, the remembrance of the Apostles, and the achievements of martyrs, ancient and new.
Many years, Master.
Coverage of Patriarch John's day from Romfea.gr by Emilios Polygeni. Go to the links for many pictures..
Greek original here.
Archbishop to Patriarch, "We welcome you as a brother and a witness"
Patriarch John of Antioch began his eirenical visit to the Church of Greece today October 23, 2014, arriving at Eleftherios Venizelos Airport.
Patriarch John was welcomed at the airport by Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and All Greece, His Eminence Metropolitan Nikolaos of Mesogaia and Lavreotiki, His Eminence Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Peristeri, president of the Synodal Commission for Inter-Orthodox and Inter-Christian Relations of the Church of Greece, a representative of the Greek government, the ambassador of Lebanon, and other church and civil officials.
Then, at 11:50 at the Church of Saint Andrew the First-Called, located on the grounds of the Holy Archdiocese of Athens, a prayer of thanksgiving was celebrated for the arrival in Greece of Patriarch John of Antioch and his entourage.
The Archbishop welcomed the Patriarch and others and said, "We welcome you as a brother and as a witness who is to give a Christian witness, an Orthodox witness, a witness of faith."
Archbishop Ieronymos also said, "You are with us here today at a time of persecution, of abuse of human rights, to declare to civilized Europe and international organizations that that you are still on your feet and you have not lost your faith in Christ, that Antioch and Damascus continue to shine out into the world."
The Archbishop concluded, "The Athens of the saints, of the martyrs and heroes, welcomes you as an angel of peace, as a witness to Christ, and as a fighter for the saints and heroes, our Christian brothers, our brothers in the Middle East."
Greek original here.
Archbishop Ieronymos, "National bonds are good, but what unites us is Christ"
Patriarch John of Antioch has just visited Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens. The primate of the Church of Antioch was warmly welcomed by Archbishop Ieronymos, who received him in his office. There the Archbishop welcomed the Patriarch, stressing, among other things, "I welcome you to Greece and to the Holy Archdiocese of Athens."
Then the Patriarch of Antioch reported on relations between the two churches and the difficulties experienced in Syria. For his part, Archbishop Ieronymos said, "Your visit brings us a message that love is not something theoretical. Rather, love is actions. It is experience and that is exactly what we we fell right now, that we are one family."
"National bonds are good and we do not deny them, but above all else we have the One who unites us, Jesus Christ. All other things are ideologies. Ideologies come and go, creating huge problems. Our faith, our Christianity, our love, our fathers, what they taught us is the experience of the Church and it is precisely what we are living right now," the Archbishop added.
In conclusion, Archbishop Ieronymos said, "We want to thank you for traveling from your region, which is experiencing a great hardship at this time, but we here are also experiencing difficulties of another form."
Finally it should be noted that Patriarch John of Antioch signed the guest-book.
Greek original here.
The Patriarch of Antioch at the Areios Pagos
His Beatitude Patriarch John of Antioch, who is making an official irenical visit to the Church of Greece, has just visited the Areios Pagos. The Primate of the Church of Antioch came to the Sacred Rock of the Acropolis accompanied by Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and All Greece and his entourage. There Patriarch John went up the Hill of Pnyx and toured the site where the Apostle Paul preached to the Athenians.
Melkite Catholic Bishop Nicholas Samra on Catholic-Orthodox Relations in the Middle East (Video)
I'm not sure where Bishop Samra gets his ideas about the history of the use of Arabic in Antioch, which was much more deeply-rooted and earlier than he makes it sound, but this talk is still very much worth listening to in terms of how he sees contemporary Orthodox-Catholic relations in the Middle East, especially some of what comes up in the Q&A at the end.
Thursday, October 23, 2014
Fr Georges Massouh on Minorities' Need for a Civil State
Arabic original here.
Do not Blame the Minorities
Some people blame members of "minorities" because they prioritize their religious and ethnic identities over other, universal identities. However, most of those doing the blaming start their criticism on the basis of narrow sectarian positions, of a numeric majority that assumes it has the right to impose what it desires on minorities that have no choice but to obey, willingly or unwillingly, the will of the majority.
In reality, Islamic thought has not succeeded in solving the dilemma of minorities. This is because it divides society into two parts: Muslims and non-Muslims. Islamic thought itself is responsible for the phenomenon of minorities and for not bringing about the means that would permit members of minorities to engage in Islamic society and that would push them to be more committed to the issues and aspirations of Muslims.
The basic problem for those who are striving for an Islamic state lies in their lack of respect for political, social and religious diversity and for their lack of respect for the particularities of the groups that form the national mosaic that incorporates all citizens. The religious state is in no sense impartial. Rather, it is discriminatory because, according to its constitution and law, it classifies people into ranks and turns those who are not joined together by a single common religion into mere subjects, robbed of will and freedom.
For this reason, minorities' fear of the establishment of a religious government is legitimate. They do not want to see sectarian princes ruling in God's name under the cover of a religious jurisprudence at odds with modernity. In the past, the Islamic Umma lived within a single caliphate, but in our own era various states have been established on a national basis the ruins of the caliphate. There has come to be a pressing need for a new vision to cope with new realities, a vision established on the basis of true citizenship with equality for all children of the same nation.
Within the framework of a civil state, with all that this expression means, it is not possible for there to be a jurisprudence of relations between Muslims and non-Muslims, as was dominant centuries ago. In this issue specifically, the distinction is not clear between so-called centrist Islam or moderate Islam and other descriptors applied to Islam in different places.
The only viable solution, according to members of religious minorities along with many Muslims, lies in establishing a state founded on full citizenship based on a fair constitution that does not discriminate on a religious, sectarian or ethnic basis. The dictatorial regime that governs with an iron fist is no guarantee for minorities and their existence. It is not what will protect them, since if it is eliminated they are eliminated. The religious regime that governs on the basis of presumed divine right is no guarantee for them, since it denies their citizenship and takes them back to the state of being second-class subjects. The regime based on freedom and equality is the sole guarantee for them and for the future of their children. There cannot be respect for human dignity without the establishment of a just civil state where there is no religious authority that imposes itself and its ideas on all people. The crisis lies in some Islamic thought that has not yet managed to take into account civil-minded people, both Muslim and non-Muslim together, who do not desire religious rule.
The predicament of relations between religious groups, majorities and minorities, is growing every day. However, minorities have the right to long for governments that have developed on the level of respect for human rights. As for the authoritarian state, whether religious or non-religious, it is a hideous evil that must be rooted out sooner or later.
Do not Blame the Minorities
Some people blame members of "minorities" because they prioritize their religious and ethnic identities over other, universal identities. However, most of those doing the blaming start their criticism on the basis of narrow sectarian positions, of a numeric majority that assumes it has the right to impose what it desires on minorities that have no choice but to obey, willingly or unwillingly, the will of the majority.
In reality, Islamic thought has not succeeded in solving the dilemma of minorities. This is because it divides society into two parts: Muslims and non-Muslims. Islamic thought itself is responsible for the phenomenon of minorities and for not bringing about the means that would permit members of minorities to engage in Islamic society and that would push them to be more committed to the issues and aspirations of Muslims.
The basic problem for those who are striving for an Islamic state lies in their lack of respect for political, social and religious diversity and for their lack of respect for the particularities of the groups that form the national mosaic that incorporates all citizens. The religious state is in no sense impartial. Rather, it is discriminatory because, according to its constitution and law, it classifies people into ranks and turns those who are not joined together by a single common religion into mere subjects, robbed of will and freedom.
For this reason, minorities' fear of the establishment of a religious government is legitimate. They do not want to see sectarian princes ruling in God's name under the cover of a religious jurisprudence at odds with modernity. In the past, the Islamic Umma lived within a single caliphate, but in our own era various states have been established on a national basis the ruins of the caliphate. There has come to be a pressing need for a new vision to cope with new realities, a vision established on the basis of true citizenship with equality for all children of the same nation.
Within the framework of a civil state, with all that this expression means, it is not possible for there to be a jurisprudence of relations between Muslims and non-Muslims, as was dominant centuries ago. In this issue specifically, the distinction is not clear between so-called centrist Islam or moderate Islam and other descriptors applied to Islam in different places.
The only viable solution, according to members of religious minorities along with many Muslims, lies in establishing a state founded on full citizenship based on a fair constitution that does not discriminate on a religious, sectarian or ethnic basis. The dictatorial regime that governs with an iron fist is no guarantee for minorities and their existence. It is not what will protect them, since if it is eliminated they are eliminated. The religious regime that governs on the basis of presumed divine right is no guarantee for them, since it denies their citizenship and takes them back to the state of being second-class subjects. The regime based on freedom and equality is the sole guarantee for them and for the future of their children. There cannot be respect for human dignity without the establishment of a just civil state where there is no religious authority that imposes itself and its ideas on all people. The crisis lies in some Islamic thought that has not yet managed to take into account civil-minded people, both Muslim and non-Muslim together, who do not desire religious rule.
The predicament of relations between religious groups, majorities and minorities, is growing every day. However, minorities have the right to long for governments that have developed on the level of respect for human rights. As for the authoritarian state, whether religious or non-religious, it is a hideous evil that must be rooted out sooner or later.
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
as-Safir on the Plight of Orthodox in the Patriarchate of Jerusalem
Arabic original here.
The Orthodox of Jordan and Palestine... Prisoners of the Balance of Power
By Rania al-Jabary
The Arab Orthodox of Jordan and Palestine, whose patriarchate is tied to the reigning civil authorities, have been forced to remain hostage to political balances of power. If the balance tilts toward the interest of pan-Arab issues, then they are treated fairly. If the balance tilts away from Arabism, they are the first to pay the price.
Today the Orthodox of Jordan and Palestine are paying the price for Greek domination of the Orthodox Patriarchate, which has lasted for 480 years. As a result, there are not seminaries for the Arab flock and those who desire to study are forced to enroll at Balamand University in Lebanon or to travel to Greece.
The Arabs are collectively paying the price of Greek domination in a more serious regard, as Arab land is being handed over to Israelis through various means, including the Greek patriarchs' selling or offering long-term leases on lands from the Orthodox endowment to the Israelis.
Strangers in a Region in Flames
The issue of the Arab Orthodox began when the Ottoman occupation managed to impose the hegemony of Greek patriarchs over the Patriarchate of Jerusalem, which had been managed by Arabs prior to 1534.
"Jordan has inherited a complicated issue from the Ottoman and Mandate eras." With this sentence, Fr Dr Hanna Kaldani begins his discussion with as-Safir, explaining that Jordan has not taken any steps to help the Arab flock because of historical, political, international and other complicated considerations.
In his discussion, Kaldani presents many facts, including that Jordan provides the passports for the patriarch and the Greek monks, since Paragraph 19 of the law for the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate issued by the Jordanian government in 1958 stipulates as one of its conditions that anyone nominated for the patriarch's throne must have Jordanian nationality. Thus Jordan can use this to apply pressure and bargain on behalf of the Arab Orthodox, insofar as it holds custody over the Christian as well as Muslim holy places. Additionally, Jordan, along with the Palestinian Authority and Israel, grants recognition to the patriarch.
Those who defend the difficulty of Jordan's position reply that if Jordan put pressure on the Greek patriarch, then the latter would turn away and only cooperate with the Israelis and serve their interests.
However, the problem is that today the patriarch has effectively turned his back on Jordan and is fulfilling his promises to Israel. In 2005, Jordan would not not grant recognition to the current Patriarch Theophilos until he signed a promise to apply the provisions of the Jordanian law for the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, to cancel all the deals made by the former Patriarch Irenaeus, and to conduct an inventory and engineering survey of real estate belonging to the Patriarchate and send a report on this to the official Jordanian agencies.
What happened in reality is that, nine years after his election, Patriarch Theophilos' agreement with Jordan is still at an impasse and he continues to sell real estate and make long-term leases without informing his flock about the church's financial details. Instead, as the researcher Ali Hattar told as-Safir, Theophilos sold land from the Orthodox endowment that borders the Har Homa (Abu Gneim) settlement. The Israelis have begun to build on it to establish a new settlement.
Jordan's incomprehensible position on the Orthodox issue does not stop here. Despite the fact that the Greek patriarch has completely turned his back on Jordan, the Jordanian government is is intervening in the affairs of the Orthodox community and has asked Archimandrite Christophoros (Hanna Atallah) to obey the orders of Patriarch Theophilos.
The patriarch had issued a decision to transfer Christophoros from the Monastery of Dibbeen in the Jordanian distric of Ajloun to Jerusalem. This has provoked an intense protest from members of the community in the kingdom because they believe that this measure hides intentions to close down the institute that Christophoros had established in the Monastery of Dibbeen or to put someone unqualified in to lead it.
Members of the community expect in the long term that this institute will become a university that teaches theology, instead of those desiring to receive theological education traveling to Lebanon or Greece.
This case of schizophrenia among Jordanian decision-makers becomes complete with the issuing of the law for Christian community councils number 28 of 2014, whih stipulates the necessity of a court of appeals for the religious community council in Jordan according to the lawyer Yacoub el-Farr who told as-Safir that the new law requires the appointment of an ecclesiastical judge who must be proficient in written and spoken Arabic and possess a university degree.
This raises the question of the conditions of the Orthodox community, whose Greek administration practices various forms of neglect toward them. In addition to teaching in Greek but not Arabic, the Arab Orthodox have no universities or institutes in Jordan. Normally, the Patriarchate of Jerusalem prefers for members of the community not to study at Balamand University in Lebanon because it belongs to the Patriarchate of Antioch, which has an Arab administration. If they want to study theology, they must go to Greece and study it in Greek.
In any case, el-Farr points out that the Orthodox community has two years to align their situation with the law. The community was just around the corner from attaining an institute that teaches theology at the Monastery of Dibben (the institute founded by Archimandrite Christophoros) when their country's government intervened in their affairs and is inclined toward the patriarch's decision against Christophoros.
The outline of the Orthodox flock's alienation becomes clear when we add to all the above the various agreements between Israel and Greece. It is sufficient to mention the common natural gas agreement between Greece, Cyprus and Israel. Hattar points out the agreement to store Cypriot gas and the gas that Israel steals from Palestine in Greece in order to reduce Russian gas in Europe will make it impossible for Greece to take a position against the patriarch on behalf of the Arab flock that rejects the sale of Arab lands to Israelis. He reminds us of the importance of a gas agreement for Greece, which is experiencing financial hardship.
Fragmenting Palestinian Christians
Just ISIS is considered the easiest recipe for tearing apart Iraq and Syria, Israel is looking to play the same role by fragmenting the elements of Palestinian Arab society in order to realize its various interests, chief among them the purchase and rental of the Orthodox endowment's lands.
Among their means of tearing apart is a decision in September by the Minister of the Interior Gideon Saar permitting Christians to register under the "Aramaean nationality" in Israel's population records. Israeli newspapers reported that between 130 thousand and 160 thousand Christians are registered.
In this context, Hattar recalls the Zionist experience with the Arab Druze when they included them in military service. He regards the attempt to make the roots of the Arab Christians go back to the Aramaeans can only be interpreted in terms of hidden intentions on the part of the Zionists to rip the Christians away from the Arab social fabric and to justify recruiting them into the ranks of the army of occupation.
Hattar points out that "Gabriel Naddaf, the advocate for enlisting Arab Christians, is close to the Greek patriarch Theophilos."
This issue does not require a lot of imagination, since it is enough for a Christian Arab to become a servant of the army of occupation, then at that point will he refuse or fight against the sale of Orthodox lands in Jerusalem or Palestine?!
A study published by the Israeli Institute for National Security Studies at the beginning of this year indicated that changes are leading to the disintegration of regular armies that had constituted a threat in the past and that the process of the disintegration of states in the region will open up for Israel opportunities to build relationships with different minorities that may gain power in the future. It is clear from the study, entitled "New Borders in the Middle East" that dealing with fragmented entities is much easier that dealing with large national states or pan-Arabist groups with a nationalist ideology that brings them together despite differences of religion or race.
Land ahead of Arabization
Perhaps the only idea that the Orthodox in Jordan and Palestine can unite around is not raising the banner of Arabizing the church at the present time. "I am not one of those who is raising the banner of Arabization today. If Che Guavera came and became patriarch in Jerusalem, i would support him" says Hattar, who repeatedly stresses that he is not struggling for this cause because he is Christian, but on a patriotic basis that brings him together with his Muslim brothers who years ago had formed a committee to protect the lands of the Orthodox endowment in Palestine.
This does not mean that Hattar and those who stand against the policies of the Greek patriarchs are against Arabizing the church. Rather, Arabizing the patriarchate so that it can become like its sister the Patriarchate of Antioch is a far-off dream for them.
Hattar poses the question that "What if I struggled against the Greek administration because it isn't Arab, but then they bring along an Arab patriarch who does not prevent the sale of land to the Zionist enemy? We must first establish the principles that we are calling for."
First among these principles is the demand that the law for the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of 1958 be applied. This requires that the patriarch applies transparent accounting standards and that the Arab flock supervise this. According to Fr Kaldani, currently no one knows anything about the patriarch's financial transactions with its money or its endowments. Another one of the principles is preventing the rental or sale of the Orthodox endowment's lands, recovering the land that has gone into Israeli hands, and ending the church's policy that attempts to deliberately leave members of the Orthodox community in a state of ignorance through the establishment of a university that teaches theology in the language of their countries, Arabic.
These principles constitute the real difference between those Orthodox who support the Greek patriarch and those who reject his policies. Those who support him accuse the other side of refusing to grant Theophilos a full opportunity. They are against Arabizing the patriarchate without safeguards that protect the flock and the Orthodox endowment.
The Russians.. a Life-Saver
Like any great power in the world, Russia has its "side-effects" in places around the globe.
"Russia is not looking to 'Russify' us and we have not experienced colonialism from them... This is why closeness to Russia is in our interests". Thus summarizes Fr Kaldani the Arabs' relationship to the Russians.
Starting from the beginning of Russian influence in Palestine in 1850, the Arabs reaped the re-Arabization of the Patriarchate of Antioch in 1899. However, the Patriarchate of Jerusalem was immune to liberation because of the strong Greek influence there. Kaldani recounts in his book "Contemporary Christianity in Jordan and Palestine" that when the first Arab patriarch was appointed in Syria, Constantinople refused to provide the holy oil and so the holy oil was brought from Moscow and that the first person to receive the Eucharist from the hand of the newly-consecrated patriarch was the Russian consul in Damascus.
Kaldani summarizes what happened by saying that the Russians won the round in Syria and lost in Palestine. However, Russia is once more returning and there is talk of re-opening the Imperial Orthodox Palestinian Society which was closed immediately after the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia. Can the Arab Orthodox hope for a return of their Russian friend who did not ignore their language in the Russian-sponsored schools and who supported their cause?
As an analyst and researcher, Kaldani believes that history is repeating itself. The Russians continue to lose in Palestine and win in Syria. He does not believe that there is light at the end of the tunnel because the Orthodox in Palestine and Jordan are "a negligible amount" who are few in numbers and falling apart and so cannot be looked at as a source of power. Despite his lack of optimism, he still believes that the Arab Orthodox cause is a burning national issue and that any development or change in the structure of this church is held hostage by political events and the decisions of the governments involved.
To put it more precisely, the Orthodox cause is hostage to international equations. Thus the Arab Orthodox, despite their happiness with Russia rising once more, do not hide the fact that in present circumstances the Russians will not confront the Greeks and so the issues remain suspended until there are objective circumstances that call for a confrontation between the two countries. Nevertheless, the spark for such a confrontation exists and its password is "natural gas".
The Orthodox of Jordan and Palestine... Prisoners of the Balance of Power
By Rania al-Jabary
The Arab Orthodox of Jordan and Palestine, whose patriarchate is tied to the reigning civil authorities, have been forced to remain hostage to political balances of power. If the balance tilts toward the interest of pan-Arab issues, then they are treated fairly. If the balance tilts away from Arabism, they are the first to pay the price.
Today the Orthodox of Jordan and Palestine are paying the price for Greek domination of the Orthodox Patriarchate, which has lasted for 480 years. As a result, there are not seminaries for the Arab flock and those who desire to study are forced to enroll at Balamand University in Lebanon or to travel to Greece.
The Arabs are collectively paying the price of Greek domination in a more serious regard, as Arab land is being handed over to Israelis through various means, including the Greek patriarchs' selling or offering long-term leases on lands from the Orthodox endowment to the Israelis.
Strangers in a Region in Flames
The issue of the Arab Orthodox began when the Ottoman occupation managed to impose the hegemony of Greek patriarchs over the Patriarchate of Jerusalem, which had been managed by Arabs prior to 1534.
"Jordan has inherited a complicated issue from the Ottoman and Mandate eras." With this sentence, Fr Dr Hanna Kaldani begins his discussion with as-Safir, explaining that Jordan has not taken any steps to help the Arab flock because of historical, political, international and other complicated considerations.
In his discussion, Kaldani presents many facts, including that Jordan provides the passports for the patriarch and the Greek monks, since Paragraph 19 of the law for the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate issued by the Jordanian government in 1958 stipulates as one of its conditions that anyone nominated for the patriarch's throne must have Jordanian nationality. Thus Jordan can use this to apply pressure and bargain on behalf of the Arab Orthodox, insofar as it holds custody over the Christian as well as Muslim holy places. Additionally, Jordan, along with the Palestinian Authority and Israel, grants recognition to the patriarch.
Those who defend the difficulty of Jordan's position reply that if Jordan put pressure on the Greek patriarch, then the latter would turn away and only cooperate with the Israelis and serve their interests.
However, the problem is that today the patriarch has effectively turned his back on Jordan and is fulfilling his promises to Israel. In 2005, Jordan would not not grant recognition to the current Patriarch Theophilos until he signed a promise to apply the provisions of the Jordanian law for the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, to cancel all the deals made by the former Patriarch Irenaeus, and to conduct an inventory and engineering survey of real estate belonging to the Patriarchate and send a report on this to the official Jordanian agencies.
What happened in reality is that, nine years after his election, Patriarch Theophilos' agreement with Jordan is still at an impasse and he continues to sell real estate and make long-term leases without informing his flock about the church's financial details. Instead, as the researcher Ali Hattar told as-Safir, Theophilos sold land from the Orthodox endowment that borders the Har Homa (Abu Gneim) settlement. The Israelis have begun to build on it to establish a new settlement.
Jordan's incomprehensible position on the Orthodox issue does not stop here. Despite the fact that the Greek patriarch has completely turned his back on Jordan, the Jordanian government is is intervening in the affairs of the Orthodox community and has asked Archimandrite Christophoros (Hanna Atallah) to obey the orders of Patriarch Theophilos.
The patriarch had issued a decision to transfer Christophoros from the Monastery of Dibbeen in the Jordanian distric of Ajloun to Jerusalem. This has provoked an intense protest from members of the community in the kingdom because they believe that this measure hides intentions to close down the institute that Christophoros had established in the Monastery of Dibbeen or to put someone unqualified in to lead it.
Members of the community expect in the long term that this institute will become a university that teaches theology, instead of those desiring to receive theological education traveling to Lebanon or Greece.
This case of schizophrenia among Jordanian decision-makers becomes complete with the issuing of the law for Christian community councils number 28 of 2014, whih stipulates the necessity of a court of appeals for the religious community council in Jordan according to the lawyer Yacoub el-Farr who told as-Safir that the new law requires the appointment of an ecclesiastical judge who must be proficient in written and spoken Arabic and possess a university degree.
This raises the question of the conditions of the Orthodox community, whose Greek administration practices various forms of neglect toward them. In addition to teaching in Greek but not Arabic, the Arab Orthodox have no universities or institutes in Jordan. Normally, the Patriarchate of Jerusalem prefers for members of the community not to study at Balamand University in Lebanon because it belongs to the Patriarchate of Antioch, which has an Arab administration. If they want to study theology, they must go to Greece and study it in Greek.
In any case, el-Farr points out that the Orthodox community has two years to align their situation with the law. The community was just around the corner from attaining an institute that teaches theology at the Monastery of Dibben (the institute founded by Archimandrite Christophoros) when their country's government intervened in their affairs and is inclined toward the patriarch's decision against Christophoros.
The outline of the Orthodox flock's alienation becomes clear when we add to all the above the various agreements between Israel and Greece. It is sufficient to mention the common natural gas agreement between Greece, Cyprus and Israel. Hattar points out the agreement to store Cypriot gas and the gas that Israel steals from Palestine in Greece in order to reduce Russian gas in Europe will make it impossible for Greece to take a position against the patriarch on behalf of the Arab flock that rejects the sale of Arab lands to Israelis. He reminds us of the importance of a gas agreement for Greece, which is experiencing financial hardship.
Fragmenting Palestinian Christians
Just ISIS is considered the easiest recipe for tearing apart Iraq and Syria, Israel is looking to play the same role by fragmenting the elements of Palestinian Arab society in order to realize its various interests, chief among them the purchase and rental of the Orthodox endowment's lands.
Among their means of tearing apart is a decision in September by the Minister of the Interior Gideon Saar permitting Christians to register under the "Aramaean nationality" in Israel's population records. Israeli newspapers reported that between 130 thousand and 160 thousand Christians are registered.
In this context, Hattar recalls the Zionist experience with the Arab Druze when they included them in military service. He regards the attempt to make the roots of the Arab Christians go back to the Aramaeans can only be interpreted in terms of hidden intentions on the part of the Zionists to rip the Christians away from the Arab social fabric and to justify recruiting them into the ranks of the army of occupation.
Hattar points out that "Gabriel Naddaf, the advocate for enlisting Arab Christians, is close to the Greek patriarch Theophilos."
This issue does not require a lot of imagination, since it is enough for a Christian Arab to become a servant of the army of occupation, then at that point will he refuse or fight against the sale of Orthodox lands in Jerusalem or Palestine?!
A study published by the Israeli Institute for National Security Studies at the beginning of this year indicated that changes are leading to the disintegration of regular armies that had constituted a threat in the past and that the process of the disintegration of states in the region will open up for Israel opportunities to build relationships with different minorities that may gain power in the future. It is clear from the study, entitled "New Borders in the Middle East" that dealing with fragmented entities is much easier that dealing with large national states or pan-Arabist groups with a nationalist ideology that brings them together despite differences of religion or race.
Land ahead of Arabization
Perhaps the only idea that the Orthodox in Jordan and Palestine can unite around is not raising the banner of Arabizing the church at the present time. "I am not one of those who is raising the banner of Arabization today. If Che Guavera came and became patriarch in Jerusalem, i would support him" says Hattar, who repeatedly stresses that he is not struggling for this cause because he is Christian, but on a patriotic basis that brings him together with his Muslim brothers who years ago had formed a committee to protect the lands of the Orthodox endowment in Palestine.
This does not mean that Hattar and those who stand against the policies of the Greek patriarchs are against Arabizing the church. Rather, Arabizing the patriarchate so that it can become like its sister the Patriarchate of Antioch is a far-off dream for them.
Hattar poses the question that "What if I struggled against the Greek administration because it isn't Arab, but then they bring along an Arab patriarch who does not prevent the sale of land to the Zionist enemy? We must first establish the principles that we are calling for."
First among these principles is the demand that the law for the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of 1958 be applied. This requires that the patriarch applies transparent accounting standards and that the Arab flock supervise this. According to Fr Kaldani, currently no one knows anything about the patriarch's financial transactions with its money or its endowments. Another one of the principles is preventing the rental or sale of the Orthodox endowment's lands, recovering the land that has gone into Israeli hands, and ending the church's policy that attempts to deliberately leave members of the Orthodox community in a state of ignorance through the establishment of a university that teaches theology in the language of their countries, Arabic.
These principles constitute the real difference between those Orthodox who support the Greek patriarch and those who reject his policies. Those who support him accuse the other side of refusing to grant Theophilos a full opportunity. They are against Arabizing the patriarchate without safeguards that protect the flock and the Orthodox endowment.
The Russians.. a Life-Saver
Like any great power in the world, Russia has its "side-effects" in places around the globe.
"Russia is not looking to 'Russify' us and we have not experienced colonialism from them... This is why closeness to Russia is in our interests". Thus summarizes Fr Kaldani the Arabs' relationship to the Russians.
Starting from the beginning of Russian influence in Palestine in 1850, the Arabs reaped the re-Arabization of the Patriarchate of Antioch in 1899. However, the Patriarchate of Jerusalem was immune to liberation because of the strong Greek influence there. Kaldani recounts in his book "Contemporary Christianity in Jordan and Palestine" that when the first Arab patriarch was appointed in Syria, Constantinople refused to provide the holy oil and so the holy oil was brought from Moscow and that the first person to receive the Eucharist from the hand of the newly-consecrated patriarch was the Russian consul in Damascus.
Kaldani summarizes what happened by saying that the Russians won the round in Syria and lost in Palestine. However, Russia is once more returning and there is talk of re-opening the Imperial Orthodox Palestinian Society which was closed immediately after the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia. Can the Arab Orthodox hope for a return of their Russian friend who did not ignore their language in the Russian-sponsored schools and who supported their cause?
As an analyst and researcher, Kaldani believes that history is repeating itself. The Russians continue to lose in Palestine and win in Syria. He does not believe that there is light at the end of the tunnel because the Orthodox in Palestine and Jordan are "a negligible amount" who are few in numbers and falling apart and so cannot be looked at as a source of power. Despite his lack of optimism, he still believes that the Arab Orthodox cause is a burning national issue and that any development or change in the structure of this church is held hostage by political events and the decisions of the governments involved.
To put it more precisely, the Orthodox cause is hostage to international equations. Thus the Arab Orthodox, despite their happiness with Russia rising once more, do not hide the fact that in present circumstances the Russians will not confront the Greeks and so the issues remain suspended until there are objective circumstances that call for a confrontation between the two countries. Nevertheless, the spark for such a confrontation exists and its password is "natural gas".
Monday, October 20, 2014
Met Georges Khodr on the Ecclesiology of Councils
Arabic original here.
Commitment to the Truth
I do not think that the Orthodox say that the Holy Synod leads the Church in terms of it being an executive authority as opposed to those who say that the Church has a single person who leads it... They are not prepared to say, if we wish to be precise, that they have an administrative body for spiritual leadership. They reject as a matter of principle any imitation of the civil order. But apart from its statements, they have a sense of collectivity and of concord. This is what they call a holy synod, something for which there is no image in the civil order.
It is not a parliament of bishops. It is a act of making effort for unity. There is no value to numbers in it except as a symbol of the direction being taken in dogma or pastoral practice. That which is desired is God's will in the topic at hand. It is not to advocate a democratic order, since there is no say in it except God's word.
If Eastern Christians talk about conciliarity, they are not setting up a democratic order in place of an autocratic order, if such could be considered to exist in Christianity. The Catholics themselves do not say that the Papal system is autocratic. As in Orthodoxy, it is in principle based on the entire community. However, since collective leadership does not mean that the Church has a democratic system, so-called collective leadership is only a symbolic expression used to indicate the single purpose, and thus it is an act of making effort. For us the group is not a substitute for the individual. It is merely an effort towards being an image of the totality of the faith that has been inherited across generations, the faith handed down to us from the Apostles.
Thus the concept of numbers is meaningless in the council of bishops when they gather. That which is desired is the tradition. That is, authenticity and submission to that which was handed down "one time to the saints". Consensus or quasi-consensus in the Holy Synod is the principle image of commitment to the truth. Relying on a decision based on a majority vote is merely a practical agreement whose aim is to examine the issue. It in no sense means that it binds the conscience of any bishop. Yes, there is a general administrative life that is manifest in agreement or near-agreement. It is not true to say that the council of bishops does not err when it gathers together. The Church has rejected at least one council in the fourth century that brought together hundreds of bishops. Truth or wisdom has nothing to do with the number of voters or electors. It is above councils. The Church strives for it and no one can claim that a council of clergy possesses God's infallibility. This requires universal acceptance by the Church, which comes to be known in the life of the Church years later and after conflicts and it becomes manifest to the pure. I do not know of a single church in the Christian world that claims for its leadership automatic infallibility merely by issuing a dogmatic or pastoral decision. The popular saying that the Orthodox believe in the infallibility of the ecumenical councils in no way means the believer is called to accept a synodal decision merely because it was issued. It means gradual acceptance by believers as a whole, repeated acceptance by council after council and the emergence of a conviction among God's holy nation.
Truth is an act of making effort because interpretation is an act of making effort. We do not have the principles of courts that make you believe automatically any decision issued by a council. There is what we call the consensus of the fathers. How can this be when there is no census and no presentation of facts? The consensus of the fathers comes to be known within history. That is, after it has appeared, gradually and after discussion that may go on for a long time. In the Church there is nothing that resembles civil law on the surface. There is interpretation and exegesis, taking into account the reality of history and the words of the ancients. The truth is received through effort, not through the decision of an authority. This is proven by the fact that every decision of an authority is subject to the interpretation of subsequent authorities. At any time before the last day, truth is an act of effort made in holiness, love and brotherhood. If debate becomes vicious, there is no holiness.
The first ecumenical council, the Council of Nicaea which met in 325 and made explicit Christ's divinity and issued the Creed took generations to be accepted. No council, no matter how holy, is accepted immediately and automatically by the faithful. For us the council is not an authority. It is an image of the acceptance of the faithful, if they accept it. No ecclesiastical authority can say to you "We have gathered, O faithful, and you must accept," since the pure faithful may sometimes reply, "Your gathering concerns you. It does not concern us." Final say belongs to the Church gathered together in the Holy Spirit, not to a human authority in itself. God does not equate any authority to Himself. If it gathers together, if it speaks the truth and the Church recognizes it in her catholicity, it becomes an authority. We do not have a ruler with power on account of his position. Power belongs to what is said, not to who said it. The Christian's only leader is the truth.
Commitment to the Truth
I do not think that the Orthodox say that the Holy Synod leads the Church in terms of it being an executive authority as opposed to those who say that the Church has a single person who leads it... They are not prepared to say, if we wish to be precise, that they have an administrative body for spiritual leadership. They reject as a matter of principle any imitation of the civil order. But apart from its statements, they have a sense of collectivity and of concord. This is what they call a holy synod, something for which there is no image in the civil order.
It is not a parliament of bishops. It is a act of making effort for unity. There is no value to numbers in it except as a symbol of the direction being taken in dogma or pastoral practice. That which is desired is God's will in the topic at hand. It is not to advocate a democratic order, since there is no say in it except God's word.
If Eastern Christians talk about conciliarity, they are not setting up a democratic order in place of an autocratic order, if such could be considered to exist in Christianity. The Catholics themselves do not say that the Papal system is autocratic. As in Orthodoxy, it is in principle based on the entire community. However, since collective leadership does not mean that the Church has a democratic system, so-called collective leadership is only a symbolic expression used to indicate the single purpose, and thus it is an act of making effort. For us the group is not a substitute for the individual. It is merely an effort towards being an image of the totality of the faith that has been inherited across generations, the faith handed down to us from the Apostles.
Thus the concept of numbers is meaningless in the council of bishops when they gather. That which is desired is the tradition. That is, authenticity and submission to that which was handed down "one time to the saints". Consensus or quasi-consensus in the Holy Synod is the principle image of commitment to the truth. Relying on a decision based on a majority vote is merely a practical agreement whose aim is to examine the issue. It in no sense means that it binds the conscience of any bishop. Yes, there is a general administrative life that is manifest in agreement or near-agreement. It is not true to say that the council of bishops does not err when it gathers together. The Church has rejected at least one council in the fourth century that brought together hundreds of bishops. Truth or wisdom has nothing to do with the number of voters or electors. It is above councils. The Church strives for it and no one can claim that a council of clergy possesses God's infallibility. This requires universal acceptance by the Church, which comes to be known in the life of the Church years later and after conflicts and it becomes manifest to the pure. I do not know of a single church in the Christian world that claims for its leadership automatic infallibility merely by issuing a dogmatic or pastoral decision. The popular saying that the Orthodox believe in the infallibility of the ecumenical councils in no way means the believer is called to accept a synodal decision merely because it was issued. It means gradual acceptance by believers as a whole, repeated acceptance by council after council and the emergence of a conviction among God's holy nation.
Truth is an act of making effort because interpretation is an act of making effort. We do not have the principles of courts that make you believe automatically any decision issued by a council. There is what we call the consensus of the fathers. How can this be when there is no census and no presentation of facts? The consensus of the fathers comes to be known within history. That is, after it has appeared, gradually and after discussion that may go on for a long time. In the Church there is nothing that resembles civil law on the surface. There is interpretation and exegesis, taking into account the reality of history and the words of the ancients. The truth is received through effort, not through the decision of an authority. This is proven by the fact that every decision of an authority is subject to the interpretation of subsequent authorities. At any time before the last day, truth is an act of effort made in holiness, love and brotherhood. If debate becomes vicious, there is no holiness.
The first ecumenical council, the Council of Nicaea which met in 325 and made explicit Christ's divinity and issued the Creed took generations to be accepted. No council, no matter how holy, is accepted immediately and automatically by the faithful. For us the council is not an authority. It is an image of the acceptance of the faithful, if they accept it. No ecclesiastical authority can say to you "We have gathered, O faithful, and you must accept," since the pure faithful may sometimes reply, "Your gathering concerns you. It does not concern us." Final say belongs to the Church gathered together in the Holy Spirit, not to a human authority in itself. God does not equate any authority to Himself. If it gathers together, if it speaks the truth and the Church recognizes it in her catholicity, it becomes an authority. We do not have a ruler with power on account of his position. Power belongs to what is said, not to who said it. The Christian's only leader is the truth.
Saturday, October 18, 2014
Met Ephrem on the Sign of the Cross
Arabic original here.
The Sign of the Cross
Saint Basil the Great says, "In every thing we do, we make the sign of the cross over our faces...This custom did not come from the Bible [that is, literally in the form of a commandment], but holy tradition is what commands this." By this he meant the tradition of the Apostles, as is also the case with our praying toward the East, which is the name of Christ (cf. Zacharia 6:12 LXX) and the custom of triple-immersion in baptism.
In the view of this father and other holy fathers, the sign of the cross contains the two basic dogmas of the Orthodox Church: first, the dogma of the Trinity and second the dogma of the incarnation. We make the sign of the cross by putting together three fingers and then putting the remaining two fingers close to the palm.
First we put our fingers to the forehead, indicating heaven, then to the belly, indicating the earth, then to the right and left shoulders. Please be careful not to make the sign of the cross over your bodies quickly and carelessly. Let us be conscious of remembering the thee Persons, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, just as we are likewise aware of the other two fingers, Christ's human and divine natures.
Very often, we tie mentioning glory to the Trinity with the sign of the cross when we say "Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit."
The Evangelist John mentions that Christ indicated the hour of His death when He said, "Now the Son of Man is glorified and God is glorified in Him" (John 13: 31) and "With the glory that He had from the beginning" (John 17:5). In his first epistle, the Apostle Peter speaks of Christ who redeemed the world upon the cross with His precious blood as the sacrificial lamb "foreordained before the foundation of the world" (1 Peter 1:19-20).
Christ crucified is a paschal sacrifice: "Our Pascha is Christ who was crucified for us" (1 Corinthians 5:7).
This is the true meaning of the cross. This is the meaning of the divine liturgy, the divine sacrifice.
To all this we add that very often the sign of the cross is accompanied by a small or large prostration known as a 'metania', which means repentance. The small prostration is bending down to one's knees and the large one is down to the ground. We do this, for example, when we enter the church or when we kiss holy icons.
Beloved, make the sign of the cross with forethought, with understanding, with faith, with absolute hope in Christ crucified who loved us to the point of death on the cross. Make it with determination that you will crucify your passions in order to receive the grace of the Crucified One, that your life may be renewed.
+Ephrem
Metropolitan of Tripoli, Al-Koura and their dependencies
The Sign of the Cross
Saint Basil the Great says, "In every thing we do, we make the sign of the cross over our faces...This custom did not come from the Bible [that is, literally in the form of a commandment], but holy tradition is what commands this." By this he meant the tradition of the Apostles, as is also the case with our praying toward the East, which is the name of Christ (cf. Zacharia 6:12 LXX) and the custom of triple-immersion in baptism.
In the view of this father and other holy fathers, the sign of the cross contains the two basic dogmas of the Orthodox Church: first, the dogma of the Trinity and second the dogma of the incarnation. We make the sign of the cross by putting together three fingers and then putting the remaining two fingers close to the palm.
First we put our fingers to the forehead, indicating heaven, then to the belly, indicating the earth, then to the right and left shoulders. Please be careful not to make the sign of the cross over your bodies quickly and carelessly. Let us be conscious of remembering the thee Persons, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, just as we are likewise aware of the other two fingers, Christ's human and divine natures.
Very often, we tie mentioning glory to the Trinity with the sign of the cross when we say "Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit."
The Evangelist John mentions that Christ indicated the hour of His death when He said, "Now the Son of Man is glorified and God is glorified in Him" (John 13: 31) and "With the glory that He had from the beginning" (John 17:5). In his first epistle, the Apostle Peter speaks of Christ who redeemed the world upon the cross with His precious blood as the sacrificial lamb "foreordained before the foundation of the world" (1 Peter 1:19-20).
Christ crucified is a paschal sacrifice: "Our Pascha is Christ who was crucified for us" (1 Corinthians 5:7).
This is the true meaning of the cross. This is the meaning of the divine liturgy, the divine sacrifice.
To all this we add that very often the sign of the cross is accompanied by a small or large prostration known as a 'metania', which means repentance. The small prostration is bending down to one's knees and the large one is down to the ground. We do this, for example, when we enter the church or when we kiss holy icons.
Beloved, make the sign of the cross with forethought, with understanding, with faith, with absolute hope in Christ crucified who loved us to the point of death on the cross. Make it with determination that you will crucify your passions in order to receive the grace of the Crucified One, that your life may be renewed.
+Ephrem
Metropolitan of Tripoli, Al-Koura and their dependencies
Thursday, October 16, 2014
Fr Georges Massouh on the West's Exploitation of the Middle East's Divisions
Arabic original here.
We Are Willingly Heading toward Civil Strife
Jamal al-Din al-Afghani (d. 1897) and Muhammad Abduh (d. 1905), the pioneers of Islamic reform in the modern era, were in agreement that the source of weakness and decline in Islamic society lies in the loss of unity between Muslims and that the fundamental factor behind the lack of unity lies in the division between Sunnis and Shi'a.
Al-Afghani believed that the enemies of Islam, by which he meant the European colonial powers, benefited from Islamic fragmentation and encouraged conflicts between the Islamic countries in order to weaken and subjugate them. For this reason, al-Afghani called for an Islamic state to emerge that would unite Sunnis and Shi'a under its banner. This would not happen, in his opinion, before urgent and serious effort could be made to bring about rapprochement between Sunni and Shi'i schools of thought.
Much time has passed and the situation has not changed. The enemies of Islam still benefit from intra-Islamic disagreements and exploit them to extend their domination and hegemony over our countries and to plunder our riches... Instead of us uniting to fight the enemies, we find ourselves fighting and slaughtering each other in the very name of God.
Indeed, the situation has not changed. At the end of the 19th century, al-Afghani wrote an article with the title "The West and the East" in which he presents the ways that the West goes about dominating the East. This article is as though it were written today, even though no small amount of time has passed since its writing.
Al-Afghani says, "There is no Western state knocking at the door of an Eastern kingdom that does not use as its excuse either preserving the sultan's rights or suppressing an uprising against the amir... or some other slander, trickery, deception or feeble pretext.
If these lies are not enough for them to remain, they invoke either the pretext of protecting Christians, protecting minorities, the rights and privileges of foreigners, the people's freedom, teaching them the basics of independence, gradually giving the people its right to self-government, or enriching a poor people by overseeing the resources of its wealth."
Al-Afghani continues by saying that the Easterners go back to giving themselves the excuse that the Westerners will fulfill their promise and leave them as "a free people, independent in the management of their own affairs and able to choose rulers from their own sons, those with the purest souls and the best way of life, the most forthright with the truth in word and deed." But what the Westerners actually do is a program that they bring from their own countries about the Easterners, "inert, ignorant, fanatical people fertile land, many minerals [and this before the discovery of oil!], large projects, a mild climate, we [i.e. the Westerners] shall be the first to enjoy it."
Al-Afghani concludes his characterization by saying that Westerners are devising a plan to gain control over the country by "marginalizing every free citizen who is able to openly make patriotic demands and promoting those with the basest concern, the furthest from the discussion of demanding justice. They enter our country by dividing it into sects and factions. They prefer one sect over another such that distrust reigns..."
Indeed, the situation has not changed. The West considers our land, our skies and our seas to be fair game. Once again it is colonizing us, plundering our riches, imposing tyrannical rulers on us. They promise us freedom, sovereignty, independence and human rights.. They lie and lie and lie... However, we can only blame ourselves. The West works for its own interests while we vainly fight with ourselves and willingly head towards civil strife. "Once bitten, twice shy", but here we are being bitten continuously.
We Are Willingly Heading toward Civil Strife
Jamal al-Din al-Afghani (d. 1897) and Muhammad Abduh (d. 1905), the pioneers of Islamic reform in the modern era, were in agreement that the source of weakness and decline in Islamic society lies in the loss of unity between Muslims and that the fundamental factor behind the lack of unity lies in the division between Sunnis and Shi'a.
Al-Afghani believed that the enemies of Islam, by which he meant the European colonial powers, benefited from Islamic fragmentation and encouraged conflicts between the Islamic countries in order to weaken and subjugate them. For this reason, al-Afghani called for an Islamic state to emerge that would unite Sunnis and Shi'a under its banner. This would not happen, in his opinion, before urgent and serious effort could be made to bring about rapprochement between Sunni and Shi'i schools of thought.
Much time has passed and the situation has not changed. The enemies of Islam still benefit from intra-Islamic disagreements and exploit them to extend their domination and hegemony over our countries and to plunder our riches... Instead of us uniting to fight the enemies, we find ourselves fighting and slaughtering each other in the very name of God.
Indeed, the situation has not changed. At the end of the 19th century, al-Afghani wrote an article with the title "The West and the East" in which he presents the ways that the West goes about dominating the East. This article is as though it were written today, even though no small amount of time has passed since its writing.
Al-Afghani says, "There is no Western state knocking at the door of an Eastern kingdom that does not use as its excuse either preserving the sultan's rights or suppressing an uprising against the amir... or some other slander, trickery, deception or feeble pretext.
If these lies are not enough for them to remain, they invoke either the pretext of protecting Christians, protecting minorities, the rights and privileges of foreigners, the people's freedom, teaching them the basics of independence, gradually giving the people its right to self-government, or enriching a poor people by overseeing the resources of its wealth."
Al-Afghani continues by saying that the Easterners go back to giving themselves the excuse that the Westerners will fulfill their promise and leave them as "a free people, independent in the management of their own affairs and able to choose rulers from their own sons, those with the purest souls and the best way of life, the most forthright with the truth in word and deed." But what the Westerners actually do is a program that they bring from their own countries about the Easterners, "inert, ignorant, fanatical people fertile land, many minerals [and this before the discovery of oil!], large projects, a mild climate, we [i.e. the Westerners] shall be the first to enjoy it."
Al-Afghani concludes his characterization by saying that Westerners are devising a plan to gain control over the country by "marginalizing every free citizen who is able to openly make patriotic demands and promoting those with the basest concern, the furthest from the discussion of demanding justice. They enter our country by dividing it into sects and factions. They prefer one sect over another such that distrust reigns..."
Indeed, the situation has not changed. The West considers our land, our skies and our seas to be fair game. Once again it is colonizing us, plundering our riches, imposing tyrannical rulers on us. They promise us freedom, sovereignty, independence and human rights.. They lie and lie and lie... However, we can only blame ourselves. The West works for its own interests while we vainly fight with ourselves and willingly head towards civil strife. "Once bitten, twice shy", but here we are being bitten continuously.
Wednesday, October 15, 2014
Fr Georges Massouh: We Need a True Islamic Enlightenment
Arabic original here.
Fr Georges Massouh: We Need a True Islamic Enlightenment
by Rahil Dendesh
The priest of the parish of Saint Georges, Fr Georges Massouh, was born in Aley in 1962. He received his doctorate from the Pontifical Institute in 1997 with the thesis "Christian Topics in the Works of Muslim Clerics in Lebanon 1975-1996" and then published a book entitled The Good Things to Come: Views on Christian-Muslim Rapprochement". He regularly publishes articles in various scholarly journals and has a weekly column in an-Nahar. He is director of the Center for Muslim-Christian Studies at Balamand University. We met with him to talk about the Arab revolutions and we had a long discussion that dealt with the necessity of reforming Islamic religious thought as an absolutely necessary prelude to undertaking true Arab revolutions.
The revolutions of the "Arab Spring" were not revolutions in the true since of the word according to Fr Georges Massouh. In his view, revolution means "development and forward progress, but we have not seen this in our societies where uprisings have occurred." Massouh believes that the revolutions have not realized what was hoped of them because they need preparation. Here he touches on the European revolutions, including the French Revolution which "came as the crowning and culmination of intellectual and scientific development, the introduction of critical thinking and the rationalization of religious thought that started with the Protestant movement, with Martin Luther who broke down the walls of the Church."
In his opinion, this has not yet happened in the Arab world, where "we do not have an advanced Arabic philosophy or great scientific, literary or intellectual production. For this reason, we see that the revolutions have raised slogans of returning backward and a revolution cannot succeed on the basis of an old promise."
Shari'a is not the Solution
Massouh summarizes the Arab scene in general in terms of intellectual decline, the reason for which is that religion is in a state of backwardness, where no new experiences have been allowed in, especially the contributions of modern science, particularly the human sciences such as sociology, linguistics, psychology and anthropology... These are some of the things that have had no influence on Islamic thought up to today. Consequently, this prevents the undertaking of any true revolution. As for the Arab Nahda, it was thwarted at the beginning of the twentieth century in terms of both secular and religious thought... "Religious thought has reversed course after Muhammad Abduh, which later produced the ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood. Secular thought, which had been developing over the course of the nineteenth century, suffered a setback on account of the authoritarian regimes." The causes for this reversal of course go back to various factors. First of all, the arrival of the foreign mandates after the fall of the Ottoman Empire and what is called colonialism. This led to the tyranny of reactionary thinking over Islamic thought, with the support of the Arab regimes. Important is the "infamous promise" to establish the state of Israel in 1917. As for the great reversal that has caused us to recede further and further, it came with the defeat of 1967, when the slogans "Islam is the solution" or "Shari'a is the solution" were brought out. Since then,we started to witness the rise of Islamic fundamentalist movements.
The Necessity of Individualism
The open-minded priest does not believe in the existence of a moderate Islam when it comes to the issue of the state because "All Islamists, moderate and immoderate, call for the establishment of an Islamic state, the application of Islamic law and an Islamic constitution."
He cites document from al-Azhar issued in 2011 which talks about the modern constitutional state while taking into account the goals of Islamic law and the proper understanding of Islam as defined by al-Azhar-- pointing out that in this manner al-Azhar is playing the role taken by the guardianship of the jurisprudent in Shi'ism-- to shows that there is no broader horizon, even for moderates. He very quickly indicates that he does not mean to generalize, but rather to talk about those with influence on the street. There are those who have worked and produced important intellectual advancements, such as Muhammad Arkoun, Nasr Abu Zayd and others, but these efforts have had a limited sphere of influence and so the plan of the Islamic state and the system of dhimmitude and everything connected with them remain live issues. Similiarly, Dr Massouh does not see in the fall of the Islamists' governments signs for hope that these legacies that are now quasi-axiomatic will be re-examined, since Islamic rule in Egypt was topped and the power of the military brought back the regime of Hosni Mubarak in a different guise.
"True revolution can neither be through a military coup or through Islamic law, so the problem we have is that democracy is not a universal culture but merely a tally of votes."
In talking about "the people", he points out that the "unenlightened segment of them" is only able to elect fundamentalists or authoritarians, while what we want is a civil state in every sense of the world. He stressed that we cannot take the term "modern" without taking the culture surrounding it. "For example, there are those who say that they are for a civil state but who reject civil marriage. What kind of civil state are we demanding if there is no legislation for civil marriage?" Also, democracy in Europe is based on the principle that the individual is the basis of society, while "for us, the individual does not exist. We have religious, sectarian, tribal and regional blocs." Fr Massouh puts forward the model of Lebanon, which some regard as a positive model, while in his opinion it is "the worst model that could be followed in the world." When we belong to the state, it must be separate from our belonging to a religion. We find that every sect is a state.
This does not mean that this man is calling to impose on our societies western experiences that have their own historical contexts. In this regard he says, "I am not in favor of cloning western or other models. We are eager to fashion our state as we ourselves want it, but we must start from a specific place. This place is religion, since it is a totalizing ideology that wears many garbs." Fr Massouh stresses that when we talk about the state, it is unacceptable for someone to come and speak to us of a religious state. There are new realities on the ground, most prominent of which is the concept of the civil state, while in Islamic thought there is the concept of the umma, which negates the concept of the state. It is impossible for us to take Islamic jurisprudence that is fourteen centuries old and apply it to our age. As long as the state is based on religious and sectarian thinking, "its condition will in no way hold up." Fr Massouh arrives at the pressing need for boldness in conducting Islamic legal reasoning, especially as regards the modern state. This requires there to be clerics who are reliable in their culture and knowledge to bring new legal reasoning and new thinking. In this context, he moves to Muslim-Christian dialogues, pointing out that the greatest responsibility lies on the majority: "Muslims' responsibility is greater than Christians' responsibility."
Fr Georges Massouh: We Need a True Islamic Enlightenment
by Rahil Dendesh
The priest of the parish of Saint Georges, Fr Georges Massouh, was born in Aley in 1962. He received his doctorate from the Pontifical Institute in 1997 with the thesis "Christian Topics in the Works of Muslim Clerics in Lebanon 1975-1996" and then published a book entitled The Good Things to Come: Views on Christian-Muslim Rapprochement". He regularly publishes articles in various scholarly journals and has a weekly column in an-Nahar. He is director of the Center for Muslim-Christian Studies at Balamand University. We met with him to talk about the Arab revolutions and we had a long discussion that dealt with the necessity of reforming Islamic religious thought as an absolutely necessary prelude to undertaking true Arab revolutions.
The revolutions of the "Arab Spring" were not revolutions in the true since of the word according to Fr Georges Massouh. In his view, revolution means "development and forward progress, but we have not seen this in our societies where uprisings have occurred." Massouh believes that the revolutions have not realized what was hoped of them because they need preparation. Here he touches on the European revolutions, including the French Revolution which "came as the crowning and culmination of intellectual and scientific development, the introduction of critical thinking and the rationalization of religious thought that started with the Protestant movement, with Martin Luther who broke down the walls of the Church."
In his opinion, this has not yet happened in the Arab world, where "we do not have an advanced Arabic philosophy or great scientific, literary or intellectual production. For this reason, we see that the revolutions have raised slogans of returning backward and a revolution cannot succeed on the basis of an old promise."
Shari'a is not the Solution
Massouh summarizes the Arab scene in general in terms of intellectual decline, the reason for which is that religion is in a state of backwardness, where no new experiences have been allowed in, especially the contributions of modern science, particularly the human sciences such as sociology, linguistics, psychology and anthropology... These are some of the things that have had no influence on Islamic thought up to today. Consequently, this prevents the undertaking of any true revolution. As for the Arab Nahda, it was thwarted at the beginning of the twentieth century in terms of both secular and religious thought... "Religious thought has reversed course after Muhammad Abduh, which later produced the ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood. Secular thought, which had been developing over the course of the nineteenth century, suffered a setback on account of the authoritarian regimes." The causes for this reversal of course go back to various factors. First of all, the arrival of the foreign mandates after the fall of the Ottoman Empire and what is called colonialism. This led to the tyranny of reactionary thinking over Islamic thought, with the support of the Arab regimes. Important is the "infamous promise" to establish the state of Israel in 1917. As for the great reversal that has caused us to recede further and further, it came with the defeat of 1967, when the slogans "Islam is the solution" or "Shari'a is the solution" were brought out. Since then,we started to witness the rise of Islamic fundamentalist movements.
The Necessity of Individualism
The open-minded priest does not believe in the existence of a moderate Islam when it comes to the issue of the state because "All Islamists, moderate and immoderate, call for the establishment of an Islamic state, the application of Islamic law and an Islamic constitution."
He cites document from al-Azhar issued in 2011 which talks about the modern constitutional state while taking into account the goals of Islamic law and the proper understanding of Islam as defined by al-Azhar-- pointing out that in this manner al-Azhar is playing the role taken by the guardianship of the jurisprudent in Shi'ism-- to shows that there is no broader horizon, even for moderates. He very quickly indicates that he does not mean to generalize, but rather to talk about those with influence on the street. There are those who have worked and produced important intellectual advancements, such as Muhammad Arkoun, Nasr Abu Zayd and others, but these efforts have had a limited sphere of influence and so the plan of the Islamic state and the system of dhimmitude and everything connected with them remain live issues. Similiarly, Dr Massouh does not see in the fall of the Islamists' governments signs for hope that these legacies that are now quasi-axiomatic will be re-examined, since Islamic rule in Egypt was topped and the power of the military brought back the regime of Hosni Mubarak in a different guise.
"True revolution can neither be through a military coup or through Islamic law, so the problem we have is that democracy is not a universal culture but merely a tally of votes."
In talking about "the people", he points out that the "unenlightened segment of them" is only able to elect fundamentalists or authoritarians, while what we want is a civil state in every sense of the world. He stressed that we cannot take the term "modern" without taking the culture surrounding it. "For example, there are those who say that they are for a civil state but who reject civil marriage. What kind of civil state are we demanding if there is no legislation for civil marriage?" Also, democracy in Europe is based on the principle that the individual is the basis of society, while "for us, the individual does not exist. We have religious, sectarian, tribal and regional blocs." Fr Massouh puts forward the model of Lebanon, which some regard as a positive model, while in his opinion it is "the worst model that could be followed in the world." When we belong to the state, it must be separate from our belonging to a religion. We find that every sect is a state.
This does not mean that this man is calling to impose on our societies western experiences that have their own historical contexts. In this regard he says, "I am not in favor of cloning western or other models. We are eager to fashion our state as we ourselves want it, but we must start from a specific place. This place is religion, since it is a totalizing ideology that wears many garbs." Fr Massouh stresses that when we talk about the state, it is unacceptable for someone to come and speak to us of a religious state. There are new realities on the ground, most prominent of which is the concept of the civil state, while in Islamic thought there is the concept of the umma, which negates the concept of the state. It is impossible for us to take Islamic jurisprudence that is fourteen centuries old and apply it to our age. As long as the state is based on religious and sectarian thinking, "its condition will in no way hold up." Fr Massouh arrives at the pressing need for boldness in conducting Islamic legal reasoning, especially as regards the modern state. This requires there to be clerics who are reliable in their culture and knowledge to bring new legal reasoning and new thinking. In this context, he moves to Muslim-Christian dialogues, pointing out that the greatest responsibility lies on the majority: "Muslims' responsibility is greater than Christians' responsibility."
Monday, October 13, 2014
Carol Saba on Ecclesiology and Church Governance in Antioch
This is lengthy but well worth the read. Arabic original, published before the Holy Synod of Antioch's meeting last week, here.
The Church's Direction and the Opposite Direction
In the East, the Holy Synod of Antioch will meet next week under the leadership of Patriarch John X. We hope-- and this appears to be the case-- that a follow-up on the important Antiochian Conference that was held last June and an examination of its recommendations will be on the agenda. Our hope is great and greater still are the challenges besetting us. In the West, tomorrow Pope Francis is inaugurating the general synod of the Catholic Church about marriage and the family. This synod is the first of its kind of Francis' papacy and the most comprehensive one to treat this critical social-ecclesial issue. More than two hundred bishops from all over the world will participate in its activities and discussions which will last from the 5th to the 10th of October. For the first time, lay men and women, representatives of Catholic organizations, and centers of public opinion will also be participating. The synod will treat all aspects of the problems, challenges, pressures and changes that affect marriage and the family in today's world. The hallmark of this synod is not its form or the fact that it is being held, although this is important in itself as it is a significant attempt on the part of the Catholic Church to closely, methodically and realistically approach the concerns of Christian families and to understand the social transformations that are affecting them today and their repercussions for Christian families as a whole, childbearing and marriage. Its hallmark lies in the way it is comprehensive, consultative and participatory, between the leadership and base of the church, as the Pope insisted that it be during the preparation for the synod, which took over a year, and its preparatory papers. Observers noted that it is the largest and most expansive in the history of the Catholic Church in terms of bringing together Church leadership, the Church's "base" and all segments of the people of God-- its organizations, representatives, elites, talented laypeople and clergy and the centers of public opinion in motion within them. The path being followed by the Pope to arrive at statements and suggestions that might be inspired by the Holy Spirit and which will be examined by the synod is a bottom-up and participatory path from the base to the synod, via elites, talented individuals and organizations up to the synod of bishops, cardinals and the Pope. Things have not proceeded in the inverse, top-down direction or by declaring things from above, as had happened in the past. That is, Church leadership issuing decisions from above without consultation, dialogue, or prior discussion with the base and with talented individuals in the Church and without allowing them to participate in the Church's decision-making process and the formulation of future ecclesial and pastoral decisions.
The Concept of Ecclesial Revolution, A Revolution against the Self, A Corrective Revolution in Direction and Mode of Action
This comprehensive bottom-up, participatory and consultative path that Pope Francis has followed since his election to the See of Rome-- not only in matters pertaining to the preparation of the Synod on the Family, but also in many other critical ecclesial matters-- is precisely what I meant in some of my previous writings by what I called an "ecclesial revolution" or "an evangelical revolution". By this I did not mean a revolution against anyone or a "turning of the tables", but rather a peaceful revolution, a revolution of love against the self, a revolution in the way of doing work, against the traditional methods that have been followed in the Church until now, but which are no longer appropriate for today's world. These methods have established a rift in the Church between the leadership and the base such that the leadership has come to be distant from its people and does not allow them to participate in making ecclesial and pastoral decisions, while the base, along with the elites and people with talent are forced to watch on in frustration at those "above" and wait to see what they will decide without their communicating with them, as though they were on another planet. Yes, the traditional way of doing things has hurt the Church and the ecclesiology of communion within her, as it has made the Church into a centralized church, which the Church should be expanding out to and into the world. It has made the Church into an institution with hierarchical decision-making, without consultation or participation, while the Church is constituted by spheres of communion and an evangelistic impetus and motion. It is not possible for the Church to be a church unless she is based first of all on consultation and communion and because she moves by this evangelistic spirit. It is after this that she can produce from her evangelistic womb a hierarchy of decision-making that is inspired by God. This path being taken by Pope Francis, which represents a complete change of direction, is thus a "revolution against the self" in the fullest sense. The same holds true for all the churches today, including for glimpses of hope within the Antiochian Church. This is the evangelistic revolution that I called upon our beloved Patriarch John to lead on the level of all of Antioch, along with our Holy Synod and its bishops whom we honor and revere for their undertaking the initiative for this right now and no later, to ward off dangers and to restore the connection between the base and the leadership and put the Church's impetus in the right direction. The recent Antiochian Conference was only a first step and a good beginning along this path. It may bear fruit if we know how to fertilize it quickly and follow up on it. Or it might fall like the seeds that fell by the roadside, if we do not rise to the essence of the God-inspired formula that has set the immobile into motion, thanks to Patriarch John and his boldness, toward the call to the recent Antiochian Unity Conference, despite all the difficult situations facing the region and the Church.
Is the General Antiochian Conference something accidental and unnecessary in the life and governance of the See of Antioch, or is it a pivotal event in the life of ecclesial communion within her?
There is a common saying and formula that has become law in Antioch during the 20th century that says, "The Holy Synod is the highest authority in the Church." This formula may be true in the Church and compatible with the ecclesiology of communion in the Orthodox Church if the life of communion gradually progresses upwards in the Church, in word and deed, within spheres of communion that expand and move forward from the local church (from the smallest to the largest congregation), gradually step-by-step and stage by stage, like the ascent of Moses up the holy mountain to arrive at the spiritual vision described by Saint Gregory of Nyssa in his Life of Moses. This formula may be true if ecclesial life is based on conciliarity in the broad sense-- that is, in constant and continuous participation and consultation. At that point, it will produce a hierarchy of decision-making inspired by the Holy Spirit and expressing the Church's experience in her journey towards the Kingdom. I will not enter here into the debate about the word "authority" and whether this word expresses the essence of the Church as serving. Metropolitan Anthony Bloom, the famous Russian bishop of London of thrice-blessed memory and one of the most important theological and patristic figures of the 20th century, did not consider the bishop of a diocese (or the priest in his parish or the patriarch in his church) as "chief" but rather as "foremost father". He did not consider him to be the "director", but rather the "motivator". He did not consider him to be the "decision-maker" in everything, but rather "the final reference" in critical matters. He did not consider him to be the "holder of authority", but rather "like a responsible servant" who does not hold a monopoly of authority, but rather holds a right to veto in critical matters that if they drifted away from the Church's course, would threaten the Church's unity. Is this not the most soundly Orthodox ecclesial expression of what is meant in the liturgy when we say that the bishop is "rightly-dividing the word of truth"? That is, that he is the sword of truth that divides between two positions, one that is upright and one that has deviated from it, and so the bishop divides them? Talk of authority might cause murmurs in the minds of the faithful, and cause them to believe that in the Church there are those who hold authority and those who do not hold authority, while all of us in the Church are responsible in communion and participation for building her up. When Antioch says that the Synod is the highest authority, it does not mean, in my ecclesiological reading, that it is the only authority in the Antiochian Church. The See of Antioch's statute of councils talks of a hierarchy in the composition of authority in the dioceses and cumulatively in the See of Antioch. So the diocesan conference and community council in each diocese are a necessary part of constituting the governance of the Patriarchate of Antioch as a whole. But where are the dioceses at in terms of implementing this canon? Who is applying this canon today? The statute of councils also speaks, albeit quickly and incidentally, about the "General Orthodox Conference of the See of Antioch and places it on the level of necessity ("when necessary, the patriarch calls for a general Orthodox conference for the See of Antioch..."). It does not establish mechanisms for its activity or whether its nature is advisory or to some extent mandatory, but rather says that it brings recommendations to the Synod. In our opinion, this conference is a fundamental and pivotal sphere for the governance of the Antiochian Church as a whole and for the life of communion at the level of the See and its governance, today more than at any time in the past.
The Blowing of the Holy Spirit and Conciliarity in the Church
The Holy Synod is the place where Antiochian unity is manifest. It is the final reference for the organs of the Church that make positive conclusions effective and possible in the life of the Antiochian Church. Today there is a lot of talk about the patriarch's relationship to the synod, where the patriarch stands with regard to the synod, and what the limits there are to the patriarch's activity outside the synodal framework, etc. Then, are we a conciliar church, a patriarchal church or a church that is at once conciliar and patriarchal? The picture cannot be limited in this way. We do not want blocs in the synod, whether with or against the patriarch, with or against this metropolitan or that, or blocs of metropolitans supporting the line of this or that metropolitan. The synod is not a place of competition, but of complementarity. It is not a place for positioning-- the positioning of synodal blocs against each other-- but the place of harmony. It is the place where positive ecclesial conclusions are made, with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The blowing of the Holy Spirit in the Orthodox Church is not an instantaneous or automatic process that happens merely through the calling down the Holy Spirit. Humans cannot force the presence of the Holy Spirit and the All-Holy Spirit does not submit to the inevitability of our demands and supplicatory prayers for His presence. The Holy Spirit does not blow if this blowing is not translated as a grace that builds up the Church and supports her efforts to perfect the Church's structure here and now. The Holy Spirit's blowing is not limited to a single place (the synod's meeting place) or a single time (the time of the synod's meeting). Rather, it is a constant process of accompaniment and consciousness-raising that never tires and of warning that does not cease. It is a cumulative, bottom-up process in which graces develop and strengthen to the degree that the people of God and their leadership interact with these graces, positively or negatively. To the degree that the soil is prepared, grace grows, develops and bears fruit in the synod. If the soil is not prepared in the body of the Church, then grace falls on the roadside and on ground that is not fertile for the Church. The only thing that reaches the synod is worldly, human division about decision-making, which at that point cannot be anything more than an expression of conflicting worldly concerns, not the result inspired by God. The activity of the Holy Spirit's continuous blowing in the Church is thus before, during and after the meeting of the Holy Synod, as part of the Church's forward march. This blowing does not stop. Its fruits are many and numerous when the Church is allowed to live in an ecclesial state that permits synergy among all spheres of the Church, from the base to the summit, including all the gifts that are found in between. The process of producing positive conclusions inspired by the Holy Spirit is an unceasing, continuous, systematic process in all spheres of the Church to successively raise ideas, recommendations, studies and experiences from the bottom to the top, in which they are scrutinized, studied, shaped and purified before reaching the synod as dough kneaded with the Church's local experiences. The leaders and wise men of the Church-- that is, our bishops-- then study them according to their expertise, wisdom, knowledge and prudence. They correct what needs correcting, praise what needs to be praised, and announce the positive conclusion inspired by the Holy Spirit. This upward path that resembles Moses' ascent up the mountain is the Church's proper path. It permits leavening the ascent toward spiritual vision. This is a process of rising, not a process of announcing from above. This path does not stop with one issue, but rather includes everything-- including the election of bishops in the synod, so that the God-loving people may have a word in the election of their pastors. This is the issue. The choice is not the synod's issue only. The question being raised today to the conscience of the Antiochian Church is: if we continue along the traditional manner that fragments the life of communion in the Church, are we facilitating the Holy Spirit's blowing in the synod or are we impeding it?
Reform or renewal? The logic of centralization, the logic of the network or both? Challenges of the Church's governance in today's world.
The problem in the Church today is not reform or renewal. I believe in the idea of renewal instead of reform in the Church. Renewal does not start off on the basis of reforming that which is corrupt or changing that which must be changed. Rather, it starts off on the basis of the idea of renewal from within. That is, establishing a formula for discussion and outreach between traditionalist actors (those who resist on the basis of what they know or don't know of renewal) and non-traditionalist actors who work for renewal with patience and constancy without "combating" traditionalist actors but rather just the opposite, working to form bonds of trust and cooperation with them in order to achieve results. The first way, the way of confrontation through change and reform, quickly results in burning bridges and then at an impasse, while the way of renewal, which requires building bonds of trust and cooperation in which there is a give-and-take, may take time, but it may also bring results because it does not reject other actors, but rather tries to approach them and build rapprochement between separated elements. In the Church, only the second way is close to the Gospel's formula which does not seek the death of a sinner, but rather to save him and reform his sin. The problem posed in all the churches today, including the Antiochian Church, is the problem of renewing and modernizing church governance so that it will be appropriate to an ecclesiology of communion and to the transformations of today's world so that we will not find ourselves in a state of constant disconnect. The Catholic model of church governance is based on the idea of a pyramid and the absolute centralization of leadership around the Pope, while the Orthodox Church has historically been based on conciliar spheres and on the idea of the patriarch as first among equals. The first model has resulted in a dead end, in the monopolization of everything in the hands of the Pope. It has even resulted in ecclesiological deviation, in its removing the bishop of Rome from the normal structure of the Church and, at the First Vatican Council, granting him infalliability. Here Pope Francis is calling for a return to conciliar roots and a widening of the framework for consultation in the decision-making process. On the other hand, the Orthodox Church, whose tradition is based on conciliarity, the correct tradition ecclesiologically speaking, has for ages been confronted with a problem that in today's globalized world has become manifestly obvious: a problem in managing this conciliarity, in structure, and in the hierarchy of decision-making. There was also a deviation toward a nominally conciliar form of governance, which in fact tended toward one form or another of Caesaro-Papism through patriarchs' efforts to produce loyal majorities in their holy synods that would help them to implement their policies, and so the selection of bishops has been on that basis. The Catholic model has reached a dead end, but so has the Orthodox model in general. Continuing today with absolute centralization (as in Catholicism through infallibility and the institution of the Vatican) or relative (as in Orthodoxy as with the patriarch through a synod of one mind with him that never raises opposition) in the time of all the activities in today's world based on the idea of the network is not only a factor for schizophrenia within the institution of the Church, but also a cause for serious crises. With Pope Francis, the Catholic Church today is working to escape from this crisis-ridden formula. The Church is not entirely found in the center, nor is it entirely found in the network. It is in a model that gives centralization its proper place within the network. That is, in comprehensive conciliarity at all levels along with a hierarchy of decision-making that submits to it. Today there must be a renewed form of governance based on the principle of conciliarity and on the principle of hierarchical decision-making and follow-up on its implementation. The Holy Synod of Antioch must develop its activity and propose these correctives, so that we can bring the Church out of the sterile contradictions that make her lethargic and unable to move to meet the modernity of today's world. As for the role of the patriarch, it is critical to this equation, especially in a world that demands the image of a leader. Thus there is the idea of the office of leadership that the patriarch must have within, through and in agreement with the synod. The synod must have a new mechanism for action. Faced with tremendous and rapid changes, the Holy Synod of Antioch cannot continue to only hold two meetings a year. It must consider a lesser synod that meets regularly or monthly and an expanded synod. The expanded synod can agree upon the list of matters where the patriarch can act through the lesser synod. In today's world and what it requires in terms of representation, communication, rapid mobility from one place to another and from one continent to another, rapid follow-up with authorities, leaders and churches, the patriarch cannot be limited to specific competencies such as we may want to limit them. If we do so, we will wind up paralyzing the Church. In today's moving, globalized world, leadership is something very important. That which guarantees the Church against any deviation of its leadership toward papal or authoritarian methods lies in the proper structuring of the Church as an institution and in the application of the ecclesiology of communion at every level of the Church. The participation of all in consultation and the decision-making process, transparency, being systematic, and accountability all ensure that it will not deviate toward authoritarianism or papism.
The Recommendations and the Mechanism for Following up on the Antiochian Conference
Beyond the recommendations, it is necessary to move from a state of non-participation and involving others to a state of systematic and continuous involvement. The Antiochian Conference was a promising beginning, an unexpected grace and a valuable gift from the Lord in these turbulent times. However, if it remains an "orphan" and we return to traditional methodologies within the synod and outside it (even if the synod approves of some of the recommendations brought to it), then we will have eliminated the elements and engines of renewal in the Church. In effect, we will have brought people to the well of living water and then cut the rope. The problem is not one of momentary recommendations that were made at a specific time and were studied by a committee that made a report to the Holy Synod and not to those at the conference. Who ever said that in all their number the recommendations at the recent conference express all the expectations, issues and concerns of the body of the Antiochian Church? A large proportion of the organizations, prominent figures and lovers of the Church were not represented and active at the conference. The conference did not touch on all the sensitive issues and other things that are impeding the work of the Church. Even if the coming synod decides on some of the recommendations, who will debate with the synod and ask by what standard some recommendations are accepted and others not and why some of them are rejected but not others? The recommendations always need to be renewed, brought up to date, developed and revised along with the development of life and new approaches. How do we approach the changes going on in our societies, for example? The same is true for the concerns of the youth, their expectations and ways of moving forward in the world and in the Church today, transformations in the family, new standards of diakonia and renewed pastoral care, the Church and solidarity during the economic crisis and the role of Balamand in all of this. It is a necessary question to ask about a re-evaluation and a total and comprehensive re-formulation of Balamand's role and its renewal in order to be suited to today's challenges, etc. All of these are sensitive issues that were not touched upon by the conference. Thus, we need to move from the idea of the ephemeral conference to a state of "constant conferencing" through a follow-up mechanism that lays the foundation in word and deed, with all the necessary transparency and deliberateness, for a participatory and collaborative state of open dialogue between the leadership and the base.
Finally, Some Proposals:
1. Appointing a permanent secretary-general for the General Antiochian Conference (from the Mother Church and the diaspora), to follow up and expand on its work and to make a dossier of its terms and goals in order to follow up on the work and the collective effort that was made at the conference and to cause it to bear fruit on numerous fronts.
2. Creating a special website for the Antiochian Conference for interaction and communication. All the contributions that were presented at the conference should be posted on it. There should be an electronic forum for expanding on the contributions and an invitation to all to extend the site with recommendations and contributions.
3. An expanded advisory body must be appointed for the Antiochian Church whose responsibilities would be 1) making a total and comprehensive inventory of the place of renewal in the Antiochian Church today on the basis of the recommendations presented by those attending the recent conference, along with the possibility of expanding the spheres of consultation to new actors who did not participate in the conference but whom the committee could listen to and 2) putting together a scientific and churchly methodology for following up on implementing a comprehensive plan for renewal, with the agreement of the patriarch and the Holy Synod.
4. In sensitive issues such as social changes, the family and public affairs, use should be made of the idea of a "special synod", which would study these issues deeply in all their aspects alongside specialists and all those concerned. It could begin by forming committees specialized in these issues so as to start work on them before the launching of these special synods.
The Church's Direction and the Opposite Direction
In the East, the Holy Synod of Antioch will meet next week under the leadership of Patriarch John X. We hope-- and this appears to be the case-- that a follow-up on the important Antiochian Conference that was held last June and an examination of its recommendations will be on the agenda. Our hope is great and greater still are the challenges besetting us. In the West, tomorrow Pope Francis is inaugurating the general synod of the Catholic Church about marriage and the family. This synod is the first of its kind of Francis' papacy and the most comprehensive one to treat this critical social-ecclesial issue. More than two hundred bishops from all over the world will participate in its activities and discussions which will last from the 5th to the 10th of October. For the first time, lay men and women, representatives of Catholic organizations, and centers of public opinion will also be participating. The synod will treat all aspects of the problems, challenges, pressures and changes that affect marriage and the family in today's world. The hallmark of this synod is not its form or the fact that it is being held, although this is important in itself as it is a significant attempt on the part of the Catholic Church to closely, methodically and realistically approach the concerns of Christian families and to understand the social transformations that are affecting them today and their repercussions for Christian families as a whole, childbearing and marriage. Its hallmark lies in the way it is comprehensive, consultative and participatory, between the leadership and base of the church, as the Pope insisted that it be during the preparation for the synod, which took over a year, and its preparatory papers. Observers noted that it is the largest and most expansive in the history of the Catholic Church in terms of bringing together Church leadership, the Church's "base" and all segments of the people of God-- its organizations, representatives, elites, talented laypeople and clergy and the centers of public opinion in motion within them. The path being followed by the Pope to arrive at statements and suggestions that might be inspired by the Holy Spirit and which will be examined by the synod is a bottom-up and participatory path from the base to the synod, via elites, talented individuals and organizations up to the synod of bishops, cardinals and the Pope. Things have not proceeded in the inverse, top-down direction or by declaring things from above, as had happened in the past. That is, Church leadership issuing decisions from above without consultation, dialogue, or prior discussion with the base and with talented individuals in the Church and without allowing them to participate in the Church's decision-making process and the formulation of future ecclesial and pastoral decisions.
The Concept of Ecclesial Revolution, A Revolution against the Self, A Corrective Revolution in Direction and Mode of Action
This comprehensive bottom-up, participatory and consultative path that Pope Francis has followed since his election to the See of Rome-- not only in matters pertaining to the preparation of the Synod on the Family, but also in many other critical ecclesial matters-- is precisely what I meant in some of my previous writings by what I called an "ecclesial revolution" or "an evangelical revolution". By this I did not mean a revolution against anyone or a "turning of the tables", but rather a peaceful revolution, a revolution of love against the self, a revolution in the way of doing work, against the traditional methods that have been followed in the Church until now, but which are no longer appropriate for today's world. These methods have established a rift in the Church between the leadership and the base such that the leadership has come to be distant from its people and does not allow them to participate in making ecclesial and pastoral decisions, while the base, along with the elites and people with talent are forced to watch on in frustration at those "above" and wait to see what they will decide without their communicating with them, as though they were on another planet. Yes, the traditional way of doing things has hurt the Church and the ecclesiology of communion within her, as it has made the Church into a centralized church, which the Church should be expanding out to and into the world. It has made the Church into an institution with hierarchical decision-making, without consultation or participation, while the Church is constituted by spheres of communion and an evangelistic impetus and motion. It is not possible for the Church to be a church unless she is based first of all on consultation and communion and because she moves by this evangelistic spirit. It is after this that she can produce from her evangelistic womb a hierarchy of decision-making that is inspired by God. This path being taken by Pope Francis, which represents a complete change of direction, is thus a "revolution against the self" in the fullest sense. The same holds true for all the churches today, including for glimpses of hope within the Antiochian Church. This is the evangelistic revolution that I called upon our beloved Patriarch John to lead on the level of all of Antioch, along with our Holy Synod and its bishops whom we honor and revere for their undertaking the initiative for this right now and no later, to ward off dangers and to restore the connection between the base and the leadership and put the Church's impetus in the right direction. The recent Antiochian Conference was only a first step and a good beginning along this path. It may bear fruit if we know how to fertilize it quickly and follow up on it. Or it might fall like the seeds that fell by the roadside, if we do not rise to the essence of the God-inspired formula that has set the immobile into motion, thanks to Patriarch John and his boldness, toward the call to the recent Antiochian Unity Conference, despite all the difficult situations facing the region and the Church.
Is the General Antiochian Conference something accidental and unnecessary in the life and governance of the See of Antioch, or is it a pivotal event in the life of ecclesial communion within her?
There is a common saying and formula that has become law in Antioch during the 20th century that says, "The Holy Synod is the highest authority in the Church." This formula may be true in the Church and compatible with the ecclesiology of communion in the Orthodox Church if the life of communion gradually progresses upwards in the Church, in word and deed, within spheres of communion that expand and move forward from the local church (from the smallest to the largest congregation), gradually step-by-step and stage by stage, like the ascent of Moses up the holy mountain to arrive at the spiritual vision described by Saint Gregory of Nyssa in his Life of Moses. This formula may be true if ecclesial life is based on conciliarity in the broad sense-- that is, in constant and continuous participation and consultation. At that point, it will produce a hierarchy of decision-making inspired by the Holy Spirit and expressing the Church's experience in her journey towards the Kingdom. I will not enter here into the debate about the word "authority" and whether this word expresses the essence of the Church as serving. Metropolitan Anthony Bloom, the famous Russian bishop of London of thrice-blessed memory and one of the most important theological and patristic figures of the 20th century, did not consider the bishop of a diocese (or the priest in his parish or the patriarch in his church) as "chief" but rather as "foremost father". He did not consider him to be the "director", but rather the "motivator". He did not consider him to be the "decision-maker" in everything, but rather "the final reference" in critical matters. He did not consider him to be the "holder of authority", but rather "like a responsible servant" who does not hold a monopoly of authority, but rather holds a right to veto in critical matters that if they drifted away from the Church's course, would threaten the Church's unity. Is this not the most soundly Orthodox ecclesial expression of what is meant in the liturgy when we say that the bishop is "rightly-dividing the word of truth"? That is, that he is the sword of truth that divides between two positions, one that is upright and one that has deviated from it, and so the bishop divides them? Talk of authority might cause murmurs in the minds of the faithful, and cause them to believe that in the Church there are those who hold authority and those who do not hold authority, while all of us in the Church are responsible in communion and participation for building her up. When Antioch says that the Synod is the highest authority, it does not mean, in my ecclesiological reading, that it is the only authority in the Antiochian Church. The See of Antioch's statute of councils talks of a hierarchy in the composition of authority in the dioceses and cumulatively in the See of Antioch. So the diocesan conference and community council in each diocese are a necessary part of constituting the governance of the Patriarchate of Antioch as a whole. But where are the dioceses at in terms of implementing this canon? Who is applying this canon today? The statute of councils also speaks, albeit quickly and incidentally, about the "General Orthodox Conference of the See of Antioch and places it on the level of necessity ("when necessary, the patriarch calls for a general Orthodox conference for the See of Antioch..."). It does not establish mechanisms for its activity or whether its nature is advisory or to some extent mandatory, but rather says that it brings recommendations to the Synod. In our opinion, this conference is a fundamental and pivotal sphere for the governance of the Antiochian Church as a whole and for the life of communion at the level of the See and its governance, today more than at any time in the past.
The Blowing of the Holy Spirit and Conciliarity in the Church
The Holy Synod is the place where Antiochian unity is manifest. It is the final reference for the organs of the Church that make positive conclusions effective and possible in the life of the Antiochian Church. Today there is a lot of talk about the patriarch's relationship to the synod, where the patriarch stands with regard to the synod, and what the limits there are to the patriarch's activity outside the synodal framework, etc. Then, are we a conciliar church, a patriarchal church or a church that is at once conciliar and patriarchal? The picture cannot be limited in this way. We do not want blocs in the synod, whether with or against the patriarch, with or against this metropolitan or that, or blocs of metropolitans supporting the line of this or that metropolitan. The synod is not a place of competition, but of complementarity. It is not a place for positioning-- the positioning of synodal blocs against each other-- but the place of harmony. It is the place where positive ecclesial conclusions are made, with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The blowing of the Holy Spirit in the Orthodox Church is not an instantaneous or automatic process that happens merely through the calling down the Holy Spirit. Humans cannot force the presence of the Holy Spirit and the All-Holy Spirit does not submit to the inevitability of our demands and supplicatory prayers for His presence. The Holy Spirit does not blow if this blowing is not translated as a grace that builds up the Church and supports her efforts to perfect the Church's structure here and now. The Holy Spirit's blowing is not limited to a single place (the synod's meeting place) or a single time (the time of the synod's meeting). Rather, it is a constant process of accompaniment and consciousness-raising that never tires and of warning that does not cease. It is a cumulative, bottom-up process in which graces develop and strengthen to the degree that the people of God and their leadership interact with these graces, positively or negatively. To the degree that the soil is prepared, grace grows, develops and bears fruit in the synod. If the soil is not prepared in the body of the Church, then grace falls on the roadside and on ground that is not fertile for the Church. The only thing that reaches the synod is worldly, human division about decision-making, which at that point cannot be anything more than an expression of conflicting worldly concerns, not the result inspired by God. The activity of the Holy Spirit's continuous blowing in the Church is thus before, during and after the meeting of the Holy Synod, as part of the Church's forward march. This blowing does not stop. Its fruits are many and numerous when the Church is allowed to live in an ecclesial state that permits synergy among all spheres of the Church, from the base to the summit, including all the gifts that are found in between. The process of producing positive conclusions inspired by the Holy Spirit is an unceasing, continuous, systematic process in all spheres of the Church to successively raise ideas, recommendations, studies and experiences from the bottom to the top, in which they are scrutinized, studied, shaped and purified before reaching the synod as dough kneaded with the Church's local experiences. The leaders and wise men of the Church-- that is, our bishops-- then study them according to their expertise, wisdom, knowledge and prudence. They correct what needs correcting, praise what needs to be praised, and announce the positive conclusion inspired by the Holy Spirit. This upward path that resembles Moses' ascent up the mountain is the Church's proper path. It permits leavening the ascent toward spiritual vision. This is a process of rising, not a process of announcing from above. This path does not stop with one issue, but rather includes everything-- including the election of bishops in the synod, so that the God-loving people may have a word in the election of their pastors. This is the issue. The choice is not the synod's issue only. The question being raised today to the conscience of the Antiochian Church is: if we continue along the traditional manner that fragments the life of communion in the Church, are we facilitating the Holy Spirit's blowing in the synod or are we impeding it?
Reform or renewal? The logic of centralization, the logic of the network or both? Challenges of the Church's governance in today's world.
The problem in the Church today is not reform or renewal. I believe in the idea of renewal instead of reform in the Church. Renewal does not start off on the basis of reforming that which is corrupt or changing that which must be changed. Rather, it starts off on the basis of the idea of renewal from within. That is, establishing a formula for discussion and outreach between traditionalist actors (those who resist on the basis of what they know or don't know of renewal) and non-traditionalist actors who work for renewal with patience and constancy without "combating" traditionalist actors but rather just the opposite, working to form bonds of trust and cooperation with them in order to achieve results. The first way, the way of confrontation through change and reform, quickly results in burning bridges and then at an impasse, while the way of renewal, which requires building bonds of trust and cooperation in which there is a give-and-take, may take time, but it may also bring results because it does not reject other actors, but rather tries to approach them and build rapprochement between separated elements. In the Church, only the second way is close to the Gospel's formula which does not seek the death of a sinner, but rather to save him and reform his sin. The problem posed in all the churches today, including the Antiochian Church, is the problem of renewing and modernizing church governance so that it will be appropriate to an ecclesiology of communion and to the transformations of today's world so that we will not find ourselves in a state of constant disconnect. The Catholic model of church governance is based on the idea of a pyramid and the absolute centralization of leadership around the Pope, while the Orthodox Church has historically been based on conciliar spheres and on the idea of the patriarch as first among equals. The first model has resulted in a dead end, in the monopolization of everything in the hands of the Pope. It has even resulted in ecclesiological deviation, in its removing the bishop of Rome from the normal structure of the Church and, at the First Vatican Council, granting him infalliability. Here Pope Francis is calling for a return to conciliar roots and a widening of the framework for consultation in the decision-making process. On the other hand, the Orthodox Church, whose tradition is based on conciliarity, the correct tradition ecclesiologically speaking, has for ages been confronted with a problem that in today's globalized world has become manifestly obvious: a problem in managing this conciliarity, in structure, and in the hierarchy of decision-making. There was also a deviation toward a nominally conciliar form of governance, which in fact tended toward one form or another of Caesaro-Papism through patriarchs' efforts to produce loyal majorities in their holy synods that would help them to implement their policies, and so the selection of bishops has been on that basis. The Catholic model has reached a dead end, but so has the Orthodox model in general. Continuing today with absolute centralization (as in Catholicism through infallibility and the institution of the Vatican) or relative (as in Orthodoxy as with the patriarch through a synod of one mind with him that never raises opposition) in the time of all the activities in today's world based on the idea of the network is not only a factor for schizophrenia within the institution of the Church, but also a cause for serious crises. With Pope Francis, the Catholic Church today is working to escape from this crisis-ridden formula. The Church is not entirely found in the center, nor is it entirely found in the network. It is in a model that gives centralization its proper place within the network. That is, in comprehensive conciliarity at all levels along with a hierarchy of decision-making that submits to it. Today there must be a renewed form of governance based on the principle of conciliarity and on the principle of hierarchical decision-making and follow-up on its implementation. The Holy Synod of Antioch must develop its activity and propose these correctives, so that we can bring the Church out of the sterile contradictions that make her lethargic and unable to move to meet the modernity of today's world. As for the role of the patriarch, it is critical to this equation, especially in a world that demands the image of a leader. Thus there is the idea of the office of leadership that the patriarch must have within, through and in agreement with the synod. The synod must have a new mechanism for action. Faced with tremendous and rapid changes, the Holy Synod of Antioch cannot continue to only hold two meetings a year. It must consider a lesser synod that meets regularly or monthly and an expanded synod. The expanded synod can agree upon the list of matters where the patriarch can act through the lesser synod. In today's world and what it requires in terms of representation, communication, rapid mobility from one place to another and from one continent to another, rapid follow-up with authorities, leaders and churches, the patriarch cannot be limited to specific competencies such as we may want to limit them. If we do so, we will wind up paralyzing the Church. In today's moving, globalized world, leadership is something very important. That which guarantees the Church against any deviation of its leadership toward papal or authoritarian methods lies in the proper structuring of the Church as an institution and in the application of the ecclesiology of communion at every level of the Church. The participation of all in consultation and the decision-making process, transparency, being systematic, and accountability all ensure that it will not deviate toward authoritarianism or papism.
The Recommendations and the Mechanism for Following up on the Antiochian Conference
Beyond the recommendations, it is necessary to move from a state of non-participation and involving others to a state of systematic and continuous involvement. The Antiochian Conference was a promising beginning, an unexpected grace and a valuable gift from the Lord in these turbulent times. However, if it remains an "orphan" and we return to traditional methodologies within the synod and outside it (even if the synod approves of some of the recommendations brought to it), then we will have eliminated the elements and engines of renewal in the Church. In effect, we will have brought people to the well of living water and then cut the rope. The problem is not one of momentary recommendations that were made at a specific time and were studied by a committee that made a report to the Holy Synod and not to those at the conference. Who ever said that in all their number the recommendations at the recent conference express all the expectations, issues and concerns of the body of the Antiochian Church? A large proportion of the organizations, prominent figures and lovers of the Church were not represented and active at the conference. The conference did not touch on all the sensitive issues and other things that are impeding the work of the Church. Even if the coming synod decides on some of the recommendations, who will debate with the synod and ask by what standard some recommendations are accepted and others not and why some of them are rejected but not others? The recommendations always need to be renewed, brought up to date, developed and revised along with the development of life and new approaches. How do we approach the changes going on in our societies, for example? The same is true for the concerns of the youth, their expectations and ways of moving forward in the world and in the Church today, transformations in the family, new standards of diakonia and renewed pastoral care, the Church and solidarity during the economic crisis and the role of Balamand in all of this. It is a necessary question to ask about a re-evaluation and a total and comprehensive re-formulation of Balamand's role and its renewal in order to be suited to today's challenges, etc. All of these are sensitive issues that were not touched upon by the conference. Thus, we need to move from the idea of the ephemeral conference to a state of "constant conferencing" through a follow-up mechanism that lays the foundation in word and deed, with all the necessary transparency and deliberateness, for a participatory and collaborative state of open dialogue between the leadership and the base.
Finally, Some Proposals:
1. Appointing a permanent secretary-general for the General Antiochian Conference (from the Mother Church and the diaspora), to follow up and expand on its work and to make a dossier of its terms and goals in order to follow up on the work and the collective effort that was made at the conference and to cause it to bear fruit on numerous fronts.
2. Creating a special website for the Antiochian Conference for interaction and communication. All the contributions that were presented at the conference should be posted on it. There should be an electronic forum for expanding on the contributions and an invitation to all to extend the site with recommendations and contributions.
3. An expanded advisory body must be appointed for the Antiochian Church whose responsibilities would be 1) making a total and comprehensive inventory of the place of renewal in the Antiochian Church today on the basis of the recommendations presented by those attending the recent conference, along with the possibility of expanding the spheres of consultation to new actors who did not participate in the conference but whom the committee could listen to and 2) putting together a scientific and churchly methodology for following up on implementing a comprehensive plan for renewal, with the agreement of the patriarch and the Holy Synod.
4. In sensitive issues such as social changes, the family and public affairs, use should be made of the idea of a "special synod", which would study these issues deeply in all their aspects alongside specialists and all those concerned. It could begin by forming committees specialized in these issues so as to start work on them before the launching of these special synods.
Sunday, October 12, 2014
Another Protest by Jordanian Orthodox in Support of Archimandrite Christophoros
Arabic original here.
Orthodox Demonstrate in Support of Archimandrite
Christophoros
For the second week in a row, large numbers from the Arab
Orthodox Church have demonstrated in rejection of the policy followed by the
Greek Orthodox Patriarchate at the Monastery of Our Lady The Virgin Mary The Life-Giving Spring in Dibbeen, renewing their absolute support for the Arab Archimandrite
Christophoros Atallah and affirming their position rejecting the intervention
of the Jordanian government in the internal decisions of the Church. Church
members regard the decisions of the Greek Patriarch Theophilos to banish
Archimandrite Christophoros, founder of the first monastery in Jordan, as being
malicious.
Particularly noteworthy was the presence of current and
former, Christian and non-Christian members of the Jordanian parliament who
stood alongside church members and Orthodox organizations in embracing the
demands of the Orthodox flock.
The MPs denounced the government’s intervention in internal
church matters and its failure to apply law number 27 of 1958, which has led to
the patriarch unilaterally issuing unfair and inflammatory decisions that do
not serve the interests of the Church and are completely contrary to the
historical demands of the faithful.
Prominent among those in present at the monastery were MP
Jamil Nimri and MP Tarek Khoury, who expressed their absolute support for the
legitimate demands being made by the Arab Orthodox flock in Jordan. The MPs
stressed the necessity of knowing the government’s motives for intervening in
the internal church matter insofar as the Patriarchate of Jerusalem is an
institution subject to Jordanian law which must respect all provisions of the
law and not merely involve the government when it deems doing so useful.
The president of the Orthodox Association, the engineer
Bassem Farraj expressed the total rejection of the decision by Orthodox
organizations. He also congratulated the election of the Jordanian Archimandrite Qays Sadek
as a bishop in the Church of Antioch.
Various media personalities and writers who were present at
the monastery expressed their denunciation of the decision to move Archimandrite Christophoros Atallah away from Jordan under the pretext of promoting him and
giving him responsibilities in Palestine. They regard the Greek Orthodox flock
in Jordan as having a pressing need for spiritual revival. Via telephone from
Jerusalem, Archbishop Atallah Hanna expressed his absolute solidarity with
Archimandrite Christophoros Atallah as he is a symbol of the revival in Jordan.
He stated that the decision to transfer him is unjust and that it would have
been more appropriate to consecrate him as a bishop.
The protesters stressed the maliciousness of the transfer
decision, which was publicly announced in
the official newspapers but which, in their view is part of the plan to drive away and reject
Archimandrite Christophoros Atallah, since the Patriarchate did not do anything
to announce the other malicious decisions that were issued by the Synod in
Jerusalem at the same meeting.
They pointed to the Patriarch’s clear policy of excluding
revivalist Arab priests, as the patriarch acted in the same manner to combat Archimandrite
Dr Meletius Bassal, putting pressure on the Palestinian Authority to implement
the decision to remove Bassal from Ramallah and especially with the pressure on
Archimandrite Athanasius Kakish and Archbishop Atallah Hanna to scale back
their role.
Banners of support
for the monastery and for Archimandrite Christophoros Atallah, signed by
Jordanian tribes, were put up on the monastery’s walls.
More than 1000 of those present then signed a petition
urging His Majesty King Abdallah II to intervene and correct the government’s
current position, which the protesters believe to be contrary to His Majesty’s
approach to support Christians in Jordan. Those present raised their voices in
prayer and supplication to the Lord, the refuge of all Christians in Jordan and
the region.
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