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“HEAR THE VOICE OF TRUTH!”
An advocacyfor thefutureof Christians of the Middle East
( an address given by Ignatius Youssef III Younan, Patriarch of Syriac Catholic Church of Antioch, at a Convention: “ Fatima: Path to Peace” Niagara Falls, Ontario Canada, September 11. 2013)
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Greetings .. Sisters and Brothers, my beloved in the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Our Lady of Fatima
Thanks for the invitation…
How beautiful to meet together to venerate the Blessed Mother of our Savior, Lord-God Incarnate, Jesus Christ.
I salute and applaud Canada, people and government for their persistent peace option in Syria. Canada refused the move to arm the rebels, which is intended to prevent the civil war going on and on..
We Patriarchs, as heads of our particular Eastern Churches “sui juris”, are meant to be the most knowledgeable of the needs and concerns of our flock in the Middle East. Since my installation as a Patriarch, I already visited neighboring Syria several times and 10 times Iraq, the war torn country, where we already lost close to the half of our faithful who emigrated or still waiting to emigrate as refugees in neighboring countries. I visited 3 times Turkey where only a tiny minority of Christians still left and live mostly in the huge Istanbul area. I already made visits once to the Holy Land, twice to Jordan and Egypt...
Therefore, by experience, I can tell you that the whole Middle East, has been in recent times engulfed by a unending spiral of violence, that seems to have no end and that undermine the very existence of non Muslim minorities, particularly Christians in lands that knew the birth of our faith and was the very cradle of early Christian Communities.
But the greatest concern we have at the present time is the terrible situation happening in Syria, my birth country where my parents fleeing Turkey, sought refuge right after the First World War. The last time I could visit Aleppo, the second largest city of Syria was in the summer of last year. Since then I had no other possibility than keeping contacts by phone or email, when available, with the bishops, clergy and faithful of our 4 Syriac Catholic Dioceses, Damascus, Homs, Aleppo and Hassakeh.
Because of the ongoing bloody conflict in Syria, lasting already for two and half year, this country so deeply rooted in the ancient civilization, is horribly ravaged by a sectarian religious civil war, that quickly as, we, since the beginning warned, turned into a regional even international conflict, triggered by a confessional majority and supported by some Western countries.
These Western countries, pretending to defend democracy, gave up, with the complicity of agglomerate media, their own principles and values. It seems that behind this confusing attitude was the fear of growing violence coming from radical Muslims, and the adopting of secularist opportunism that worships the modern times “Mammon”!.
One must recognize that after Turkey a century ago, Palestine and Lebanon some decades ago, and Iraq for the past 20 years, it is Syria now that knows the frightening exodus of its Christian population living there for millennia. This countryhas been rocked since March 2011 by a bloody conflict between the regime forces and opponents, who initially pretended a peaceful change of the regime blasted as a dictatorial, and which turned quickly into a horrendous civil war.
Now it is a common understanding that Syria well rooted in ancient civilization like Mesopotamia and the Nile Valley, is ravaged by a sectarian war, between two religious denominations : a majority that claims the right of governing and a minority used to be marginalized even mistreated for centuries, because of hateful discrimination, until its ascension to power in the 1970’s…
As a result of the violent turmoil in Syria, over one hundred thousand were killed, millions were displaced inside their homeland or became refugees in neighboring countries with the whole misery that exodus imposes…
Fighting, bombing attacks, kidnapping and savage killing horrified and alienated mostly innocent population looking for peace and security. The chaos that led to the civil war, brought a horrible destructions of a country known to be one of the safest in the region. Massive emigration resulted that needs immediate intervention for humanitarian assistance as a third winter is approaching.
We still remember the insidious Machiavellian assertions of Western politicians telling publicly since the beginning of Syrian tragedy, that it will soon be an end by the fall of the regime. On the contrary, as we feared, the crisis turned into chaos, and the chaos ultimately led to the most horrible sectarian civil war in recent generations.
As you are well aware, this sectarian war spread to many areas, and Christians have been targeted by radical groups.. Several churches and monasteries have been heavily damaged and even destroyed or burned..Exactly what we, Christian leaders, warned most often of, since the beginning.
We, Christians of the Middle East, we really do not understand why politicians of the Western World, believing in principles of democracy, ignore that what is happening now in Syria, is far from seeking a true democracy, freedom and equality for all citizens. At one hand, those politicians claim a separation of Church and State in their own countries, while they tolerate emerging regimes based on political Islam. The latter is fomented by international movement that happened to have a clear agenda of applying the Sharia while professing an amalgam between the religion and every aspect of life, individual or public..! And thus, with the complicity of some leaders in the Western World.
Christian Leaders in the Middle East, particularly in Syria, made many statements clearly saying that they do not side with any governing person or family, neither with any regime or political party. They did always urge all parties in conflict to act for reconciliation, to seek reforms in dialoguing and not with violent means.
Looking at what did happen to neighboring Iraq, we have believed that any political change of the regime in Syria should have been solely by peaceful means, otherwise the sectarian conflict will undoubtedly spread to Lebanon that hangs to a very delicate balance and to other Middle Eastern countries as well. We, therefore, think that, in order to build a lasting peace in the region, it is primarily the duty of all religious leaders to act for mutual confidence between various confessional denominations, based on the respect of the civil rights of all, particularly of the minorities who fear discrimination and harassment.
Christians of the Middle East, as one of those most vulnerable minorities in the Middle East, are facing in recent times the greatest challenge of their history that put their very survival at risk. Given the spreading of violent radicalism in political Islam, the young generations instead of remaining rooted in the land of their ancestors, to be witnesses to the Lord, they begun to loose confidence for their future and have no other choice than seeking freedom and dignity in the lands of emigration.
Let us remember that any evangelization is still a proselytism forbidden in countries where Islam has the majority. Because Islam does not recognize the religious freedom stipulated by international tribunes, it condemns those willing to embrace the Christian faith even punishing them to death!
Unless, the community of nations clearly and without any politically correct language or precondition, defends the Charter of Human Rights, as it was adopted by the United Nations in 1948, the Middle East will continue to sink in a fatal hemorrhage emptying itself of Christian communities that lived for millennia in that region.
We owe to the Holy Father Pope Francis, as well to his predecessor Pope Benedict, most gratitude and devoted appreciation for their clear and firm message for peace, pleading for the civil rights of all and calling for a constructive reconciliation in the Middle East. Yes indeed, “the war is the defeat of humanity..!”.
We have confidence that you, dear sisters and brothers, responding to the call of Pope Francis to pray and act for Peace, will do whatever you can to bring Catholics to awareness to the plight of Christians in the Middle East. We need you to waken up the silent majority of citizens, who are lovers of truth in charity, seekers justice to all and who want to be peace makers in our turbulent world.
Thank you.
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