News & Events

You can ask fo r Christmas Letter 2000--With the Shepherds,Christmas Letter 2001-Hope and Love, Christmas Letter 2002-Jesus is Growing & Paschal letter 2001-Common Paschal Joy & Letter for Great and Holy Lent 2004 & Liturgy the basis of Christian unity conference of H.B. Gregorios III for Orientale Lumen may 2004

you will have it by mail.

The Christmas Letter of the Greek Catholic Patriarch
The Cultural Revolution that still awaits the Arab World
Article by Fady Noun Orient-Le Jour 24 December 2007

It is an important invitation that Patriarch Gregorios III has issued to the Muslim Arab world in his Christmas Letter, by asking it to be open to the idea of “sharing the Word” with Christianity, and not be frightened of Christian mission but allow it free expression, without proselytism and without fear.
It is noteworthy that it is as an Arab, and a Christian Arab, that Gregorios III is issuing his invitation. This is important. The Melkite Church, spurred on by its patriarch, has been clearly and strongly claiming its Arab identity for some years now, in faithfulness to a strong theological and historical line. Through this identity, the Arab Christian world finds clear affinities with the Muslim Arab world and Muslim faith, which is Arabophone, due to the sacred character of the Qur’an.
So Gregorios III is an Arab speaking to other Arabs. He takes his standpoint on a totalising Arab civilisation which is neither Muslim nor Christian, but a synthesis of two cultures, always bearing in mind the basic epistemological, scientific or ideological contributions of openness to modernity which have characterised the Arab world over the last two centuries. It is as a prophet of the future of the Arab world that he is speaking, daringly indeed, with frank and decisive words.
In fact his language echoes that of the foundational work of Father Corbon, “The Church of the Arabs,” anticipating the emergence of an Arab nation whose future, it is true, appears today hazardous politically speaking, but whose silhouette is beginning to appear under the stimulus of various factors of economic, linguistic, political and cultural change. Otherwise, what does the existence of an Arab League mean?
The importance of the invitation extended by Gregorios III lies also in the principle of reciprocity that he puts forward. This principle is fundamental in all interreligious dialogue, insofar as it is undertaken sincerely and seriously. (Let us not forget, in fact, that in Islam, because of the non-separation of religion and politics, any interfaith dialogue, if at all sincere, necessarily leads to concrete policy.)
The principle of reciprocity is simply my granting the other party, if I am in a position of strength, the justice that I claim for myself, when I am not. From this point of view, Gregorios III deliberately recalls the ostracism suffered by the Christian faith in Saudi Arabia where church buildings and liturgical celebrations are forbidden. John-Paul II had previously invoked this principle, when Rome’s mosque was inaugurated.
The call of Gregorios III remains respectful of Muslim faith. The “sharing of the Word” to which he invites is not, for the patriarch, a clash of proselytisms, even if there is the risk of there being an opportunity for that to happen. This sharing is primarily a tool for mutual understanding indicative of the degree of “civility” attainable by a society and its ability to resist cultural clashes and be exposed to otherness without feeling threatened in its own identity.
In short, there is in the invitation of Gregorios III something fundamental at stake for the Muslim Arab world: the transition from the letter of religion to its spirit, which is one of the keys of accession to modernity, understood in the epistemological sense of the term.
The transition from the letter to the spirit is the effort – seemingly difficult – that Christ asked of his co-religionists and which can be summed up in one of his sayings: “I will have mercy, and not sacrifice.”
In the gospels and apostolic letters, the principle can be seen at work at every level: respect for the commandments concerning parents, the Sabbath, food prohibitions, washing before meals, payment of tithes, mixing with non-Jews, examples abound where Christ and then his Apostles, especially Saint Paul, help the Jews of their day go beyond the letter of the rituals and commandments to reach their true meaning, that religion of the heart that will crown the definitive revelation of the truth, to know that God is Love.
It is a question then of a change that makes faith grow from childhood to maturity, through a paradoxical passage through reason, which is freedom from the letter and internalisation of the commandment. A passage through reason that justifies what we were saying about that step, namely, that it is a key to modernity, which is essentially the triumph of rationality in the areas proper to it, that is of a rationality that is not the tyranny of reason.
Islam is invited to take the risk voluntarily of making this transition that is happening today under the pressure of events of daily life and of the spontaneous mixing of populations and religions. There is in that, of course, no positivism. The future of the East does not lie in the West. Lessons must be learned very quickly from the modernity that Europe, for example, is currently experiencing: modernity marked by a deadly dichotomy between faith and reason, which entails the wreck of rationality in nihilism.
On the contrary, the Arab world seems better placed than the West to overcome the temptation of the antinomy between faith and reason and envisage, according to the expression of a contemporary philosopher, “a complementarity without confusion” between these two approaches.
Here then, in a few short paragraphs which need further discussion, is the outline of the Christmas Letter of Gregorios III, a letter that gives to the Feast of the Nativity of the Word all its spiritual importance. It is nothing short of an invitation to a cultural revolution on the scale of an entire civilisation. It is immense and vital. It is the future of the Arab world which is at stake there and it is certainly one of the most fruitful appeals that could be issued.
Source: L’Orient-Le Jour, Monday, 24 December 2007 Translation from the French: V. Chamberlain

Back to the top

L’Orient LE JOUR

vendredi.14 décembre 2007 / 5: 00 1 /Beyrouth

« Pourquoi l'Arabie saoudite a-t-elle peur des églises et des évangiles? »

Grégoire III appelle à la liberté religieuse dans le monde arabe

Sous le titre « Le verbe s'est fait chair", le patriarche des Grecs-catholiques, Grégoire III, a publié hier son message de Noël, dans lequel il a appelé au « partage de la parole» entre le christianisme et l'islam, et à la liberté religieuse dans le monde arabe.

Citant un document du concile Vatican II (" Nostra Aetate »), Grégoire III a rappelé que, « l'Église regarde aussi avec estime les musulmans » et que « si, au cours des siècles, de nombreuses dissensions et inimitiés se sont manifestées entre les chrétiens et les musulmans, le concile les exhorte tous à oublier le passé et à s'efforcer sincèrement à la compréhension mutuelle, ainsi qu'à protéger et à promouvoir ensemble, pour tous les hommes, la justice sociale, les valeurs morales, la paix et la liberté ». Grégoire III a invité les musulmans à respecter le principe de réciprocité et à permettre aux chrétiens" d'annoncer l'évangile" dans les pays musulmans tout comme ils souhaitent, eux-mêmes, pouvoir « annoncer l'islam » .
« Nous demandons à nos compatriotes musulmans de nous accorder la liberté de porter la bonne nouvelle à l'autre, avec amour et respect, et par estime pour la foi de l'autre. Mais nous ne demandons pas à l'autre d'embrasser notre foi. Il nous suffit qu'il la découvre, qu'il l'estime et qu'il l'aime. La foi est une grâce venant de Dieu », a dit le chef de l'Église grecque-catholique.

« N'ayons pas peur des églises et des mosquées, a repris Grégoire III. Certes, ces choses-là effraient, quand elles sont faites par défi, mais si elles sont des signes de foi, elles nourrissent l'espérance au lieu de la crainte. »

Pourquoi l'Arabie saoudite a peur?

« Pourquoi l'Arabie saoudite a-t-elle peur des églises et des évangiles, ou encore des assemblées de prière des chrétiens? a repris Grégoire III. Qui marche dans la lumière n'a peur de rien. N'ayons pas peur. Le prophète Mohammad ne redoutait pas la présence des chrétiens et des juifs. C'est le polythéisme et le paganisme qu'il a combattus, Aujourd'hui, chrétiens et musulmans, nous devons nous unir pour combattre le paganisme moderne. Je dis aux musulmans: n'ayez pas peur de notre foi, mais plutôt de notre absence de foi! »

« Comment la paix entre juifs, Arabes et Palestiniens peut-elle s'incarner? Comment l'espoir peut-il s'incarner dans le cœur des jeunes? Il est impossible de répondre à ces questions, mais nous pouvons poser les fondements pour que chacun les trouve, dans son milieu ", a dit Grégoire III, qui a demandé aux chefs d'État arabes d'inscrire la paix en Palestine et en Irak sur leur agenda, pour 2008. « Nous savons tous que la paix en Terre sainte est la clé de la paix et de la guerre dans la région et dans le monde. »

Les jeunes ont soif de justice et de paix, a-t-il dit en substance. Sans eux, « le monde doit s'attendre à plus de violence, de terrorisme et de mauvais fondamentalisme »,

Enfin, évoquant le Liban, le patriarche grec-catholique a affirmé: « Le Liban a un visage chrétien particulier; aujourd'hui, il est invité à dire que le verbe s'est fait chair, à dire que le Liban est message. Nous enfouissons aujourd'hui ce beau message, du fait de nos dissensions politiques, de nos confrontations verbales, de nos interprétations constitutionnelles. Disons donc à nos politiciens: la Constitution est faite pour le citoyen qui ne doit pas être victime de la Constitution. Sauvons le Liban, rendons aux Libanais la joie, l'espoir, l'espérance et la paix dans les cœurs et les faits. »

Back to the top

Le message de Noël du patriarche grec-catholique
La révolution culturelle qui attend encore le monde arabe
L'article de Fady NOUN

Orient-Le Jour du Lundi 24 décembre 2007

Ce n’est pas une petite invitation que le patriarche Grégoire III a lancée, dans son message de Noël, au monde arabe musulman, en lui demandant de s’ouvrir à l’idée d’un « partage de la Parole » avec le christianisme, de ne pas être effrayé par la mission chrétienne et de permettre à celle-ci de s’exprimer librement, sans prosélytisme, mais sans crainte.
Notons d’abord que c’est en Arabe, en Arabe chrétien, que Grégoire III lance son invitation. Il n’est pas indifférent de le souligner. L’Église melkite, sous l’impulsion de son patriarche, a clairement et fortement revendiqué son identité arabe, depuis quelques années, dans la fidélité à une solide ligne théologique et historique. À travers cette identité, le monde arabe chrétien se trouve des affinités claires avec le monde arabe musulman et la foi musulmane, qui est une foi arabophone, du fait du caractère sacré du Coran.
Grégoire III est donc un Arabe qui parle à d’autres Arabes. Il se pose sur le plan d’une civilisation arabe totalisante qui n’est ni musulmane ni chrétienne, mais une synthèse des deux cultures, sans oublier les apports fondamentaux, épistémologiques, scientifiques ou idéologiques, de l’ouverture à la modernité qui ont marqué le monde arabe, durant les deux derniers siècles. C’est en prophète de l’avenir du monde arabe qu’il parle, audacieusement certes, avec des mots candides mais déterminants.
Il parle en fait dans le sillage de cet ouvrage fondamental du père Corbon qu’est « l’Église des Arabes », anticipant l’émergence d’une nation arabe dont l’avenir, il est vrai, apparaît aujourd’hui aléatoire sur le plan politique, mais dont certains contours commencent à se dessiner sous l’impulsion de divers agents de changement économiques, linguistiques, politiques, culturels. Sinon, que signifie l’existence d’une Ligue arabe ?
L’importance de l’invitation lancée par Grégoire III réside aussi dans le principe de réciprocité qu’il invoque. Ce principe est fondamental dans tout dialogue interreligieux, pour autant qu’il soit sincèrement et sérieusement engagé. (N’oublions pas, en effet, que dans l’islam, du fait de la non-séparation du religieux et du politique, tout dialogue interreligieux, pour peu qu’il soit sincère, débouche nécessairement sur du concret politique).
Le principe de réciprocité, c’est tout simplement accorder à l’autre, là où je suis en position dominante, le droit que je revendique pour moi-même, là où je ne le suis pas. C’est à dessein que Grégoire III évoque, sur ce plan, l’ostracisme dont est victime la foi chrétienne en Arabie saoudite où les bâtiments d’église sont interdits, ainsi que la célébration du culte chrétien. Jean-Paul II avait déjà invoqué ce principe, lors de l’inauguration de la mosquée de Rome.
L’appel de Grégoire III reste respectueux de la foi musulmane. Le « partage de la Parole » auquel il invite n’est pas, pour le patriarche, un choc de prosélytismes, même si le risque existe qu’il en soit l’occasion. Ce partage est d’abord un instrument de compréhension réciproque qui marque le degré de « civilité » auquel une société peut parvenir, sa capacité de résister aux chocs culturels, d’être exposée à l’altérité sans être menacée dans son identité.
Enfin, il y a dans l’invitation de Grégoire III un enjeu fondamental pour le monde arabe musulman, celui du passage de la lettre de la religion à son esprit, qui est l’une des clés de l’accession à la modernité, comprise au sens épistémologique du terme.
Le passage de la lettre à l’esprit, c’est l’effort – difficile en apparence – que le Christ a demandé à ses coreligionnaires, et qui se résume dans l’une de ses paroles : « C’est l’amour que je demande, et non les sacrifices. »
Dans les évangiles et les lettres apostoliques, on voit ce principe à l’œuvre sur tous les plans : respect des commandements à l’égard des parents, à l’égard du sabbat, interdits alimentaires, ablutions avant les repas, paiement de la dîme, fréquentation des non-juifs, les exemples abondent ou le Christ, puis les Apôtres, surtout saint Paul, aident les juifs de leur temps à dépasser la lettre des rites et commandements, pour en atteindre le sens véritable, cette religion du cœur que va couronner la révélation définitive de la vérité, à savoir que Dieu est Amour.
Il s’agit là d’une mutation qui fait passer la foi de l’enfance à la maturité, par un passage paradoxal par la raison, qui est libération de la lettre et intériorisation du commandement. Passage par la raison qui justifie ce que nous disions de cette démarche, à savoir qu’elle est l’une des clés de la modernité, qui est essentiellement triomphe de la rationalité dans les domaines qui lui sont propres, c’est-à-dire d’une rationalité qui n’est pas tyrannie de la raison.
Ce passage, qui s’effectue aujourd’hui sous la pression des événements, de la vie quotidienne, du brassage spontané des populations et des religions, l’islam est invité à en prendre le risque volontairement. Il n’y a là, bien entendu, aucun positivisme. L’Occident n’est pas l’avenir de l’Orient. Il faut tirer au plus vite les leçons de la modernité telle que l’Europe, par exemple, la vit en ce moment : une modernité marquée par une dichotomie mortelle entre foi et raison, qui a entraîné le naufrage de la rationalité dans le nihilisme.
Bien au contraire, le monde arabe semble mieux placé que l’Occident pour surmonter la tentation de l’antinomie entre foi et raison et envisager entre ces deux démarches « une complémentarité sans confusion », selon l’expression d’un philosophe contemporain.
Voici, en quelques brefs paragraphes qui demandent développement, le sens du message de Noël de Grégoire III. Un message qui rend à la fête de la Nativité du Verbe toute son importance spirituelle. Ce n’est rien moins qu’une invitation à une révolution culturelle à l’échelle de toute une civilisation. C’est immense et vital. C’est l’avenir de tout le monde arabe qui se joue là, et c’est certainement l’un des plus féconds appels qui puissent lui être lancés.
© 2007, L'Orient-Le Jour. Droits de reproduction et de diffusion réservés.

Back to the top

Patriarchal Christmas Letter 2007

“The Word became Flesh”

Letter for the Birth in the Flesh
of Our Lord God and Saviour
Jesus Christ
25 December 2007

Given at the Patriarchal Residence,
Damascus

Gregorios, by the mercy of God,
Patriarch of Antioch and of All the East, of Alexandria and of Jerusalem:
May the grace of God and apostolic blessing
come upon our brother bishops, members of our Holy Synod
and all the members of our Melkite Greek Catholic Church,
clergy and laity, in Arab countries and countries of emigration,.

“The Word became flesh”

This is the expression, both old and ever-new, that I bring to my brothers and sisters in the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, to all Christians and indeed to every believing person, at this glorious Feast of Christmas and at the beginning of the New Year of the Lord, 2008.

We find this expression in the prologue of the Gospel according to Saint John, in which he speaks of the Word in the beginning, in eternity with God, in God, and of his very nature. Saint John, in this expression, goes from first things, from eternity, into time, summing up, in an extraordinarily succinct and almost astonishing way, the entry of eternal God into human time, into the history of all humanity. He does not limit himself to the history of the period in which the Word became flesh, but speaks in absolute terms, both with regard to time and to humanity. “The Word became flesh.” He became man, everyman, inclusive of every time, place, gender, ethnicity and colour.

In these few words, we find a unique passage about the relation of man with God and God with man. Though this phrase appears to refer essentially to an event in time, the relationship described is not limited to one historical episode. For the Word becomes flesh with all flesh, at every moment in the history of everyman. He both enters into absolute time and, at one and the same moment, into absolute man. He enters also into the limited time of each limited person. Thus the limitless becomes limited indeed.

This is the true miracle that is still happening: limitless God entering the limited predicate of a limited conception. That is the true mystery of the feast of the news that we are celebrating: the mystery of the new Child, God before the ages.

All that seems incomprehensible, and explains why this dogma is rejected by Islam and Judaism. However, we do find something similar, though in a primitive, almost physical way in paganism, where gods take bodily form to communicate with people. These deities have human passions, inclinations and sorrows.

In Christianity, the incarnation is tremendous, extraordinary, surpassing all human understanding, an act simultaneously both human and divine. The Word remains divine though he becomes incarnate. His body is really the body of the Son of Man, but through this, man is called to go beyond himself, in fact, to divinisation.

“The Word became Flesh”

Through the incarnation, the body of each person becomes sacred and holy, whether he be Indian, Chinese, Native American, African, Arab or European, from East, West, North or South.

Through the incarnation, my body is sanctified in all its limbs and senses: my feet, hands, eyes, heart...

Through the incarnation, Jesus entered the situations of all kinds of people: sick, healthy, sufferers, the tempted, despairing, sinners, criminals, great, small, kings, rich, poor...

Thus is fulfilled what is written in Scripture, “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things God hath prepared for them that love him.” (I Corinthians 2:9) This means that although man is always looking for the happiness that is his heart’s desire, he can never discover that happiness prepared for him. As Saint Augustine says, so splendidly, “The happy life exists, when that which is man's chief good is both loved and possessed. ”

God would not be God if he tempered his revelation to our passions, and did not wish to raise us up to himself. Since man always longs for whatever is more perfect, beautiful and strong, God must be above and beyond all his desires and longings. So man continues to be filled with yearning and hope.

That is the meaning of Jesus’ saying, “Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”(Matthew 5:48) God comes down to our level. (“The Word became flesh.”) But he takes our flesh as his own, as we say in the Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom, “Thou didst not cease to do all things until Thou hadst brought us up to heaven, and hadst endowed us with Thy Kingdom which is to come.”

The one who came down is himself the one who ascended. He who became body, matter, is the one who raises us to the height of the beatific vision and. to the level of his divine stature.

“And the Word became flesh.” That means he became civilization, language, culture and knowledge in order to change everything earthly into something heavenly, or rather, to give to terrestrial things a spiritual meaning and to reunite earthly things with those of heaven.

Holy Scripture says, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. ” This “help meet” seems indeed at first sight to be Eve, but the true helper like himself is the new Adam, Jesus, the incarnate Word, as is echoed in our prayers, “And having made man in his image and likeness, he destroyed the pangs of death.” (Liturgy of Saint Basil)

The Word of God in Holy Scripture

Let us take a journey through the paradise of Holy Scripture in order to discover the different dimensions, attributes, strengths and effects of the Word of God in divine revelation, whilst realising that the word written in the books of the Old and New Testaments, though conveying revelation to man, is not itself that divine revelation of God. God is not limited to this divine revelation, but continually speaks with people through Holy Scripture. So he is in dialogue with human beings, with everyone, through the Word, and that is the meaning of the verse which we have chosen as the title of our Christmas Letter, “The Word became flesh.” That means that the revelation of God has come to us, not only by his becoming incarnate and taking flesh as the Word of God, Jesus Christ himself, but also through the Word of God, that is, the teachings of Jesus Christ, the divine Word, as recounted by the holy apostles writing the holy Gospels with human words, but under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. They also wrote the beautiful epistles, in order to show us the revelation of the Word, the teaching of God for mankind.

With this object in view, I have gone through Holy Scripture and am passing on to you what I have discovered about the holy and sanctifying Word of God, who became incarnate in the only Son and Word of God.

The Effects of the Word

In the Holy Gospel, as written by Saint John the Evangelist and Theologian, there is a very beautiful expression about the Word that we find in the Prologue, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…All things were made by him (the Word); and without him was not any thing made that was made…And the Word (Jesus Christ, Son of God) was made flesh (man.) And we beheld his glory (the incarnate Word), the glory as of the only begotten of the Father (as we find in the Divine Liturgy, O only-begotten Son and Word of God,) full of grace and truth.” (John 1: 1,3,14)

The word is compared to seed being sown: it is the word of paradise, of the kingdom that is sown in the heart of all people. Some receive it and by it the Word, Jesus, and his words and teachings. Others refuse it, that is, refuse Jesus, the Word, his words and teachings. (cf. The Parable of the Sower - Matthew 13; Mark 4; Luke 8) And for those who receive the Word of God, it yields fruit in their lives, fruit of holiness and purity and good works, “thirtyfold, sixtyfold and an hundredfold.” (Matthew 13:23)

The word of Jesus feeds man. “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4)

The word of Jesus heals. “Speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed.”(Matthew 8:8) And his word casts out the evil spirits from people and heals all that are sick. (Matthew 8:16)

Jesus, the incarnate Word of God, speaks the word of God through himself. He discloses his nature and his teaching by the Word, by preaching the Gospel (the good news.) So the word becomes a proclamation, a message. Jesus Christ is the Word, he himself is this message, or announcement, and is himself its bearer, bringing it to the ears of those who hear it. (Mark 2:2) But “the care of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word and (the hearer) becometh unfruitful.” (Matthew 13:22)

By hearing the Word of God, man becomes close to God, close to the word of the incarnate Word: he becomes close to Jesus. “My mother and brethren are these which hear the Word of God and do it.” (Luke 8:21)

The Relationship of the Word with the Apostle

The word is the instrument by which faith reaches people. (Acts 4:4) The apostle must be free to announce the Word of God, for the service of the Word of God. He must not be preoccupied by serving tables. (Acts 6:2, 4) Through the apostle and through every believing person, the Word of God must grow in society and the community. (Acts 6:7, 10:44, 12: 24, 19:20)

Furthermore, it is not permitted for the apostle to go and preach the word, without having first received the Holy Spirit and being filled by him. “Tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.” (Luke 24:49 cf. Acts 1:8)

And if the apostle or believer distances himself from Jesus, he is likely to tarnish and corrupt the word of Jesus. “For we are not as many, which corrupt the Word of God: but as of sincerity, as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.”(II Corinthians 2:17, 4:2)

So the Word of God becomes the apostle’s word. He announces, pronounces and glorifies it, explaining and proclaiming it to the world. The Word is always in relation to Jesus. Moreover, the subject of the word and proclamation is Jesus himself. Indeed the apostle becomes one with Jesus, his word and message.

“Receiving the word” is an expression which means receiving holy faith. (Acts 8:14) The basis for every announcement is the Word of God, the Word of Jesus. Indeed Jesus himself is the Word, who proclaimed the Word of God. (Acts 10:36)

So the word is transformed into faith among those who hear it, through the descent of the Holy Spirit. “And while Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word.” (Acts 10:44)

Moreover, the Word becomes the expression of all the commandments, summing up their content, for if the commandments are not in relation to Jesus, his teachings and words, they become empty commandments, a kind of slavery. “The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach.” (Romans 10:8 cf. 13:9)

The Word of God: Schoolmaster to Mankind

Moreover the Word of God received by the believer keeps him away from all unworthy speech. The Word of God makes the word of man wholesome, purifying and educating it. “Let no unwholesome word come out of your mouth, but rather, everything that is good, for edification, according to need, in order to give a grace to him who hears it.” (Ephesians 4:22) “Let the word of Jesus dwell among you and converse with each other in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing in your hearts to the Lord.”(Colossians 2:16)

So the Word of God really becomes incarnate in the faithful believer and is stronger than people’s malign, insipid, corrupt words. “When ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.” (I Thessalonians 2:13) So the faithful person is strengthened by the word of God and distances himself from vain-speaking, ugly, fraudulent, bad and unworthy speech.

The Attributes of the Word of God

The attributes of the Word of God are many and they express its strength and the influence it has over the faithful in society. “The word of God is not bound.” (II Timothy 2:9) It is “profitable for doctrine…and instruction in righteousness.” (II Timothy 3:15) It is “faithful.” (Titus 1:9) “For the Word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12) The faithful must work according to the word and not just listen to it, as we read in the Parable of the Sower, “Be doers of the Word and not just hearers, deceiving your souls.” (James 1:22) So it is a living Word and a Word of life. “To whom shall we go, for thou hast the words of eternal life?” (John 6:68) Saint John the Apostle says in his First Epistle, “That which was from the beginning (the Word), which we have heard (the Gospel), which we have seen with our eyes (in the body) which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of Life; … that we declare unto you.” (I John 1:1, 3) This verse expresses in a very beautiful way the title of our Letter, “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” We have experienced him, so to speak, through all our bodily senses, hearing, sight and touch.

The Word Became Flesh

We are going to make a trip through the paradise of Holy Scripture in order to discover the meanings of this expression, “the body.” Our body is Jesus’ body; our body is the creation of God in all its limbs and poor, weak nature. This very body was taken by the Word of God when he became flesh in Mary’s womb. Through this same body the Word of God was united to human nature in order to sanctify the body, raise it, divinise it and make it the temple of the Holy Spirit. Hence we can discover the theology of the body, its dignity, value, vocation, holiness and spirituality. All this the Lord restored to man by his incarnation, when he became united through his body to the body of mankind.
.

So God wished in his providence (his economy), for his loving relationship with people to be through the body, for he sanctifies them and works their redemption by means of his bodily sufferings, enabling them to participate in his divine life communicated through the body.

As Saint Paul says, speaking of the Father’s initiative in sending his Son into the world (at the beginning of the divine economy for the world), “Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared for me…Then said I, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God (to accomplish all the divine economy.)” (Hebrews 10:5, 7)

Thus begins the unique story of the body, from the beginning of its creation in Genesis, passing through the history of humanity up to the moment when its final chapter is realised. “Male and female created he them” and “they [were made to] be one flesh.” (Genesis 1:26, 2:24) “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,” so that man is no longer born by the will of a man and a woman, but becomes a new creature, “… born, not of blood, nor the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:14, 13) Therein lies the dignity and vocation of man: to be united to and in communication with the vocation of the Word of God incarnate. So the love of man and woman becomes a bonding of their souls and the will of man and woman expressed in their sexual relationship becomes a way of participating in the work of God the creator, a noble project and plan within God’s saving economy for mankind. So man’s body is united to that of the divine Son and incarnate Word. Thus everybody born of woman may cry, “Abba, father,” for he is “no more a servant” in the body, but has become “a son [and]… heir of God through Christ,” the incarnate Word. (Galatians 4:6, 7)

The Word became Bread

After declaring at the beginning of his Gospel that the Word became flesh, John continues the explanation of the divine revelation in the incarnation of the Word, affirming in chapter six that the Word became “bread of life.” Moreover, Jesus himself, the incarnate Word declares, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” (John 6:51)

Jesus adds in his discourse in the synagogue at Capernaum words on the body and bread that no ear has heard . “Verily, verily, I say unto you, except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.” (John 6:53-55) The Jews, including even the apostles, disputed amongst themselves about the validity of these assertions, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” (John 6:52)

Jesus’ explanation was given to assure us of the real meaning of “the body” and “the spiritual” in his teaching about the body and the life-giving spirit. “It is the spirit that quickeneth: the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life.” (John 6:63) Later he confirmed this, “Ye judge after the flesh.” (John 8:15) Before his Passion, he prayed to his Father, saying, “..Thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.” (John 17:2)

The Word of God became flesh, connecting the human body which he took from Mary’s womb to his holy body, and making from his body real food. “This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.” (Luke 22:19) In this way the Word of God connects with the weak human body, empowering it with his Spirit. “Watch and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak.” (Mark 14:38)

The Relationship between Humanity and the Body

Jesus explains the relationship between humanity and the body, giving rules for working with the body as a spiritual instrument and raising it to the level of God’s Word that became flesh. Thus he connects the earthly with the heavenly: not only connecting his holy life with human life, his creature, but also showing humans by his supernatural wisdom the true way of regulating the relationship of the body with the spirit, and earthly life with the glorious life of heaven. He tells us, “The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light, but when thine eye is evil, the whole body is full of darkness. Take heed therefore the light which is in thee be not darkness. If thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light.” (Luke 11:34-36) And later he assures us, “And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.” (Luke 12:4)

Christ also assures us of the Father’s care for the human body. “Even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.” (Luke 12:7) He then adds, “The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment.” (Luke 12:23), yet today we prefer food to life and clothing to the body: that means we are inverting the value of life.

Through these holy verses we understand the depth of Jesus Christ’s teaching when he took our body (“the Word became flesh”) to teach us about life in the body and the connection between the things of earth and those of heaven, the connection between life and food, the body and clothing, and the relative importance of each to the other. Moreover, we can see the link between our bodily life here and the life of his body through the mystery of the Holy Eucharist (Holy Communion) since without Christ’s body, there can be no life in our present body. Without Christ’s bread (his body) and his resurrection in the body, there is no resurrection for us and no life to come for us. From this, we understand the eucharistic mystery which we celebrate in the Divine Liturgy and through which we encounter two food-tables: that of the Word, centred around the Liturgy of the Word, (Psalms, hymns and readings from the Epistle and Gospel) and that of the body of the Lord Jesus Christ, (of communion) in which we share after sharing at the table of the Word! In this way, Christ really appears in the body every time that we celebrate the Divine Liturgy: he is incarnate first in his Word (as we sing in the hymn, “O only-begotten Son and Word of God”), then again in the holy bread, and we share in this incarnation through Holy Communion.

Paul the Apostle of the Theology of the Body

The Apostle Paul comes to explain the different kinds of teaching that Jesus gave about the body, which allows us to call him the real “theologian of the body” or “philosopher of the body” or “master of the body.”

The basis of Paul’s teaching about the body is his assurance that “… ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.” (I Corinthians 12:27) “Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.” (II Corinthians 4:10-11) In the Epistle to the Galatians, he says, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20) “From henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.” (Galatians 6:17) “..Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.” (Philippians 1:20) Again, Christ “shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body...” (Philippians 3:21) Since at the incarnation, he became the head of all, as head of the Church’s body, “Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature…and is the head of the body, the church.” (Colossians 1:14, 18) Paul was content to suffer, as his suffering is that of the body of Christ. “Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church.” (Colossians 1:24) And again, Christ is “the head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all.” (Ephesians 1:22-23)

As Jesus had explained these truths or basic parameters of the relationship between our body and Jesus’ body and that of his with ours, we discover and understand the spirituality and morality of the body and the believer’s code of conduct while one lives in the body. We know that Saint Paul ranges from the body as instrument of sin to the body as instrument of grace. Here are some beautiful verses that lay down basic morality for Christians baptised into the body of Jesus. The Church with Saint Paul, addresses them, saying, “As many as have been baptised into Christ (the body of Christ) have put on Christ.” (Galatians 3:27) We say in our Paschal Liturgy, “Take the body of Christ, drink from the fount that is inexhaustible.”

Saint Paul tells us, “Brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh, for if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.” (Romans 8:12-13)

And he addresses us, saying, “Put on Christ Jesus [his body] and do not do the work of the body, according to its passions.” (Romans 13:14) And he says again, “For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another…. This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other…Now the works of the flesh are manifest …fornication, impurity …And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.” (Galatians 5:13-24) “For he that sows to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.” (Galatians 6:8) “…everyone may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.”
(II Corinthians 5:10) “Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” (II Corinthians 7:1)

So the body may become perhaps an instrument of sin, but it is called to be an instrument of salvation. “What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?” (I Corinthians 6:19) “And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as carnal, even as unto babes in Christ….For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and division, are ye not carnal and walk as men?”
(I Corinthians 3:1, 3)

Saint Paul continues by speaking of fellowship and mutual help among people, taking as an example the relationship of the members of the body and its senses among themselves. And he links the body of mankind with the body of Christ which is the link of love among mankind. And he says, “For as the body is one, having several members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit, we are all baptised into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many.” (I Corinthians 12:12-14)

He takes up this comparison again in the Epistle to the Romans, “For as we have many members in one body, and all the members have not the same office; So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and everyone members one of another.” (Romans 12:4-5)

The Dignity of the Body

From these verses we understand the dignity of the body that Jesus took and purified by his teachings and sacraments (mysteries). Moreover the body is itself the subject of special dignity in the Christian faith. “I have called thee by name, thou art mine….thou art precious in my sight and honourable and I have loved thee.” (Isaiah 43: 1, 4) The body is indeed an instrument of sanctification and a way to holiness. So each one has his dignity before God and nobody is despised in his eyes. That is why any offence to man is an offence to God his creator and to Jesus Christ who took our body, human nature, giving it dignity by making it his own. When the bishop puts on the omophorion, he says, “When thou hadst taken upon thy shoulders human nature which had gone astray, O Christ, thou didst bear it to heaven, unto thy God and Father.” That is similar to what we read in our prayers for the Feast of the Divine Ascension, “O God, thou hast renewed in thyself Adam’s nature, fallen into the depths of the earth, and thou hast raised it up today above every principality and authority. For having loved it, thou hast seated it beside thee and taking compassion on it, thou didst unite it to thyself; by enduring the Passion, thou who art without suffering, thou hast glorified it with thee.” (Great Vespers of the Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ)

All this explains the harshness of the words of Jesus when confronted with any offence given by man to his fellow-man, “Whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell-fire.” (Matthew 5: 22) “Whoso shall offend one of these little ones …it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about this neck…” (Matthew 18:6)

From these sayings, we can understand the concern of Jesus for the integrity of the body, lest it become a scandal for man himself, or for his neighbour. We all know these more radical verses, “And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out and cast it from thee: …and if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off and cast it from thee...” (Matthew 5: 29-30)

This also explains the doctrine about the veneration of icons and relics of the saints. Indeed, we venerate the relics, that is, the remains of the bodies of the saints, for the saints gave glory to God through their bodies serving their neighbours by their works and by the ascesis of their lives. We must imitate them, remembering the teachings of Saint Paul, “Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ?...What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you… Therefore, glorify God in your body.” (I Corinthians 6: 15, 19, 20)

Practical Applications

After the above theological and spiritual explanation of the incarnate Word, we would like to give some practical applications:

Learning Verses from the Word of God

We would like to make here some remarks on the importance of learning by heart verses of Holy Scripture, especially from the Holy Gospel and the New Testament in general, because these verses relate to our concerns, problems and difficulties in life and help us understand their meaning. In that respect, I would like us to learn from our Muslim brothers, who have the custom of learning the Qur’an by heart. It is noticeable that they often refer to verses of the Qur’an in their preaching and conversation and they write these verses in different places in their homes and workplaces. Similarly, Protestants are an example for us in this way. It is a pity that there is a tendency in catechetical teaching that says learning passages from Scripture is old-fashioned and no longer suitable to a modern education. Yet how much effort we expend on learning rules for using computers, mobile phones, the Internet and so forth! I am sure that learning by heart verses of Holy Scripture helps us very much to make our own the experience of Saint Peter, when he replied to Jesus Christ, saying, “Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.” (John 6: 68)

Incarnating the Word of God

It is also vital to insist on the importance of incarnating the Word of God, so that it becomes near to people, beautiful, attractive, luminous and illuminating, lovely and pleasant and so that we bring to people’s hearts the beauty of the Word, its fascination, radiance, dazzling beauty and the strength of conviction that lies within it. So we can show how important preaching, spiritual direction, meetings with youth groups, women’s groups and families are in enabling them to discover together the Word of God for themselves, through continual reading and meditation. Here we see the importance of the priest becoming a companion, brother and friend, a director and spiritual father for the faithful, as if he were taking them by the hand to guide them to those paradisal places of the Word. The Word of God becomes truly incarnate through priests, religious men and women, teachers, Christian catechists and directors and animators of gospel missions and different, variously-named parish fraternities.

Word of God: Word of Life

It is also important to experience by ourselves and in our daily lives how much the words of Holy Scripture are addressed to me personally and that I shall really find the answer there to all my questions, suitable to all conditions and circumstances of my personal, family, professional, social, scientific and existential life and in my relations with other people of my religion or of other confessions, concerning different problems, moral and behavioural matters, dialogue and other issues.

Indeed, that is what we find in the Sermon on the Mount and in the parables and miracles of Jesus: we see how he behaved with other people, sinners, outcasts, sick, doubters, women, the proud, isolated and remote, the handicapped, the paralysed, the Pharisees, Sadducees, pagans, Greeks, Romans, governors, evil-doers, poor, rich, merchants, bankers, businessmen and tax-collectors. We see also how we should behave with regard to values, opportunities for prayer, fasting, alms-giving, faith, trust, love, charity, hope, service, self-giving, co-operation, fellowship, excellence, perfection, food, drink, marriage, virginity, suffering, illness, death, hatred, calumny, divine providence, brotherly love, disputes, tribunals, parents, relatives, vengeance, tolerance, forgiveness and love of enemies. We also learn about behaviour towards nature: flowers, fruit, harvest, sowing, trees, the fruitfulness of Paradise, grapes, olives, water, fire, light, figs, wine and oil. There is also teaching about personal meditation, behaviour towards others, with adversaries, the righteous and with those in government: the list is long, exhaustive and really complete. We have a verse from the Word of God for all occasions.

The Experience of the Word of God

The experience of the Word of God should enable us to make these discoveries for ourselves through continual reading of Holy Scripture and commentaries, always returning to them in a continuous way. We should meditate on the Scriptures, to discover how the Word became flesh, a real body. The Word is for me, as he took a body like my body, becoming incarnate, in the flesh. He knows what is in man, in his thought, in his heart. He knows his concerns, preoccupations, needs, weaknesses, longings, hopes, visions and feelings. He loves mankind, venerates and respects us, esteems and understands us, wants our good, freedom, progress, success, perfection, happiness and joy. As we say in our Corpus Christi readings that are peculiar to the Melkite Church, “Jesus, having loved his own, loved them unto the end.” (John 13:1)We repeat in our prayers that God is good, merciful, the Father of mercies and lover of mankind. Christ is our brother, friend, saviour, healer who raises us from the dead. So there will come a time for each of us to cry, with personal conviction, repeating with Saint Peter, “Where shall we go, for thou hast the words of eternal life?” (John 6:68)

Neither should we minimise the importance of parents and the household in that regard. The parents are the first educators, especially through teaching about prayer, religious symbols and gestures, veneration of icons in the home, going with the children to church and spiritual gatherings and participating in religious meetings.

Yes, since we have received the Word of God through faith in holy baptism and all the other mysteries or sacraments, we have become responsible for the Word of God, for spreading it and taking it to others, beginning with our home, neighbourhood, our neighbours, relatives, acquaintances, friends and all those who are not yet of our religion.

Word of God: Words of Mankind

Pentecost was a prodigious event: the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles and many of the Jewish pilgrims who had gone up to Jerusalem for the Feast of Pentecost, who, when they realised what had happened, ran up towards the upper room at Sion, where the apostles had been gathered after the ascension of Jesus Christ whilst awaiting the Father’s promise, that is, the descent of the Holy Spirit. And the tongue or language of the apostles was empowered after the Holy Spirit had descended on them in the form of tongues of fire to indicate the importance of speech, pronunciation, language and words in bearing the message of Jesus. “Their voice is gone out into all the earth and their words to the ends of the world.” (Psalm 18 (19): 4, LXX)

The apostles addressed the crowds around them, announcing the Word of God, but in just one language. However, though those present were of different nationalities and countries, speaking different languages, as Saint Luke tells us, yet they heard the apostles speak, each one in his own native language. So the Word of God is one, though for all people, reaching all, each in his own civilisation, with its language, culture and characteristics.

It is truly the Word of God, because it really can reach all mankind and become a Word for people. That is the great challenge for preaching with conviction, for pastoral writing and in all documents issued by church authorities. The challenge is how to make the Word of God understood and bring it to people in such a way that it remains really his Word (without trickery, confusion or alteration) while meeting with people’s words and with their understanding, mindset and way of thinking. Yet it must elevate their thoughts and change their mentality, so that their own words really enter into harmony and contact with the Word of God. Then may be realised what Saint Paul said, “We have the mind of Christ.” (I Corinthians 2:16)

So the Word is not for me, but belongs to him that sent me. It is not my property, but it is the Word that has come to me. So it must be pronounced and preached, not as if it came from me, but as Jesus said, “The Word that I give you is a word of truth. Go and preach the Word.” (cf. John 14:24 and II Timothy 4:2)

The Word of God is directed towards and addressed to us all. It has however need of an epiclesis, so that it may become the Word for others, for society and for the world. The Holy Spirit changes everything. The epiclesis is truly the mystery of Christianity.

Moreover, the Word of God unifies, creating unity between people and that is the meaning of the verse, “The Word became flesh.” Our poor, bleeding, scattered body has different tendencies and inner rendings and contradictions. That is why Saint Paul writes, “Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” (Romans 7:24) The Word became flesh in order to “gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad.” (John 11:52) That means that he came to reunite the members of the body, to reunify the body. The body has need of the Word of God, to enable it to gather its strength and direct it towards God. So the Word here means unity: the unifying force is eternity, whose principle is the Word. So the Word means both what is here and what is yet to come after the here-and-now, and the body means what is here. That is why the incarnation of the Word is a work of reunion between what is here and what lies beyond.

The Liturgy: Celebration of the Word of God Incarnate

It is important to notice the relationship of the Word and of the body with the Divine Liturgy and with all the other liturgical prayers, for prayer, whatever else it is, is always in relation with the Word of God. In fact the prayers of the first Christians were concentrated above all on the Psalms and readings of Holy Scriptures. Later the Holy Gospel, Acts of the Apostles and Epistles were read and the priest explained and commented on the Word of God, during prayers, especially the Divine Liturgy. With time, hymnographers composed other hymns, which are a sung meditation on the Word of God.

This continued as the Fathers of the Church read and meditated on the Word of God, feeding on it, commenting on it and preaching it to the people in their sermons and compositions. Then the monks, especially, who came after them, took the Word of God and passages from some of these well-known homilies and transformed them into different hymns for feasts of the Lord and the Virgin Mary, celebrating the events of salvation and for the feasts of saints and for their praises. It is possible to show this important relationship by putting cross-references beside all our prayers indicating the relevant Biblical passages. That is what we have done recently in the new edition of the Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom, which demonstrate splendidly the relationship between the prayers of the faithful and the Holy Word of God.

Hence we see the importance of celebrating all liturgical prayers beautifully, worthily, clearly, in a lively, moving and attractive way, so as to provide truly spiritual and substantial nourishment for priests and people in their different roles.

Hence we see the importance of clear diction and eloquent reading with well-executed chant of the Epistle and Gospel. In our rite, the singing is even more important than just reading aloud, as for us “reading,” means a kind of music, or harmonisation of the words, so that the Word of God may be better understood and its beauty meditated upon.

From that we see the importance of the liturgical animation that we have proposed and frequently insisted upon after being designated president of the liturgical commission in 1986 and then elected Patriarch, since we have published the new liturgical books in a beautiful presentation and also annotated the different liturgical feasts. So we really have a Melkite Greek Catholic liturgical encyclopaedia. It is truly a heritage of which to be proud and thankful to God, allowing it to become real spiritual and substantial nourishment for all the faithful clergy and people.

The Word of God: Dialogue of Religions and Faiths

The Council of Vatican II gave us the golden rule for religious dialogue, by showing us the importance of discovering the good things or the wealth of others. Here is what the Second Vatican Council said in Nostra Aetate (1965):
Relationship with pagan religions
1. The Catholic Church rejects nothing that is true and holy in these religions. She regards with sincere reverence those ways of conduct and of life, those precepts and teachings which, though differing in many aspects from the ones she holds and sets forth, nonetheless often reflect a ray of that Truth which enlightens all men. Indeed, she proclaims, and ever must proclaim Christ "the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14: 6), in whom men may find the fullness of religious life, in whom God has reconciled all things to Himself…The Church, therefore, exhorts her sons, that through dialogue and collaboration with the followers of other religions, carried out with prudence and love and in witness to the Christian faith and life, they recognize, preserve and promote the good things, spiritual and moral, as well as the socio-cultural values found among these men.
Relationship with Islam
2. The Church regards with esteem also the Muslims. They adore the one God, living and subsisting in Himself; merciful and all- powerful, the Creator of heaven and earth, who has spoken to men; they take pains to submit wholeheartedly to even His inscrutable decrees, just as Abraham, with whom the faith of Islam takes pleasure in linking itself, submitted to God. Though they do not acknowledge Jesus as God, they revere Him as a prophet. They also honour Mary, His virgin Mother; at times they even call on her with devotion. In addition, they await the Day of Judgment when God will render their deserts to all those who have been raised up from the dead. Finally, they value the moral life and worship God especially through prayer, almsgiving and fasting…Since in the course of centuries not a few quarrels and hostilities have arisen between Christians and Muslims, this sacred synod urges all to forget the past and to work sincerely for mutual understanding and to preserve as well as to promote together for the benefit of all mankind social justice and moral welfare, as well as peace and freedom.

Relationship with Judaism

3. As the sacred synod searches into the mystery of the Church, it remembers the bond that spiritually ties the people of the New Covenant to Abraham's stock…. Since the spiritual patrimony common to Christians and Jews is thus so great, this sacred synod wants to foster and recommend that mutual understanding and respect which is the fruit, above all, of biblical and theological studies as well as of fraternal dialogues.

Dialogue between Christians and Muslims

There is the Word that we have in common, it is clear: let us maintain a dialogue of our beautiful faith, for the word that was given to me by God in my Christian faith is truly mine, but not only for me; it is for my society, for my fellow-men and I must bring it to them as a light of love and as a call to love, a sign of hope for the other person, that he may grow in his religion and beliefs and deepen them, not so that I may despise him or he may despise his own religion.

It is of very great importance for people to love their religion and the Word of God for mankind, and know it in ever greater depth, preserving and defending it. But one must be open to the other person, to his convictions and faith. If not, we fall into relativism, which is the greatest enemy of faith.

Jesus calls us to preach that faith, saying, “Go ye into all the world ” and “teach all nations .” And Saint Paul exhorts us, speaking to his disciple Timothy, saying, “Preach the word…in season, out of season.” (II Timothy 4:2)

There is no monopoly on the Word of God. It is just as much the other person’s as it is mine. Our Muslim world is afraid of our preaching, but does not cease preaching Islam. That is an unreasonable position. We require our Muslim fellow-citizens to acknowledge our freedom to bring the good news to others, with love and respect for their faith, but we do not require anyone else to embrace our faith. It is enough if people can find out about it and come to esteem and love it. Conversion is the work of God. Do not attempt to convert a friend, or loved one. God converts whom he will.

The Word of God is for me and its revelation is to me, but not to me alone. I must allow others to share in it. We must have, as we say in the Arabic proverb, bread and salt.

But it is not bread or salt that enables us to live together. What matters is rather how we can share together in the Word of God in Christianity, Islam and Judaism. How can we feed each other by the Word of God? How can the Word of God become an essential food? As we say in the Our Father, “Give us this day our daily (epiousion) bread.” The Our Father is really a call to share together in the Word of God.

We thank God for the many, beautiful relationships between Christians and Muslims that occur especially in everyday living. However, I would like us to share together in the Word of God, since that is what unites us, draws us together and gives us strength, reinforcing our faith. Let us not be afraid to love the Word of God in our brothers and sisters. Let us not be afraid of verses from the Qur’an and let them not be afraid of verses from the Gospel or from the Torah. These are the Word of God for us all, every one according to his own calling. I would like to tell our Muslim brethren not to fear our faith. Let us all rather be afraid of using words of vengeance, criticism, pride and haughtiness. The Word of God does not despise anyone. It is not proud, boastful or puffed up. It does not engage in bad behaviour or enjoy retaliation. It does not rejoice in evil, but in good. It rejoices in love and believes all things. (cf. I Corinthians 13)

Words of God and Words of Men

Let us love the Word of God, for the Word of God is for us all. Let us share these words, proclaiming them in song and loving them. Let these words of God be for our friendship, living together and mutual relationship. Instead of using empty, lying flatteries, let us nourish ourselves with earth’s most beautiful words and feed each other with these same heavenly words that God addresses to the children of men, for God is bountiful and bestows his life-giving words on us all. Let us not be afraid of the words of God, but rather let us fear the words of men. Let us so act that our human words be changed into words divine.

I propose founding a forum to be called “The Forum of the Word of God,” so that Christians and Muslims can meet together and together discuss and meditate upon the Word of God.

Our zeal for the Word of God should be a means of sanctification for us and for deepening our faith. We must not allow our zeal for the Word to become a weapon to exploit others, judging, persecuting and compelling them to embrace our faith, any more than we can allow the Word of God to become the cause of conflicts, disputes and confrontations between our faithful and those holding different religious convictions. Nor should it become an instrument of terrorism and a pretext for one group to claim superiority over another. The Word of God (not we ourselves) is the true judge between us and those who are not of our faith.

And why be afraid of having churches and mosques? If they were symbols of defiance, we would have cause to fear, but as signs of faith they may stimulate instead our hopes and expectations.

Why, in Saudi Arabia, are they afraid of allowing churches to be built and the Gospel to be preached? Why are they even afraid of Christians praying as a community? Surely those who are in the light need be afraid of nothing!

Let us not be afraid. The Prophet Muhammad was not afraid of a Christian or Jewish presence, but combated paganism. Today all of us Christians and Muslims are called to fight against today’s new paganisms: incredulity and unbelief.

I say to my Muslim brethren: don’t be afraid of our faith, but rather be afraid if we neglect our faith and indulge in unpleasant habits. To my fellow-Christians I say: don’t be afraid of the words of those Muslims who keep and preserve the Word of God.

Feast of Christmas: Feast of the Incarnate Word

It is not enough for us to sing at our festivals and take pride in the rites of our feasts and faith - even in the Feast of Christmas and the beautiful verse of our letter, “The Word became flesh.”

The Feast of Christmas is the Feast of the Word, Jesus, who became flesh. The challenge to us all is, how can Christmas become a feast for me, a reality in my life? How can the Word of God become incarnate in my soul, my understanding, my consciousness and thought, in my manners and life? That is, how can the Word of God be realised and embodied in my life, becoming flesh of my flesh, bone of my bones? How can the incarnate Word of God become part of my personal, existential convictions? Similarly: how can I become an incarnate word in my society, a spiritual word for other people, a word of salvation, consolation, friendship, love, redemption, bread, food? How can I become a cause of salvation for my brother or sister?

How can we make incarnate for other people the words of God in our holy books, theology, dogmas, Creed and popular devotions, so that they are not misunderstood or misrepresented by others?

It is a big effort for each believer to explain his faith and present it to others, to Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, agnostics, atheists, those on the fringes of the Church, who criticise it and criticise its teachings, sacraments and symbols.

How can we express the hope that is in us (cf. I Peter 3:15), so that it becomes a hope for others and not a scandal (as the cross was for non-believers “a stumbling-block, but unto them that are called …the power of God and the wisdom of God”)? (I Corinthians 1:23-24) We can however avoid that catastrophe, knowing that communicating our faith to others strengthens our faith, bringing security and serenity.

To that our prayers invite us, where we read, “Let him who has faith share it with the one who does not know the Word.” Thus we become true stewards, faithful to grace. (Great and Holy Tuesday, Matins) That is true charity or love to the other person: that we love his spiritual welfare and want him to progress in the love of God, in faith, hope and charity, in spiritual life and virtue.

So it is that our relations with others may be given new life, strengthened, deepened and that they be truly for their edification, as Saint Paul says, “.. the Lord hath given us for edification.” (II Corinthians 10:8)

Christmas in the World

How can I myself enter into the deep meaning of Christmas? How can I become an agent of Christmas, of this new way of being in my society, in my family, neighbourhood and place of my profession, my workplace? How can I become a real feast for the other person, for everyone around me? How can the Word become flesh? This sign is presented to our society in which there are so many longings, hopes, desires, wishes, plans, international, national and local decisions, on the level of the world, nations and our Arab society, in the Church and its associations and above all, among young people. How can all that take flesh? How can peace take flesh? How can justice become flesh? How can reconciliation between peoples become flesh? How can peace between Jews and Palestinian Arabs become flesh? How can the aspirations of our young people take flesh?

We cannot reply to these questions. Nevertheless, we have laid the foundations for finding the answers for each one in his surroundings. At the end of this letter, we express them all as prayers, wishes for them to become a programme of life and work. And we raise them all to the Child of the Cave of Bethlehem, for him to bless them and himself transform them into real bodily existence.

We raise all the above-mentioned intentions to the leaders of Arab countries, so that they may become for them a programme of life, an agenda for 2008, especially a programme for peace in Palestine and Iraq, and we all know that the peace of Jerusalem, the peace of the Holy Land, is the key to war and peace in the region and in the whole world.

All our peoples, especially the young, have need of the incarnation of their hopes of justice, peace, security and safety, for them to be made a living reality. If not, there will be more violence and terrorism, negative fundamentalism, killings, destruction and conspiracies. All that will become on a global scale the cause of calamities, wars, disputes, hatred and crises.

We ask Jesus Christ, the divine Child of the Cave, incarnate for us and for the salvation of the world, who is himself the Prince of Peace, to grant peace and realise all our hopes and the hopes of those who read our message and of all our faithful, and to grant us all to sing with joy, hope and faith, the holy hymn of Christmas, “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, to men of good will.”

Gregorios III

Translation from the French: V. Chamberlain
Translation from the Arabic: Maher Labbad

Allocution of His Most Eminent Beatitude Patriarch Gregorios III
on the occasion of the opening of
XVII Congress of the Council of Eastern Catholic Patriarchs
Ain Traz, 15 October 2007

Back to the top
Beatitudes, Excellencies,
Most Reverend Sirs,
Reverend Fathers and Mothers,
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
“You are the light of the world!”
It is with these words that Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ spoke to his disciples. Today this call can be heard repeated expressly to us in this Church and at the beginning of this blessed Congress at the very moment when the “gladsome light” is poured out upon us, that light “of the holy glory of the Father… Son and Holy Spirit” as we were just singing a few moments ago, while chanting that hymn that dates back to the second century of our era.
“You are the light of the world,” Jesus tells us after saying, “I am the light of the world.” Our light springs from the light of Jesus and the light of Jesus enlightens the whole world without any limitation, restriction or exclusion. That is what John the Evangelist alluded to when referring to the Word at the beginning of his gospel, “That was the true light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. “ (John 1: 9)
In our prayers of the Lenten Season we customarily repeat, “The light of Christ shines upon all. “ Similarly we say in the service for the Feast of the Transfiguration, “Let us draw light from his light.”
The world is Jesus’ world, God’s world and not ours, limited as ours is to a given neighbourhood, village, or social sphere, to a particular community, Church or national identity or to a certain people or family… John spoke of this when he wrote in his gospel, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish.” (John 3: 16).
Our prayers well express the universal scope of this verse with the phrase, “Thou hast loved thy world.” And because this world, the whole world, is God’s world and not ours, we pray saying, “Thy kingdom, O Christ our God, knows no end and thy dominion endures from age to age.” (Vespers from the Christmas Season) Jesus himself prayed with a generous all-embracing concern shortly before his Passion saying, “I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil, “(John 17: 15) or again, “That they all may be one… that the world may believe.” (John 17: 21).
It is within this universal and ecumenical gospel framework that the theme of our Congress is headed, “The Christian Presence in the East. “ We shall be thinking about the different aspects of this presence: the Christian presence in the East and political conflicts, from a religious, social, media-related and economic point of view. Papers will be presented around this topic by well-known Muslim and Christian speakers.
The Christian presence assumes great importance for all Christians, regardless of their denomination. It is of equal concern to citizens of every party and to whatever religion they belong: this is the case in all the Arab countries where Christians are to be found in different proportions. In the Arab world the combined populations of Egypt, North Africa, Sudan, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, Israel, Iraq, Kuwait, the Gulf States, the Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia amount to some three hundred million citizens.
The number of Christians in this Arab East amounts to some fifteen or twenty million people. That is the size of the Christian presence under discussion. If we were to take into account the Christians of the diaspora too, it would not be surprising to see that figure grow, indeed, triple.
So that is the theme of our Congress ; the presence of Arab Christians in the Arab world with its Muslim majority, namely, the presence of fifteen million Arab Christians in the Middle East, alongside some three hundred million Arab Muslims.
Then our Congress is going to discuss the presence of fifteen to twenty million Arab Christians scattered throughout the whole world, of whom there is a small number in Europe, a handful across the African continent and Asia and an overwhelming majority of emigrants in North and South America and also in Australia. That is why, although it is being held in this hospitable and welcoming country of Lebanon, our Congress nonetheless concerns every one of the countries just mentioned and every Arab Christian throughout the world. So no Christian anywhere either within the Arab world or outside its borders can feel unconcerned by the question of the Christian presence and its witness and service.
One of the more striking characteristics of this Christian presence is that it is an Eastern, Middle Eastern Arab presence, in surroundings that are predominantly Muslim, that is, alongside a very numerous Muslim presence and consequently involved with it in a process of intense interaction and dialogue between civilizations, cultures and societies that has spanned more than fourteen hundred and twenty-seven years.
Everyone understands the importance (often called to mind and discussed in various documents by our Assembly) of this Christian presence so remarkable for its pioneering and historically significant interaction with the Arab world, particularly in Lebanon, Syria and Egypt, but also in the Holy Land, Jordan and Iraq. We may even add that it extends as far as Arab North Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, the Gulf States and the far reaches of Saudi Arabia.
In the name of the Fathers of our venerable Assembly, their Beatitudes the Patriarchs and in the name of our Holy Synods, we urge our children to remain in these countries that are the cradle of Eastern Christianity, and exhort them not to emigrate, since we are convinced that they make up an integral part of them and are helping to build them up.
We encourage our beloved faithful, saying to them with Christ, “Fear not, little flock. “ (Luke 12: 32) Fear not, believer, to be light, salt, leaven in the midst of this society, servant and witness of Jesus Christ and gospel values, unreservedly open to other human beings, your brothers and sisters, and respectful of their values and faith. Don’t be afraid to claim your civil rights and to tell your Muslim companions on the road of life, “I am a citizen with you, a believer with you and like you. With you, I am making a constructive contribution to the countries which we jointly share. My future and yours are one and the same, as are our Arab destiny, progress and identity. “
We also wish to say to our Muslim brother citizens, in all frankness and trust, that our peoples want to live together and continue the journey begun by former generations. That is why we ask our Muslim brothers not to consider us as dhimmis under their protection but, rather as what we want to be, full citizens benefiting from the same rights and duties as our fellow citizens. With them we wish to build up our countries and contribute to a better future. That has been and still is the historic role of Christians in this third millennium and fifteenth century after the Hijrah.
So we are not asking our Muslim brother citizens for protection but for equity and equality of opportunity in the professional milieu, living together and coexistence with all that that implies of friendship, trust, respect, shared responsibilities, fellowship, collaboration, generosity and sacrifice for our respective countries. We would like to see this climate prevail in every Arab country without exception because every Christian is an Arab citizen in each Arab country, whether it has many or few Christians and whether they are poor or rich people…All have the right to full citizenship in every one of the Arab countries without exception, the right to complete freedom of worship and church building alongside their Muslim brothers’ mosques.
Only such attitudes and stances are capable of restoring a Christian’s trust and of reducing the scale of emigration. We say to our Muslim brethren, “We Christians possess immense reserves: monasteries, schools, universities, charitable, social and health institutions that we are putting at your service. If we end up leaving you, what will remain of all that? The real loser is every Muslim or Christian Arab citizen.” And again we assure them that our positive dialogue with each other and the preservation of our mutual faith values are for us Christians and Muslims the real foundation of our citizenship and our living together. The great challenge which confronts us Muslims and Christians today is how, in the era of globalisation, we can live our faith and transmit its precious heritage to future generations, our Christian and Muslim young people, who are equally exposed to the same dangers in today’s world.
Continuing from the foregoing, that is, from that theoretical explanation relating to the importance of the Christian presence, we shall now, at the outset of this congress, put forward some suggestions that may help consolidate the Christian presence and invigorate its interaction with Arab Muslim society:-
1- That there be one and the same celebration of the Paschal Feast for all Eastern Christians, according to the Eastern (Julian) Calendar, since we know that this old style of reckoning was that of our Churches even after their communion with the Church of Rome and that, having abandoned it for a certain time, we are reverting to it today as to something that historically belongs to us.
As long as all Christians have not yet reached the wished-for agreement with regard to fixing an identical day for the celebration of the Feast of Easter, we must (while awaiting that hoped-for day) encourage the practice that exists among some Catholic communities settled in countries with an Orthodox majority, of celebrating Easter on the same day as the Orthodox, in conformity with the annex relating to the conciliar Constitution “The Divine Liturgy” in number 20 of the conciliar Decree “The Eastern Catholic Churches” which allows Catholic faithful not only to give evidence of ecumenical brotherhood but also to fit in harmoniously in civil life, avoiding an absurd lack of synchronicity.
Our people need this sign as a solid expression of the wish of all the faithful and a symbol of the Christian unity that goes beyond the historical quarrels dividing the Churches.
We need to celebrate Easter together in our own Eastern, Arab, Muslim society, as is already the case in Egypt, Jordan and a part of Palestine.
Below is the position of the Council of Eastern Churches on this subject that we find in the instructions of 1996 (N° 36 p. 55) comprising directives for putting into effect liturgical principles, such as those mentioned in the Constitutions of the Eastern Churches.
2- That our Catholic Churches declare their readiness to exchange pastoral services amongst themselves. Let us declare officially that our Churches are for everyone and open to all confessions, even to non-Catholics amongst them, and more especially to Syriac Orthodox who, in 1984, signed a splendid practical agreement with the Church of Rome. And we, as Churches in communion with the Church of Rome, can from this time forward put into practice this agreement in our own countries, always respecting our rule, and the similar position of the Orthodox sister Churches, that there be no concelebration of liturgical services.
3- That we make a declaration of fundamental principles defining the meaning of the Christian presence in the Arab East, principles which can be derived from the letters of former Patriarchs, as mentioned above.
4- That a letter be published addressed to the Arab world about the profound significance of our presence as Arab Christians in this society and the importance of this presence for Christians and Muslims. The duty of preserving this Christian presence is equally incumbent upon Christians and Muslims. Similarly, we must emphasise that the established presence of Christian faith is in keeping with the values of Islam. Moreover, the real issue at stake concerns us all, since it is about preserving the presence of Islamic-Christian faith and profiting mutually from our respective faith values.
5- That there be an insistence on the spiritual dimensions of our Christian presence. In fact, it often happens that we measure the importance and value of the Christian presence by the number of deputies, Christian ministers or high-ranking posts entrusted to Christians. The primitive apostolic Church did not count ministers, deputies, posts or churches but believing households, among which there were no Patriarchs or bishops but simply a senior presbyter who presided over the assembly of presbyters. We know that the disciples and their companions were first called Christians at Antioch. The thing that then marked them out was their behaviour and the relations between them. It was said of them, “See how they love one another!” Charity and the incarnation of gospel values were their distinctive qualities in a society that was completely godless.
Finally, we must say a word about Lebanon, this dear country that welcomes us, welcomes the councils and synods specific to each of our denominations or Churches, and that also opens its doors to many different Christian meetings. We Eastern Patriarchs dearly love this country that we see as the living heart of Arab identity and the keen conscience of the Arab nation. Besides, the living together and respect for religious freedoms that Lebanon demonstrates are called to become the model destined to spread into all Arab countries. But if Lebanon is to be able to maintain this role it is essential that her children feel that Lebanon is their homeland. To that end they must consolidate their internal unity in the face of the impending date of the Presidential elections. Let us not mince words! Lebanon must not lose its historical and democratic distinctiveness and the system of religious, political, media, cultural, social and trade union freedoms that have made its uniqueness and so much endeared it to our hearts.
We call upon God, at the intercession of the most holy Virgin Mary, Our Lady of the Annunciation, patron of this monastery, earnestly asking that he bestow on us all, from his infinite generosity and goodness, his heavenly and earthly blessings. With the Church we pray: grant us, Master, to praise with one mouth and one heart, the infinite splendour of thine all-venerable name, Thou Father, Son and Holy Spirit, one and only God. Amen.

Translation from the French V. Chamberlain

Baptism as Passover

Back to the top

Sermon on Mark 16:9-20,
preached in Cologne at Matins
on the 14th Sunday after Pentecost, 2 September 2007,
by H.B. Gregorios III,
Patriarch of Antioch and all the East, of Alexandria and of Jerusalem
for the Melkite Greek Catholic Church

The Gospel reading today emphasises the role of those who have witnessed the risen Jesus, to go and “preach the Gospel to every creature” for the salvation of those that believe and are baptized. Every Sunday it is appropriate to remember the good news of Pascha, of Jesus’ Passover from death to life and our own calling to accomplish this Passover in our own lives, through living our baptism.

Paschal Saturday was in the early Church the traditional time for baptism. This was no accident, but designed to show that baptism was a personal Passover. The Liturgy was also celebrated on the occasion of baptism, not only as the best way of recording and commemorating the death and resurrection of Jesus, but also as an acknowledgment that our life is a daily Pascha, a passage from death to life, from our old life to new life.

When the adult candidate for baptism makes his profession of faith, he (or she) is asked if he has renounced the devil and has turned to Christ. When he (or she) affirms that he has indeed turned to Christ, he goes down into the water and passes through, emerging from it and going up the steps on the other side of the pool. He is dressed all in white as a symbol of that new life.

Merely pouring water over the head of a person being baptized does not clearly show this personal Passover. The significance is best seen in those churches that have retained a baptistery for adults. For example, the Coptic Church has a baptistery in every purpose-built church. This is because the Coptic Church is a dynamic, growing Church that takes seriously its Christian mission to preach the Gospel to every creature.

So Passover is the meaning of baptism. Baptism is administered once for all, so it is a sacramental act that should not be repeated, but it has a daily effect. When baptism was administered in the early centuries, its importance was emphasised by being given together with the Eucharist.

The importance of the Eucharist itself is explained in the beautiful Melkite Greek Catholic service for Corpus Domini: “It is indeed a tremendous miracle to see God incarnate and become man, and more wonderful still to see him hanging on the cross, but the sum of all wonders, O Christ our God, is thine ineffable presence in the mystic species. Thou hast truly instituted in this mystery a remembrance of all thy wonders.”

It is food for our Orthodox faith and it brings life and renewal to us all.

Eucharist is the food for our daily Passover, our life’s pilgrimage. In our Greek Catholic Patriarchate in Jerusalem we prepare food for the pilgrims staying with us. (I saw this every day over the twenty-six years I was there.) Pilgrims go out for the day with their packed lunch in backpacks. As they walk through the streets, they are carrying this food they have received for their journey. So the Eucharist is our bread for the way, the bread of life, as the disciples travelling to Emmaus discovered when Christ broke bread before their eyes.

This Christian faith of ours is not a matter of academic discussion. That is why I like to celebrate the Eucharist as often as possible and take every opportunity to preach during the Liturgy, even if there are only two or three people present. Receiving the Eucharist strengthens us, so that we can live the Gospel message, helping people in need, visiting the sick, educating the young.

When we accept Jesus into our life, we must go straight on, go ahead and live the new life that we have been given, as Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh once counselled a newly baptized person who asked what then must be done.

Like the Ethiopian eunuch, who after his baptism “went on his way rejoicing,” (Acts 8:37) we must see that our baptism be never repeated, but always lived, lived daily in its essence. We are to go through our life with the Lord, God with us (Emmanuel), having eaten and drunk of the life that he has given us and endeavouring to follow in his steps, until for every creature there is but one life in Christ.

V.C.

Senate of the French Republic
Paris, 12 July 2007

Back to the top

Symposium “Europe-East: Dialogue with Islam”

Speech of H.B. Gregorios III (Laham),
Patriarch (Melkite Greek Catholic) of Antioch and all the East,
of Alexandria and of Jerusalem

The situation of Christians in countries with a Muslim majority, and particularly in Syria

1. Overview of the Christian presence in the Middle East

This is a general description, with approximate statistics.

In the Lebanon, it is said that 40% of the population, or between 1,500,000 and 2 million people are Christian, principally Maronite (Catholic) and, in decreasing order, Greek Orthodox, Syrian (Catholic and Orthodox), Armenian (Orthodox and Catholic), etc.

For Syria there may be (for there are no reliable statistics) about 10% of the population, some 1,500,000 to 1,700,000, who are Christian, principally Greek Orthodox, Melkite Greek Catholic, Syrian Orthodox and Catholic, as well as Armenian (Orthodox and Catholic), Chaldean (Catholic), Latin, etc.

In Jordan, the figure is given of 150,000 to 200,000, principally Greek Orthodox, Christians.

In Palestine and Israel, there are some 150,000 Christians, of whom the largest denomination is Melkite Greek Catholic (67,000), followed by Greek Orthodox, Latin Catholic, and Armenian Orthodox.

For Egypt, there may be about 10 million Christians, mostly Coptic Orthodox, with strong minorities of Coptic Catholics, Greek Orthodox and Melkite Greek Catholics.

In Sudan, according to the Vatican’s figures, there are 4,900,000 Latin Catholics; there are also Coptic Orthodox, Greek Orthodox and Melkite Greek Catholics.

In Iraq, before the war, there were about 700,000 Christians, especially Chaldean (Catholic) and Assyrian (Orthodox); now we do not know how many are left; in any case, fewer than 500,000.

In Kuwait, there are 250,000 Latin Catholics, mostly from India and the Philippines. There are also Syro-Malabar Catholics, Greek Orthodox, Maronites, a thousand Melkite Greek Catholics, etc.

In the rest of the Arabian Peninsula (the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Yemen and Saudi Arabia), there are, according to the Vatican, 1,500,000 Catholics, both Latin (coming mainly from India and the Philippines) and Syro-Malabar (also from India).

So in all these countries, there may be about 15 million Christians, plus some five million in Sudan.

2. Religious Freedom (freedom to worship)

This freedom may be said to be assured, in general and to different degrees, in all Arab countries, except in Saudi Arabia.

Recently, I wrote to King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, emphasising that there are churches now everywhere throughout the world, and asking him why there are not any in his Kingdom.

3. Freedom of conscience

We are working, in all these countries, including Syria, for the freedom to change religion to be recognized.

This freedom is already guaranteed in Lebanon. In Syria, it is not officially forbidden. But it does not exist in the other Arab countries of the region.

4. Personal statute

This is a legal situation with very ancient roots, going back to the beginnings of Islam, although the pacts attributed in various sources to Muhammad are of doubtful authenticity.

Under Ottoman Turkish domination, this gave rise to the “millet” system. During the period of the French mandate in Lebanon and Syria, and of the British mandate in Palestine, Jordan and Iraq, the juridical notion of the personal statute developed.

In Syria, I am happy to say that, in May 2006, we have acquired a new personal statute for all Catholic (Eastern and Latin) Churches found in the country, Law 31, concerning mainly, marriage, the family in general, betrothals, legitimacy of children, adoption, parental authority, custody of the children in case of separation, wills, church property, ecclesiastical tribunals, etc.

It is interesting to note that the legislator – the law was promulgated by a decree of the President of the Republic, Dr. Bashar al-Assad – took into account the canon laws currently in force in our Churches, i.e. the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, promulgated by Pope John Paul II in 1990, whose norms are quoted word for word, so making them his own.

Here will be found a note indicative of the new features of this Syrian law of personal statute.

What is meant by religious freedom?

In these countries, in general, religious freedom concerns:

a) The building of churches – There is everywhere (always excepting Saudi Arabia) the possibility of building churches, with a greater or lesser number of administrative conditions. There are no problems in Lebanon. Neither are there in Syria; moreover, when there is a newly built up area whose inhabitants include Christians, the State provides, besides the land designated for the building of a mosque, a site for the construction of a church.

b) Religious education– This is ensured, for Christian students, in all Arab countries (except Saudi Arabia), with a greater or lesser number of problems, in state and private schools. In nearly all these countries, catechetical books are published at the State’s expense and edited by inter-communitarian committees. In Syria, we have had such books for about the last forty years; they are prepared by representatives of all Churches, Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant, for all primary and secondary school classes; new editions are being prepared, according to very open criteria about the different Churches and about Islam, with, significantly, an invitation to mutual respect between Muslims and Christians.

Christian religious doctrine is an optional theme for the Baccalaureate in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Palestine. Teachers of Religious Education are nominated by the Minister of Education. In Lebanon and Syria, we have begun training courses specifically for teachers of religion within the context of our religious education centres for laypersons. To extend this education, especially in Syria, (following the government’s taking control of faith schools), we hold catechetical classes within the framework of our parish centres, and we also have brochures, reviews and monthly or weekly periodicals, explaining Sunday liturgies, dogmas, sacraments, spirituality, etc. There are also Christian religious books, printed in Syria with government authorization or imported, mainly from Lebanon, in Arabic and other languages.

c) Religion in the news – News from the Churches is published sometimes in the press, on the radio and on television, especially at the time of the Great Feasts (Christmas and Easter), with a frequency that varies from country to country (nearly every day in Lebanon, less in the other countries). Mass is broadcast on television weekly in Lebanon and in Jordan, on Syrian radio for the Great Feasts (Syrian television has only broadcast Mass twice: that celebrated on 6 May, 2001, by Pope John Paul II in Damascus, and that of his funeral in Rome on 8 April, 2005; for Christmas and Easter, it gives short bulletins about the celebrations of the different Churches and the good wishes presented to their Hierarchs in the name of the Head of State; on 25 December 2006, President Bashar al-Assad presented his good wishes in person on a visit to the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate).

In Lebanon, there are two Christian television channels, broadcasting 24 hours a day, whose programmes are very peaceable and open, helping Christians understand their faith better; these programmes are also watched by Muslim viewers.

6. The relations of the Holy See with Arab and Muslim countries

We have given in an appendix a list of the dates of establishment of these relations since 1947.

7. Centres of Islamic-Christian dialogue

They exist in Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Jordan and Egypt. These centres – of which the most recent are “Al-Liqa” centres created by the Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarchate in Syria, Lebanon and Egypt – undertake different activities (meetings, talks and conferences), attended by Christians and Muslims. There are also a good many books, published in Lebanon and elsewhere, on the subject of Islamic-Christian dialogue, written in Arabic by Christian or Muslim authors, or translated from other languages. In Syria, there is a Muslim review, of Shi’ite adherence, Al-Maarij, whose editorial committee includes well-known Christians, that frequently publishes articles by Christian authors (including the one talking to you), and which has published special numbers on such themes as the Virgin Mary and Pope John Paul II.

On the other hand, it should not be forgotten that contact between Muslims and Christians is continual, from schools, to work-places and in the street.

We must also mention here the very many Christian institutions that are at the service of all, including Muslims. Limiting my remarks to the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, I would like to draw to your attention that we have about a hundred of these institutions in the fields of education, culture and social care (schools, clinics, hospitals, centres for the disabled, etc.).

It is the business of the Leaders of the Christian Churches to make their faithful aware of the role of their presence in the Muslim Arab world. That was the substance of my message of Christmas 2006: “Peace, Living Together and the Christian Presence in the Arab Middle East.”

8. Civic and socio-political aspect of the Christian presence in the Middle East

In nearly all Arab countries, there are Christian ministers and members of Parliament, especially in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Palestine, but also in Iraq, in Egypt (and in Israel), sometimes according to a fixed quota or proportion, particularly in Lebanon (according to the rules of the Constitution) and in Palestine.

If there is discrimination in fact, it is rather for other political and administrative responsibilities, in job opportunities, access to professorial posts at universities, in business; it is rather a socio-economic phenomenon than a socio-religious one.
We cannot talk, at the moment, about persecution in Muslim Arab countries. But there are, here and there, and nowadays, most dramatically in Iraq, tensions, principally due to the development and increase of Islamic fundamentalism in the wake of 11 September, 2001, the war in Afghanistan and above all, the war in Iraq, and also, because of the much older Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

This fundamentalism is not in itself anti-Christian, but it has negative consequences for the Christian presence in these countries, since its psychological pressure adds to the “physical” and social pressure, represented by the fact that the majority of the population is Muslim.

Each time there has been a crisis, since the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, or a war, there has been a new wave of emigration of Christians who felt very uneasy, without a future or political weight, with a shrinking population, more and more in the minority. More than discrimination, it is a matter of pressure fuelling fear.

9. Role and Mission

Faced with the tide of Islamic fundamentalism and terrorism, the Christians of the Middle East should reflect more deeply on their role and mission. Revenge is not a good response. Tolerance is not enough. Neither is the ghetto a solution. The real solution is for Christians to become aware of the role that is theirs in this Arab world with its Muslim majority, of the mission that they have to fulfil, on the social, cultural, political, religious and other levels – the role that they have had, and carried out for the last 1400 years, of living together with Islam, especially in the Arab world.

If it came to it that the Arab world were to be void of the Christian presence, there would ensue the disappearance of living together and the radicalisation of the Arab world, by then exclusively Muslim, over against the Western (European and American) world, called “Christian” (though in fact rather secular). Any occasion would then do as a pretext for a conflict to break out between Muslims and Christians, between Islam and Christianity, the West (including Europe) and the Arab world (then equivalent to the land of Islam), the more so as Europe and America, as supporters of Israel, are for that reason considered as the enemies of Arabs and Muslims.

That is why we must do everything to preserve the Christian presence in the Middle East, a presence of sincere witness and service, based on the role of partners that Christians have had in the history of the region, and that they must still have today in Arab society. That is what I have tried my best to explain in my messages of Christmas, 2004, 2005 and especially 2006. You can read them in Arabic, French and English on the website of the Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarchate: www.pgc-lb.org

In order to express this profound reality, I have used the terms “Church of the Arabs,” and “Church of Islam” - which have provoked some reservations in certain quarters, but I consider them accurate. In my message of Christmas 2004, “Emmanuel, God with us,” I wrote on this subject:

“The most important thing is not to affirm that the Church is Arab, but rather that the Church has a mission in the Arab world and society. In fact, this Arab world in which the Church lives, in which it is planted as in its own soil, sealed into the depths of its history and geography, is in its vast majority the world of Islam (…) This Church of the Arabs, this Church of the Arab world and society is a Church of Islam, of Muslim society, a Church that lives with the Arab and Islamic world (...) When we say Church of Islam, we mean by that that it is a society of Christian faithful, who excel in their relations with Muslims (…) The Church of Islam is a Church which, in its history, past and present, and in its culture, is profoundly and intimately linked with Islam and Muslims.”

Translation from the French: V. Chamberlain

Dates of the establishment of diplomatic relations
between the Holy See and the member countries of the League of Arab States
and/or of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference

1 March 1947: Lebanon

1 April 1947: Egypt

28 February 1950: Indonesia

6 October 1951: Pakistan

21 February 1953: Syria

2 May 1953: Iran

25 January 1960: Turkey

26 August 1966: Iraq

21 October 1968: Kuwait

20 July 1971: Niger

6 March 1972: Algeria

22 March 1972: Tunisia

29 April 1972: Sudan

26 September 1972: Bangladesh

14 June 1973: Burkina Faso (then Upper Volta)

20 November 1975: Nigeria

15 January 1976: Morocco

29 October 1979: Mali

28 November 1988: Chad

23 May 1992: Azerbaijan

27 August 1992: Kyrgyzstan

17 October 1992: Kazakhstan

17 October 1992: Uzbekistan

3 March 1994: Jordan

19 June 1996: Tadzhikistan

10 July 1996: Turkmenistan

10 March 1997: Libya

12 October 1998: Yemen

12 January 2000: Bahrain

20 May 2000: Djibouti

19 November 2002: Qatar

31 May 2007: United Arab Emirates

Special relations

6 November 1995: Palestine (Representative of the Palestine Liberation Organization accredited to the Holy See with diplomatic status; the Apostolic Delegate to Jerusalem is accredited as Diplomatic Representative of the Holy See to the Palestinian Authority)

8 January 2000: League of Arab States (The Apostolic Nuncio in Cairo is also Delegate of the Holy See to the League of Arab States, which has a Representative to the Holy See with diplomatic status)

Une conférence de Sa Béatitude Grégorios III Patriarche d’Antioche et de tous l’Orient d’Alexandrie et de Jérusalem "Paix, Convivialité et Présence chrétienne dans le Proche-Orient Arabe" à Raboueh -Liban Vendredi 18 Mai 2007

Back to the top

A l’invitation du Centre Centre Al-Liqu’a (La Rencontre) et du Conseil Supérieur de la Communauté Grecque Melkite Catholique, Sa Béatitude Gregorios III, Patriarche d’Antioche et de tout l’Orient, d’Alexandrie et de Jérusalem, a donné ce vendredi 18 Mai 2007 une conférence sur le thème crucial de La Paix, Convivialité et Présence Chrétienne dans le Proche-Orient arabe. La conférence a réuni un très grand nombre d’auditeur à l’amphithéâtre du siège patriarcal à Raboueh parmi lesquels de très nombreuses personnalités dont le ministre d’état Michel Pharaon, les anciens ministres Pierre Daccache et Sleiman Traboulsi, l’ancien député Antoine Haddad, le directeur général de la sureté de l’état le Lieutenant Général Elias Keikati, Dr. Mohammad Sammak, membre du comité Islamo-Chrétien, le juge Abbas Halabi, Monsieur Camil Menassa, le Secrétaire Général du Conseil Supérieur des grecs catholiques Mr Fouad Turk, président du conseil économique et social Mr Roger Nasnas, Monsieur Issam karam, l’auxiliaire patriarcal Mgr Michel Abras, le vicaire patriarcal à Jérusalem Mgr Georges Bakar, l’Archimandrite Ibrahim Abou Zeid Père Général de l’Ordre Basilien Salvatorien, le président de la chambre de commerce de Zahlé Edmond Jreissati, ainsi que les membres du Conseil supérieur, juges, présidents des municipalités et préfets des universités et de très nombreux prêtres et religieuses.

De cette conférence particulièrement dense nous retiendrons les principaux points de réflexions suivants :

La paix est l’un des noms de Dieu. C'est le nom de Notre Seigneur et Dieu Jésus Christ, Prince et Roi de la paix. Après la naissance de Jean le Précurseur, Zacharie, son père, entonne un chant de louange pour ce fils qui précédera le Seigneur et annoncera la venue du Christ, lequel "guidera nos pas dans la voie de la paix" (Luc 1, 79). Et lors de la naissance de Notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ, six mois plus tard, dans la ville de Bethléem, les anges font entendre aux bergers de Beth-Sahour leur chant, le cantique éternel de Noël: "Gloire à Dieu au plus haut des cieux et paix sur la terre aux hommes qu'Il aime" (Luc 2, 14).

Les éléments de ce cantique sont liés en une symphonie unique: la gloire de Dieu, la paix, la bienveillance et la joie. Comme le sont les trois thèmes de notre conférence : la paix, la convivialité et la présence chrétienne dans le monde arabe.

C’est ce que, d’une année à l’autre, nous avons toujours voulu dire et redire : l’importance de la présence chrétienne dans le monde arabe, cette présence unique, malheureusement menacée par les cycles de guerres, de crises et de calamités qui s'abattent sur cette région qui est le berceau du christianisme et qui a vu la naissance de Jésus, le Messager de la Paix.

Et notre préoccupation demeure : comment préserver cette présence chrétienne, présence de témoignage et de service dans notre société arabe à majorité musulmane? Une présence chrétienne qui est fondamentale pour la convivialité mais qui, de guerres en crises, se dissout par l’émigration et les vagues successives de départs. Or pour retenir les Chrétiens en Orient et y préserver la convivialité, il faut y faire régner une paix globale, juste et durable.

Détruire les ponts et construire des murs: voilà ce qui est malheureusement le fait, dans notre Proche-Orient. Or, ce dont on a absolument besoin est justement le contraire, c'est-à-dire construire des ponts, dans un monde divisé, afin que les hommes puissent se rencontrer, et détruire les murs qui les séparent les uns des autres.

Nous considérons que les crises, les guerres et les calamités du Proche-Orient sont des produits et des résultats du conflit israélo-palestinien comme le sont aussi les mouvements fondamentalistes ou encore le très lent développement de nos sociétés ou germent la haine, l’inimité, la perte de l’espoir et la déception, en particulier chez les jeunes qui forment 60% de la population arabe. Et la conséquence majeure de ce conflit est l’émigration : l'émigration des cerveaux, des penseurs, des jeunes, des musulmans modérés, et surtout des chrétiens.

Mais le grand danger, le très grand danger, est l'émigration des chrétiens, qui a des conséquences graves et douloureuses. En effet, l'émigration des chrétiens, qui atteint et frappe toutes les paroisses de toutes les communautés chrétiennes dans le monde arabe, surtout au Liban, en Syrie, en Palestine, en Jordanie, en Egypte et en Irak, aboutira à vider l'Orient de ses chrétiens.

Et l'émigration veut surtout dire perdre peu à peu le pluralisme et la diversité du monde arabe, et la perte des grandes possibilités de dialogue islamo-chrétien, qui est, tout à la fois, un dialogue humain et religieux et un dialogue de la vie sociale, des cultures et des consciences, qui se concrétise dans les différents aspects du tissu de la vie quotidienne dans les sociétés arabes.

L'émigration des chrétiens représente une hémorragie continue. Cela veut dire que la société arabe risque de devenir une société d'une seule couleur, une société uniquement musulmane, et ainsi le Proche-Orient deviendrait la région d'une société arabe et musulmane face à une société européenne dite chrétienne, bien que l'Europe et l'Amérique soient sécularisées et pas toujours croyantes. Si cela arrivait, et que l'Orient soit vidé de ses chrétiens, cela voudrait dire aussi que toute occasion serait propice pour un nouveau choc des cultures, des civilisations et même des religions, un choc destructeur entre l'Orient arabe musulman et l'Occident chrétien, un conflit de l'Islam et du christianisme. Ce serait un grand malheur.

Or le rôle des chrétiens est de s'atteler à créer l'atmosphère de confiance entre l'Occident d'un côté et le monde arabe et musulman de l'autre. Notre histoire arabe et le fait que nous sommes une partie prenante du monde arabe et musulman nous donnent vraiment ce rôle très important dans les relations entre l'Orient et l'Occident.

Nous nous adressons à notre sœur aînée, l'Eglise de Rome, qui "préside dans la charité" (Saint Ignace d'Antioche), au Siège Apostolique Romain, et à nos frères dans les Eglises catholiques d'Occident, en Europe et en Amérique. Nous les appelons tous à redoubler leurs efforts et à faire tout ce qui est possible, auprès de leurs gouvernements, en se solidarisant avec nous, chrétiens de l'Orient, pour réaliser le but unique et commun: faire régner la paix.

En même temps, nous voulons dire ici notre grande et profonde gratitude aux Conférences Episcopales, surtout d'Europe, qui ont montré une grande sensibilité et solidarité à notre égard. Nous mentionnons surtout les Papes qui ont fait preuve d'un souci exemplaire pour la question palestinienne depuis ses débuts, au temps de Pie XII, puis du Bienheureux Jean XXIII, de Paul VI, du Serviteur de Dieu Jean Paul II, pour arriver à Sa Sainteté le Pape Benoît XVI, qui suit les développements tragiques et douloureux dans cette région avec une profonde sensibilité et un sens aigu de sa responsabilité. C'est lui qui a dit qu'il est immoral de se dispenser de la responsabilité de faire régner la paix au Proche-Orient. De même, le Saint Père a accompagné les différentes étapes de la guerre meurtrière et destructrice contre le Liban avec une grande attention et un grand soin, en rappelant (Angelus du 6 août 2006) que c'est le devoir de tout homme de contribuer à faire régner la paix dans la région.

C'est à cela que nous appelle notre Saint Evangile, dans lequel nous lisons: "Dieu en effet a tant aimé le monde qu'Il a donné son Fils unique" et L'a envoyé "pour que le monde soit sauvé par Lui" (Jean 3, 16 et 17). Or nous croyons fermement que l'Evangile et Jésus ont toujours raison. En effet, pour le monde, le remède unique à la violence, à la guerre, aux tueries et à l'idéologie du terrorisme est l'amour.

Avons-nous vraiment fait un examen de conscience au sujet des valeurs de notre foi? N'est-il pas vrai qu'il y a une grande faiblesse dans les réalités et les convictions de notre foi chrétienne? Il y a en outre un grand manque de solidarité chrétienne dans les relations à l'intérieur des communautés et entre elles. L'Apôtre Saint Jean a dit: "La victoire qui a vaincu le monde, c'est notre foi" (1 Jean 5, 4).

Nous faisons appel ici aux gouvernants des pays arabes et à ceux du monde entier. Dans cette atmosphère de la fête de la Nativité de Notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ, Prince de la paix, nous les appelons à travailler pour réaliser l'hymne des anges, programme de vie pour notre monde, lequel a besoin d'être en relation continuelle avec Dieu, pour Le glorifier, pour faire régner la paix, pour réaliser le bonheur et la prospérité des enfants des hommes.

C'est pour cela que nous nous adressons à eux tous afin qu'ils travaillent à faire de notre Orient arabe une région dépourvue d'armes, de guerres, de haine et d'inimitié, et que cette terre que Dieu a sanctifiée soit, comme Il l'a voulu, celle où devraient vivre ensemble, en paix et en concorde, tous les enfants des trois grandes religions monothéistes, les juifs, les chrétiens et les musulmans, cette terre qui est leur berceau spirituel commun et où nous sommes appelés à donner des fruits de paix et à les renouveler par l'Esprit de Dieu.

Dans notre effort de convaincre les fidèles chrétiens de rester dans leurs patries, où Dieu les a plantés, nous pensons qu'il est absolument nécessaire de nous adresser, avec eux et en leur nom, et en partant de notre responsabilité en tant qu'Arabes et citoyens des pays arabes, à nos frères musulmans, aux gouvernants, aux responsables, aux théologiens, aux hommes de culture, aux muftis et à tous les fidèles de l'Islam, pour leur dire avec franchise quelles sont les peurs qui nous hantent, et quelles sont les réactions de crainte, chez nous, qui nous poussent à émigrer.

Ces choses-là font que les chrétiens se sentent troublés et apeurés devant un avenir inconnu, dans une société à majorité musulmane. Ils sont souvent montrés du doigt et stigmatisés par des épithètes faisant croire qu'ils seraient une "cinquième colonne", des "croisés", des "impies" (kuffar), des collaborateurs de l'Occident ou d'Israël.

De tels faits, et bien d'autres semblables, sont la cause de la peur chez les chrétiens, et devraient être l'objet, croyons-nous, de cercles d'études, de congrès, de conférences, de réunions dans le monde arabe musulman. Ces problèmes doivent être traités avec beaucoup d'objectivité. Il faut que les musulmans et les chrétiens, ensemble, identifient la vraie raison de l'hémorragie de l'émigration des chrétiens.

Nous nous adressons à nos frères musulmans en toute confiance et charité, et c'est la raison de notre franchise. Nous leur disons sincèrement, nous et tous nos fidèles, que nous voulons vivre ensemble, que nous voulons continuer la marche des siècles passés. Mais nous voulons aussi que nos frères musulmans ne nous appellent pas dhimmis ou "protégés", qu'ils nous considèrent comme de vrais citoyens, comme eux-mêmes. Nous avons les mêmes droits et les mêmes obligations qu'eux. Nous devons édifier ensemble nos pays, nos Patries, et collaborer pour un avenir meilleur de ces pays.

Nous ne demandons pas à être protégés par nos frères et concitoyens musulmans, mais nous aspirons à une chance égale de travail et d'emploi. Nous voulons une vie commune, une convivialité, avec tout ce que ces mots impliquent de charité, de confiance, de respect, de dignité, de responsabilité partagée et de solidarité, dans une marche où nous nous donnions et nous sacrifiions ensemble pour nos Patries.

Nous disons à nos frères musulmans: nous, les chrétiens, nous avons des forces extraordinaires. Nous avons nos couvents, nos monastères, nos écoles, nos universités, nos sociétés de bienfaisance, nos institutions sociales, culturelles et de santé, et tout cela, nous le mettons à votre service. Mais, si nous émigrons, toutes ces capacités seront dispersées et détruites, et c'est l'homme arabe, chrétien et musulman à la fois, qui sera perdant.

La convivialité est l'avenir des pays arabes et les chrétiens sont un élément important de cette convivialité. Il n'y a pas de convivialité sans pluralisme. Cette convivialité est menacée par l'émigration qui revient à vider l'Orient de son pluralisme et à ruiner la convivialité. Mais pour que la paix et la convivialité demeurent il nous faut la paix, une paix durable, globale et solide. La paix est aujourd'hui le vrai défi, le grand jihad et le grand bien.

Et c'est à chacun de nous, pasteurs et fidèles, Patriarche, Evêques, prêtres, religieux, religieuses et laïcs, que s'adresse Saint Paul dans son Epître aux Ephésiens (6, 10-16) : "Au reste, fortifiez-vous dans le Seigneur, dans sa puissance souveraine. Revêtez l'armure de Dieu, pour pouvoir résister aux manœuvres du diable. Car ne c'est pas contre la chair et le sang que nous avons à lutter, mais contre les Principautés, contre les Dominations, contre les Souverains de ce monde de ténèbres, contre les Esprits du mal répandus dans les airs. Endossez donc l'armure de Dieu, afin qu'au jour mauvais vous puissiez résister, soutenir jusqu'au bout le combat et demeurer maîtres du terrain. Allons, debout, avec la vérité pour ceinture, la justice pour cuirasse, et pour chaussures le zèle à propager l'Evangile de la paix. Tenez toujours en main le bouclier de la foi, grâce auquel vous pourrez éteindre tous les traits enflammés du Mauvais".

Et, ensemble, nous chantons, avec une grande joie et une grande espérance: "Gloire à Dieu au plus haut des cieux et paix sur la terre aux hommes de bonne volonté" (Luc 2, 14).

Paschal Letter 2007

Back to the top

“O my Joy, Christ is Risen!”

Gregorios, by the grace and mercy of God,
Patriarch of Antioch and of All the East, of Alexandria and of Jerusalem:
May divine grace and apostolic blessing fill
our brother bishops, members of the Holy Synod,
and all faithful clergy and laity of our Melkite Greek Catholic Church.

It is thus that the Russian Saint Seraphim of Sarov used to receive the visitors to his hermitage who came to seek his guidance and request his prayers for the healing of their spiritual and bodily illnesses. This experience of paschal joy was his spiritual food, food that he would offer his visitors.

Saint Seraphim of Sarov would repeat this outburst of joy until it became a balm, consolation and hope for them all.

A Call to Joy

Through this paschal letter, I would like us to commune together in this joy and meditate together on the reasons for this joy, for it is the “new drink, no longer gushing from the rock in the desert, but the fount of immortality springing marvellously from the tomb of Christ, our strength” and our joy. (Paschal Canon, Canticle III)

The paschal hymns are abundant in calling us to joy, as we listen to Jesus speaking to the Myrrh-bearing Women and the Apostles, saying, “Rejoice.” Saint John of Damascus invites us all, saying, “Let heaven rejoice as is fitting and let the earth be glad. Let the whole universe, visible and invisible, take part in this feast, for Christ is risen, he who is our endless gladness.” (Canticle I)

So the expressions of joy, gladness and lightheartedness are repeated, so that “all of creation celebrates the Resurrection of Christ, our strength” and “joy.” (Canticle III) The Church invites us to dance like David during this feast and to “rejoice with divine rejoicing, for Christ is risen, as almighty.” (Canticle IV) Even the dead, who were “captive and bound by the chains of hell, ran forward with joyful steps towards the daylight, applauding the eternal Passover.” (Canticle V)

We are all called to “take our lamps” and to “celebrate with the heavenly hosts who love to honour the redeeming Passover of our God.” (Canticle V)

And the whole Church shouts with the rapture of victory as “we celebrate the mortification of death, the destruction of hell and the beginning of another and eternal life, as we sing with gladness to their author, the only God of our fathers, to him be blessing and exceeding glory.” (Canticle VII) We continue, “How holy and beautiful, indeed, is this night of our redemption, radiant messenger of the shining Day of the Resurrection.” (Canticle VII) and again, “Come, let us taste the fruits of the new vine and commune in the divine joy of the kingdom of Christ.” (Canticle VIII)

The hymns are addressed to the Church and to the holy Virgin Mary. “Shine, shine, new Jerusalem, for the glory of the Lord has risen upon thee. Rejoice, exult and dance with joy, O Zion” – the Church – “and thou, pure Mother of God, rejoice also at the resurrection of thy Son.” (Canticle IX)

The faithful are in the greatest rapture of joy, crying aloud, “O divine delight! O ineffable sweetness of thy voice, for truly thou hast promised, O Christ, to be with us until the end of time and we, the faithful, whose hope rests on this promise, exult in joy.” (Canticle IX)

There is the atmosphere of joy, joy of the resurrection, joy of the Great Feast.

Let us also, with the hymns of the glorious Paschal Canon, with Saint Seraphim of Sarov, shout, “O my joy, Christ is risen!”

Reasons for Joy in the Resurrection

Meditating on these hymns and the exultation of Seraphim of Sarov, I discover faith’s deep reasons for the festal joy of all of us, children of the Church of the Patriarchal Eparchies of Damascus, of Alexandria and of Jerusalem, those three eparchies that depend directly on our patriarchal service and of all our eparchies and parishes throughout the world.

In fact the faithful person finds innumerable reasons to be thankful, to celebrate and be joyful, not only on the Day of the Resurrection, but all the days of his life.

That is what I wished for our sons and daughters to discover in our Church, which is truly the Church of the Resurrection. So their joy is abiding, as Jesus says to his disciples. “I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.” (John 16:22)

“O my Joy, Christ is Risen!”

O my joy, we Christians throughout the whole world are celebrating all together this year. It is a really ecumenical festival, a cosmic feast, a Christian and universal feast.

O my joy, Christ is my expectation.

O my joy, Christ is my hope.

O my joy, Christ is my life.

O my joy, Christ is living in me.

O my joy, Christ is my Redeemer.

O my joy, Christ is my Saviour, my light, my consolation.

O my joy, Christ was born, baptised, appeared to the world and lived among men, sharing their life. He is day by day living alongside them, working many wonders for their salvation, healing and happiness, that they might have life in abundance and in dignity.

O my joy, Christ has suffered for us and is living with us and for us even today. He lightens others’ sufferings, serves them and causes hope to spring up in their hearts, hope and encouragement for a happier life.

O my joy, Christ is really Emmanuel in word and deed and until today and every day he is Emmanuel, God risen and alive in us, with us and for us, for our salvation.

Our Feasts throughout the Liturgical Year are a Resurrection

O my joy, I live the life of my Lord, God, Saviour, Redeemer and Healer of my soul and body. I live and experience his own life through the feasts of the liturgical year: Christmas, the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple, his Baptism or Theophany, the day of Transfiguration, the days of the Resurrection, Ascension and Pentecost, the descent of the Spirit into the world.

O my joy, Christ is my feast.

O my joy, I am baptised in the name of Christ.

O my joy, I am chrismated and sealed by the Holy Spirit of Jesus.

O my joy, I feed often and repeatedly on the Body and Blood of Christ in Holy Communion, in the Divine Liturgy and thus truly participate in the life of Christ risen from the dead. So I may say with the Apostle Paul, “I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.” (Galatians 2:20) and with him again, “For to me, to live is Christ.” (Philippians 1:21)

O my joy, I am founding a Christian family through the sacrament of holy matrimony and thus am participating in the creative work of God the Creator and am giving life to children, created in the image and likeness of God and who are called to become living members of the parish, Church and society.

O my joy, for the priests who put on Christ through holy priesthood and who are consecrated for the service of God and his faithful people and who bring to the faithful the life-giving grace of Jesus in the Sacred Mysteries, sowing the word of the living God in the hearts and minds of the children of their parishes.

O my joy, I believe and by faith I participate in the resurrection of Christ.

O my joy, I hope and through hope I participate in the resurrection of Christ.

O my joy, I love and through love I participate in the resurrection of Christ.

O my joy, I repent and return to the compassionate Father and take up again the life of new grace in Jesus Christ.

O my joy, Christ saves me through the holy mysteries (sacraments), through creation and all its elements and matter, for the risen Christ sanctifies the whole of the natural world, through the symbols of grace and life-giving sacraments. Water, oil, bread, wine, light, candles and incense: the risen Christ blesses me through every earthly and heavenly blessing; the risen Christ makes all natural elements into agents of sanctification, salvation, redemption and resurrection.

O my joy, the whole of the natural order is sanctified by the epiphany of Christ the Saviour.

O my joy, my fellow humans, all of us, are created in the image and likeness of God and called to salvation and participation in the life of the risen Christ.

Our Celebrations are a Resurrection

O my joy, as we reach the end of this period of preparation for Pascha, in which we faithful of our whole parish have lived with the risen Christ an experience of the pleasure of Lent; sharing a great spiritual joy through the very beautiful prayers and Lenten celebrations, characteristic of our Greek Catholic Church’s rites! Amongst these are the prayer of Great Compline, so full of compunction; the Liturgy of the Presanctified; the very popular Akathist for our Mother, the Virgin Mary, really festive, Marian, spiritual, tuneful, artistic and wonderful; the procession with the icons on the Triumph of Orthodoxy, the first Sunday of Lent; the procession with the Relics of the Saints on the second Sunday of Lent, a feast proper to the Melkite Church; the procession of the Holy Cross, on the third Sunday of Lent (called the Sunday of Flowers when flowers are distributed); the joy of the procession of Palms, festival of our beloved children; the Anointing with Holy Unction, sacrament of repentance and healing forgiveness; the Way of the Cross and reading of the Twelve Gospels of the Passion on Great and Holy Thursday; the adoration of the Holy Cross on Holy and Great Friday - besides the church visiting on Holy Thursday and the walking with the cross through the streets of our towns and villages.

Our Christian Life, an Agent of Resurrection for our Society

Are these not all the true joys of the resurrection, for they are all linked to the Great Feast of the radiant Resurrection? Thanks to these ceremonies, the faithful scarcely notice any gloominess or hardship in Lent; rather longing for this Great Lent and its celebrations, just as they yearn for the Greatest Feast.

O my joy, I am a believing Christian who lives all these celebrations with my fellow faithful, all together forming a single believing family, one in our believing houses, in our churches and in all our parishes and communities, especially now, as this year we are all celebrating together the Feast of Pascha.

O my joy, Christ is risen! I shout it at the top of my voice in the presence of my brothers and sisters in society. I show them that I am really happy in my faith as I bring to all my fellow citizens, Christians and Muslims alike, the great tidings of the resurrection of Christ and repeat the hallowed verse of the Qur’an, "Peace be upon me the day I was born, the day I die, and the day I am resurrected." (19:33, Surah Maryam)

O my joy, Christ is risen! I live my faith in freedom in my country, in all Arab countries and everywhere. I live the joy of the feast with my brethren and fellowmen and I am proud of my faith and full of joy at being able to share that with all humankind.

O my joy, Christ is risen! This refrain repeated especially by the young – scouts and different youth groups in their pastoral activities and brotherhoods - amidst the rapture of the feast, enlivens faith in all our hearts that beat in fellowship, as we help each other preserve inwardly in joy, pride and splendour the deposit of faith inherited from our forebears. Truly, our faith is the great joy of the resurrection.

O my joy, Christ is risen! O my joy, to be able to live our Christian faith, common to us all. In fact the faithful person, the believer, is never completely alone: God is with him and his fellow believers are with him.

O my joy, Christ is risen! O our joy at having this holy faith!

Saint Paul, Teacher of the Resurrection

We are “children of the resurrection,” as was our nickname in olden days in the East. We have a great teacher to explain to us the meaning of the resurrection and of life in Christ – Saint Paul, whose letters are full of its meaning. He is truly the great apostle of the resurrection.

That is why I am closing this paschal letter with some passages on the resurrection from his beautiful epistles. In the Epistle to the Romans, we read “that like as Christ was raised up from the dead… even so we also should walk in newness of life,” for “if we have become planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection. …Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans, 6: 4, 5, 11)

Saint Paul affirms, “If Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.” (I Corinthians 15:17)

Saint Paul boasts of life in Christ risen and alive. He says, “I am crucified with Christ… yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live… I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20)

Saint Paul longs with his whole soul to participate in Christ’s resurrection. He says his wish is “that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.” (Philippians 3:10-11)

Saint Paul speaks to the Colossians, saying to them that they are “buried with him in baptism, wherein also (they) are risen with him.” (Colossians 2:12) He says, “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God… and your life is hid with Christ in God.” (Colossians 3:1, 3)

He speaks to his son Timothy, saying, “Remember that Jesus Christ… was raised from the dead.” (II Timothy 2:8)

O my joy, Christ is risen! This joy is fulfilled and made perfect in the measure in which I participate in Jesus’ suffering, cross and resurrection. The joy is still further fulfilled if I am myself the cause of resurrection and life for others, so that together we may encourage each other for life, living our Christian faith in joy, hope, expectation, courage and involvement in our society, on its social, political, economic, cultural and scientific levels. Our involvement is true resurrection for us and for our society.

This true joy in the resurrection is poles apart from laziness, discouragement, despair, selfishness, banality, superficiality, slavery to modern idols such as fashion, money, food, drink, pleasure, weakness, self-sufficiency and false security. Our joy in the resurrection means that we are living the values of the Gospel, that we are following the words of Jesus risen from the dead, for they are the words of life.

Conclusion: O my Joy, Christ is Risen!

It is to that joy that I call my brothers and sisters, whom this paschal letter reaches. We all have need of this holy joy in order to be strong, with the strength of our faith in Christ, risen and living in us, to overcome the difficulties of life, in our career, family, school, teaching, work and daily struggle.

O my joy at participating together in this feast, unique to us all!

To this joy, our prayers and hymns call us in all the feasts, but especially in the Feast of the Resurrection, Feast of the Glorious Passover. To this joy, I summon all our sons and daughters in our churches for the Feast of the Resurrection. We pray most insistently that this joy may enter all hearts and minds, homes and families, among the sick, the elderly, men, women, boys and girls. Again we pray that this joy enter into the reality of our society, especially in the Arab East where there continue to flare up here and there fires, wars, armament, hatred, aggression, violence, killings, fundamentalism and terrorism.

May this Feast of the Resurrection be a spiritual, social and economic resurrection for our society and in the full expectation of that, we shout, proclaiming our faith in the risen Christ, “Christ is risen from the dead!” and we Christians throughout the whole world sing all together, “Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death and to those in the tombs he has given life.”

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!

!المسيح قام! حقا قام (al-Masih qām! Haqqan qām!)

April 8 2007

Gregorios III

Translation from the French: V. Chamberlain

Lent Letter 2007

Back to the top
Prot. 20/2007D Damascus, February 2, 2007

This letter was first published in Arabic for Lent 2004 and is republished in English in view of the repeated coincidence of Pascha. This year however, Great and Holy Lent begins with Vespers of Forgiveness on February 18 and Paschal Sunday falls on April 8 for Christians everywhere.

Letter of His Beatitude Patriarch Gregorios III
for Great and Holy Lent, 2004

The Lenten letter for 2007 was published only in Arabic, with the title

Great Lent:
the Way of the Cross and the Resurrection

The beginning of Great Lent
A Lenten greeting, with love, prayer, blessing and peace! We address ourself to our brother bishops, to our sons the priests, the monks and nuns, to all our sons and daughters in all the parishes of our Patriarchal Church everywhere, through this brief letter at the beginning of blessed Great Lent.

We thank God, who has granted all Christians today in our Arab countries and throughout the whole world to fast together this year and to celebrate afterwards the Great Feast of Pascha together. And we hope that what is imposed on us by astronomic reckoning may be granted to us by the grace of God and thus, our hearts will be filled with holy love as we continue to fast together, to serve together, to celebrate Easter together and to witness together for the one Christ, for the one faith and hope, united by love that binds all our hearts.

In order to be useful, we give here a brief presentation of the rule of fasting and abstinence, of the different kinds of abstinence and the basic rules on this subject in the Oriental tradition of the Eastern Church and its application in our Melkite Greek Catholic Church.

Great Lent in the ancient discipline of the Church

The days of fasting (abstinence) are the days of Wednesday and Friday of the Carnival Week before Cheesefare Week and Monday through Friday of the weeks of Lent and of Great and Holy Week, except the day when the Annunciation falls (25 March).

Great and Holy Saturday is the only Saturday on which one must keep a fast. It is forbidden to fast on the other Saturdays of the year, because Saturday (Sabbath) is a holy day linked with the day of the Resurrection (Sunday).

Days of abstinence are for the whole time of Great Lent, including Sundays and during all of Holy Week, unless the Annunciation falls then, except Palm Sunday, when fish may be eaten.

Fasting and Abstinence throughout the Year

1. Abstinence every week of the year on Wednesday and Friday, except during Eastertide up until the Ascension, the Week after Pentecost, the Twelve Days of Christmas up to and including Epiphany, and the Week of the Publican, which comes after the Sunday of the Publican and Pharisee.
2. Days of fasting and abstinence on the Days of Preparation for Christmas and Epiphany, unless they fall on Saturday or Sunday, and in that case, the fast is transferred to the preceding Friday.
3. Fast before Christmas, beginning 15 November up until the Vigil of Christmas, 25 December, which makes forty days.
4. Fast of the Apostles, which falls towards the end of June, from Monday after the Feast of All Saints (Sunday after Pentecost). The length of the fast varies according to the date of Easter.
5. Fast of the Dormition of the Virgin, which runs from the 1-14 August.
6. Fast for the Beheading of St. John the Baptist on 29 August.
7. Fast for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross on 14 September.

The Fasts which are mentioned above are days of abstinence only, whilst during Great Lent, there is both fasting and abstinence, so that all the abstinences of one kind or another comprise the whole time of Great Lent and Holy Week. So the days of fasting and abstinence throughout the year are one hundred and sixty days.

The Meaning of Fasting and Abstinence

Fasting is abstinence from any food and drink from midnight until Vespers. So the person fasting eats a single meal a day after Vespers or after the Liturgy of the Presanctified, or at midday after the Festal or Sunday Liturgy.

Eucharistic or sacramental fasting in its deepest meaning is linked to the celebration of the Divine Liturgy and to Holy Communion. According to the ancient tradition, anyone presenting himself for Holy Communion should have fasted by abstaining from all food and drink. In fact, communion finishes or brings to a close the fast. One can say that it breaks the fast, whether after a day of fasting or during Great Lent. In that case the person fasting ends his day and his fast by celebrating the Presanctified Liturgy, which is the service of Vespers with solemn communion. In the same way, the Fasts of the Preparation for Christmas and for Epiphany end with the Divine Liturgy, preceded by the service of Vespers. In the same way, the fast of the last three days of Great and Holy Week ends with Paschal Communion on Easter morning.

Abstinence is abstinence from meat and gravy, dairy products, eggs, milk, cheese and butter, whilst fish is permitted on some days: 25 March and Palm Sunday. Wine and oil are permitted on certain days.

The wisdom of fasting

The Holy Fathers of the Church consider Great Lent or the Great Fast of the Great Days as a carrying out of the tithe for God. Forty days is almost a tenth of the three hundred and sixty-five days of the year. In fact, we read in the commandments, to carry out the tithe and receive blessing. (Deuteronomy 12:6-7) To that we add the Advent Fast, the Apostles’ Fast and the Dormition Fast. The different fasts fall in all four seasons of the year to sanctify the whole year. The Advent Fast is in autumn, the Great Fast of forty days is mostly in winter, the Apostles’ Fast is in late spring and the Fast of the Dormition in summer.

So the faithful Christian who observes the different fasts remains in a continuous relationship with the spiritual and ascetic exercises and in a spiritual watchfulness to enable the Holy Spirit to work in him. In the same way he keeps his fitness of soul and body together.

Many people seek out doctors and scientists to get information relevant for keeping their bodily good health but we should not be at all surprised to find that the wisdom of the Church in distributing the fasts is absolutely in agreement with medical instructions and even superior to their advice, for it is aimed at health of soul and body. So is fulfilled the saying of the great master Jesus, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33) And again he says, “It is written, man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God." (Matthew 4:4) That was the reply of Jesus to the tempter in the desert. St. Paul says, explaining the true meaning of Lent, “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” (I Corinthians 10:31) And he also says, “Glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.” (I Corinthians 6:20)

The Canon and discipline of fasting and abstinence in the Melkite Greek Catholic Church

Our Holy Synods have more than once dealt with the question of fasting and abstinence, especially between 1949-54. General guidance was given, above all, after Vatican II, that each local bishop organise the discipline of fasting and abstinence suitable to his eparchy.

Despite different dispensations which were put in place for different situations in life, the discipline of fasting according to the old, Eastern tradition remains firm and, thank God, fairly well practised in many monastic religious institutions, among the clergy and faithful.

Great Lent starts this year on Monday, 19 February and lasts until the morning of Pascha on 8 April, 2007.

We have presented in this letter the wisdom of Lent according to the ancient discipline. Some eparchies apply dispensations, so that people fast in the first week and on the last three days of Holy Week. With all the respect that we have for the authority of each bishop in his eparchy to put in place the discipline suitable for his eparchy, we would like to remind everyone of what the canon law particular to us says in Article Number 107, which corresponds to canon 888 of the Code of canons of the Eastern Churches: “We exhort the faithful to take on the discipline of fasting and abstinence noted in the liturgical books.” That is what we have explained above and that is what our fathers and ancestors always practised. But we do not wish to make anyone’s conscience heavy but rather leave to each one of our children, our sons and daughters, to organise himself his own method of fasting and abstinence according to the circumstances of his own life, his work and his health.

On the other hand we exhort everyone, bishops, priests, monks and nuns and our children, the sons and daughters in our parishes, to fast according to the old tradition for fasting will never be for us the cause of death and it will not hurt at all our health. On the contrary, it is good for all, for soul and body.

However, for the sick, or someone in a special situation it is his conscience which must be his guide as to how to practise Lent. He can also ask the advice of his parish priest.

That is why we address ourself to everyone, “Do not be afraid of fasting. Make of this time of preparation for the Feast of Pascha some of the most beautiful days of your life.”

And we exhort everyone, priests, monks and nuns, monasteries and families not only to abide by the laws of ecclesiastical fasting but moreover to live during this Lenten time a simple life with regard to food and drink, jewellery, cosmetics and clothing, so that we have recourse to all methods of creating an atmosphere of piety, compunction and inner peace in all aspects of our life.

Apart from physical fasting, we call upon you to put Christian spiritual living into practice with depth, conviction and joy. Here are some ways of doing this:

1. more personal, deeper prayer in the home and in church and above all, participation in Great Compline and the Akathist
2. practising fasting and abstinence to the best of one’s capability
3. exercise bodily and spiritual mortification in different ways
4. live out brotherly charity in social relations
5. approach the holy Mysteries
6. alms-giving and benefaction, each according to his possibilities and condition of life.

We recommend to all, with St. Paul, to leave the works of darkness to put on the armour of light. We are all sinners in need of metanoia (penitence) and to be rid of sin, passions and everything that enslaves us with regard to food and drink, clothing, pleasure, jealousy, anger, hatred, vengeance, disputes, pride, obstinacy, calumny, stupidity, amusements and superficiality. He who commits sin is not free, but is the slave of sin.

The period of Lent is a period of purity, holiness, prayer and liberation from sin, evil and corruption.

If we do all this, our period of Lent is welcome and we sanctify the days of Lent and are illumined by the light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, giving witness to Jesus in our society. Brothers and sisters, do penance, make yourselves holy, for the Kingdom of God is at hand. Here is a time very pleasing to God, a time of salvation. It is the period of Lent which comes to us as a spiritual spring-time, preparing us to shine with the light of the glorious Resurrection and the saving Passover.

Good Holy Lenten Fast, with my friendship, affection and blessing,

Gregorios III

Patriarch of Antioch and of All the East, of Alexandria and of Jerusalem

Translation from the French by V. Chamberlain

Digest of talks by His Beatitude, Gregorios III,
Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, of Alexandria, and of Jerusalem
given in Amman, Jordan (May 2005) and in the Sultanate of Oman (2006)
following the outline of that given at the opening of the Al-Liqa’ Centre
in Lebanon (2003)

Church of the Arabs

Back to the top

“God be with you”

This popular expression, so short and so rich, carries within it many meanings both divine and human and sums up splendidly whole lectures and books in philosophy, theology and the humanities.

Synonymous with the expression Allah maakum “God be with you” in the language of Islam is Assala’amu aleikum wa arrahmatullah wa barakatuhu - “Peace be upon you and the mercy of God and his blessings.” In any case, it was also the greeting of Jesus to his disciples, “Peace be with you all.” It is with these expressions, equally Christian and Muslim, that I greet you all, men and women. These expressions carry a wish from the speaker to the other party to the conversation and they also declare the speaker’s faith and religious convictions. The content of these expressions is one and the same: a profound awareness that God is with man and man’s conviction about the depth of God’s relationship with him and his with God. Such expressions, usually prefacing any kind of speech, talk or meeting with people, are really expressions of profound awareness and faith.

Jesus, by taking flesh and being born, laid down the basis for the meeting of God with mankind, for his name is Emmanuel, God with us.

Philosophy in every age and form always seeks a meeting point between the abstract idea and raw material and in the end it amounts to seeking how God can meet man.

Theology takes the same road in the light of faith. Theology is the science of human encounter with God and the meeting of God with mankind.

That is precisely the goal of every religion and theology. Besides, St. John says in his Gospel, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) Our liturgical prayers slightly modify this gospel verse and are addressed to the Father, saying, “Thou didst so love thy world,” (Anaphora of St. John Chrysostom). So the encounter has its starting point in love: there is no meeting without love. There is no true love that does not end in a meeting.

Vatican II, which is itself a great encyclopaedia of the twentieth century, produced several documents and opened up the Church’s, Christianity and Christians’ horizons onto man and his convictions, the world in all its categories and the universe in all its realities. In all these documents there is a call to meeting with man, with the other, the world, its civilizations, a call to discover the other and everything that is rich and good in him.

The saints are men who met others, even the hermits who chose the life of the hermitage, left the world and lived an ascetic life in deserts and monasteries far from towns, were men of encounter and dialogue. They even turned the deserts into cities and their monasteries into beacons of learning, literature, art and encounter centres of thought and exchange of culture and civilization, through books, gatherings, architecture, economy, farming, sciences, crafts and so forth.

Our Land is a Land of Meeting

Dear friends, our whole Arab land is a land of revelation and revelation is the primordial meeting. Our land, our Arab countries are a holy land, the cradle of civilizations and faith.

On our land people encountered the revelations of God to man: so they must also meet each other. That is the experience of heaven and of earth and that is the command of God to us all: “O mankind! We created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female and made you into nations and tribes that ye may know each other” (Qur'an: Surah 49:13 Al-Hujurat - The Inner Apartments) and Jesus said, “All ye are brethren.” (Matthew 23:8)

The priest, bishop and man of religion, the shaykh, is a man of dialogue and meeting: it is his basic specialization. He cannot do anything or be faithful to his functions, duty, service and apostolate if he is isolated and isolates himself. Besides, one of the signs of the Church is that it is defined as being a universal Church, a catholic Church, a church on the way, a church of dialogue and a church of encounter.

Vision of Christianity

In my conviction and moreover, in my Christian experience, Christianity is not an identity, or nationalism: it is not even a community or church in the sense of an institution; although Christians have gathered together in groups, called churches. My Lord, my Saviour and my God, Jesus Christ did not come to found a religion or nation or group as distinct from another group, fixed in a locality against other groups.

My Lord, Jesus Christ went beyond all those values, notions, logics, dimensions, relations and barriers between one land and another, one homeland and another, one group, community, tribe, nation, gender and another. So it is as St. Paul said, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28)

Christianity is a new creature. It is according to the model of Jesus Christ, going beyond all dimensions, all limiting predicates in philosophical and tribal thinking, in a culture, nation, or party. Christianity is really something else, let us say, another and new conception. That is the secret of its sublime nature. In the same way, true Islam is also like this, “You are the best of nations raised up for the benefit of mankind.” (Qur’an: Surah 3:110 Ale’Imran) That does not mean a preference of one above the other, but an excellence in faith. One could say the same of every religion in its true sense. One could also say this of true Judaism: in fact Judaism is the religion of the prophets who always called Jews to go beyond their borders, land and tribe, their mentality, isolation, pride and supremacy over others.

That means that the true conception of faith does not allow you to use the expression “My religion. Your religion.” Perhaps that is the meaning of the Qur’an: Surah 109 al- Kaffirun (Renegades) “I have my religion and you have yours.” Your religion, according to your own human thought, limits you and ties your hands, makes you small, scatters you, makes you into small groups, but my religion, which I am proclaiming to you, raises, unifies, gathers you and makes strong links between you and others.

Man is the Foundation

If my faith is true and pure and bright, then I can enter into dialogue with the other in his language and mentality, without even knowing his religion. I can enter into dialogue with him as I speak to God, since God speaks to man, every man. He knows what is in the heart of each, for he knows and loves man. True knowledge is love and love leads to knowledge. Man is the foundation of everything, created in the image and likeness of God: that is his first quality, his primordial attribute, his basic, essential attribute. With this attribute, we are all, like Adam, naked. The fig leaf came later: the fig leaf is colour, genders, male and female, geography, history, language, frontiers, limits, passports! The fig leaf is also religion, religious concepts, traditions, societies, characteristics, jobs, families: roads that unite and that separate.

The Christian who has really become a new creation cannot shrivel up and isolate himself to concentrate on himself, nor even isolate himself in a group, community or church. As bishop and Arab Christian Patriarch, I am not for Christians alone. I am a man, for my brother man in order to bring the Gospel to him, not as though it were my gospel, or the gospel of a particular community, but the Gospel in a deep sense, as a new announcement, a beautiful, spiritual, universal announcement for the world.

A Church with the Other

In this part of my meeting with you, dear friends, I would like to speak to you about the content of my 2004 Christmas Letter, entitled, “Emmanuel, God with us.” Through this letter, I would like to sketch out for you aspects of the Church’s presence in society. The Church is in the world, but not of it, though it has its role in the world. Our Melkite Greek Catholic Church and every Church in the Arab East is like its founder and master Jesus Christ, our Lord – a Church with and for. And Jesus said, “I am come that they might have life and have it in abundance.” (John 10:10) From that come all the expressions that I am introducing: “a church with man, a church for man, Church of the Arabs, Church with Islam, Church of Islam.”

The Church with Man

The Christian must go beyond himself…and become really catholic, in the general meaning, “of all and for all.”…“I believe in one, holy catholic Church” means that the Church unites in itself all cultures, civilizations, languages and ethnicities. A catholic Church in the Arab world means an Arab Church in an Islamic world, a Church of Islam. So we may, in this general sense, add to the Creed new descriptors of the church as Church of the Arabs and Church of Islam.

In its universality it does not lose its own qualities and even in its particularities, it does not forget its catholicity and universality.

Church of the Arabs: Church of Islam

The expression “Church of the Arabs” means in a unique manner, the Church of Jesus Christ, living in an Arab milieu … The Church is Emmanuel Church with and for this Arab society …which... is in its vast majority the world of Islam.

That is why the Eastern Church, or Church of the Arabs, Church of Islam, is really ... in the school of Jesus Christ, Emmanuel God, Love God, Redeemer God, Saviour God. It is he who defined the goal of his incarnation, of Christmas, of his birth, by saying, “The Son of God came, not to be served, but to serve and to give his life for the redemption of many,” (Mark 10:45) …

These holy verses are a true and clear call for each Christian to go outside himself ... his tribe, as Abraham was told… in order to meet the other and be .. Emmanuel, a man “with and for.”

We Arab Christians are in a very deep relationship with the Muslim Arabs in our Arab countries: we are of their flesh and blood, their ... culture and traditions. ..

You, as a Christian, cannot pass by on the other side of your Muslim brother, as though he were a stranger, as though you were not concerned by him…

When we say Church of Islam, we mean by that that it is a society of Christian faithful, who excel in their relations with Muslims ….

A Church “with and for”

We have to go out of our Melkite Greek Catholic Church to become Emmanuel Church, the Church in human society…

It is extremely important to understand in its true sense, the name of Jesus Emmanuel and what it is to be... Church of the Arabs and Islam. If the Arab Eastern Christian … does not understand the meaning of the name of Jesus and of his own name… he will lose the meaning of his mission and role, for he does not exist for himself; that person... will be carried away as though by a storm … and a sure candidate for emigration. Those countries which are Christian to their roots …will be stripped of their Church’s children because of emigration and become museums ... Then people will say, “It is here that Jesus Christ lived and here too that Christians once lived, but today they are here no longer. …

This expression “Church of Islam… is, in my conscience, synonymous with love, (charity), respect, mutual help, fellowship, understanding, dialogue, affection, ardour for others, as it is said in the Qur’an, working together in our Arab homelands to build a better world, the civilization of love.

Christian Unity

One of the requirements and duties of the Church of the Arabs is to work for Christian unity. It is not simply one of the Church’s internal voluntary religious tasks: it is more than that; it is an obligatory work of the universal Church. Christian unity is important for the success of our work, service, witness and presence in the Arab and Islamic world.

Our Christian unity is one of the most important factors for strengthening an effective Christian presence and also for challenging Christian emigration, which is a great loss to our Church and to the Arab world and world of Islam. That means that Christian unity and working towards it is not merely due to the desire of Christians to gather together in contradistinction to Muslims and Islam, but rather, Christian unity is of importance as enabling us to provide more effective service to our Arab world; it is an element for uniting us more closely to our Muslim brothers, placing us in a deeper relationship with them and helping them understand more deeply the meaning of our Christianity and Gospel mission in the world “that the world may believe.” That is what Jesus said, “That they all may be one; …that the world may believe.” (John 17:21) So we are to unite not for ourselves, but for the other, for our Muslim brother and for the world, for the Arab and Eastern world.

Common Conviction

I would not like to give the impression that I am alone in having these convictions; that it is my personal monopoly. No: that is not allowed. In fact I know that many, both amongst my brother bishops of our Patriarchal Church, in our Arab world and everywhere throughout the world, (though they may express it differently) are in agreement with this vision. I wouldn’t like to speak for my brother Patriarchs and bishops, but I can say that there is a very deep relationship between all our positions, even if our ways of expressing it are different.

It is very important that these convictions become those of all our sons and daughters in our Patriarchal Church, even, I should say, of all Christians. …

Existential Conviction

These convictions are not a simple free choice or even a strategic one, linked to the fact that we are in a well-defined political or social situation. No, these spiritual convictions are theological, faith-related, and existential and have as their departure point our deep awareness and thought, in our Christian, human and pastoral experience. They have as their departure point the conscience, thought and experience of us all.

These convictions are an important factor in the constitution of our faith, in the discovery of the meaning of our vocation and the substance of our mission in general as Greek Catholic Christians in our Arab world of the Middle East. For me …it is the essential condition of working to reduce as far as possible Christian emigration that is really decimating our Churches.

In my sermons and talks here and everywhere in the world, in congresses, meetings, interviews, on the television and in newspapers, I express these convictions, because I consider them essential and of fundamental importance in helping us understand better the questions that always confront us as pastor and that confront above all our faithful people. They are living every day amidst this great sea of problems, suffering and struggling to make a daily living and understand Gospel values, faith values and their mission in the world in which they live, while we are talking of living together, common life, fellowship, dialogue, meeting, tolerance, forgiveness, love, and teaching them to work to put aside everything that can divide our world through clash of civilizations, religions and cultures. Those Christians who are living every day with very deep difficulties and substantial changes in their life and are suffering have need of an answer to their (and our) questions: what is our role, what is our mission in this Arab world with its Muslim majority? Why should we stay here?

The Role of Arab Christians

The question which is being asked continually, repeatedly and in a profound way about responsibility is not only, what is my mission as a bishop in a Muslim world, but also above all, what is my role as an Arab Christian in the Muslim Arab world? Must we live in a ghetto? Must we isolate ourselves? Must we form an independent Arab Christian country? Should we place our great concern on preserving a Christian presence as a nation, as a millet in the millet system as the Turks called it, or as a group distinct from other groups? Should we act on our concern to defend what we call our privileges, our rights, the status quo? Should we base our logic of life in society on a fear of Muslims and Islam? Should we continue an empty dialogue in which we are cornered without an outlet? Or should we engage in a religious debate that leads us to convince others of our faith with the aim of converting them to our religion? Or rather, are we afraid that they may convert us to theirs? Could the answer be to run away? (We say in Arabic that running away is not for Arabs.) Could the answer be emigration? But this emigration is really a great loss for our whole Arab world, a loss for both Christians and Muslims. In fact, history has indeed proven that we are called to live together, that we have succeeded together, relatively speaking and from a relative success, we are called to a greater and further fulfilment in that direction.

I may say to you, dear friends, who are listening to me and here I am speaking frankly to my Muslim and Christian brethren, that the great challenge for all of us is how to reply to this profound question: what is the meaning of my presence as an Arab Christian in this world, a world which is mine and yours? Well, I think that the elements of an answer are with all of us, Christians and Muslims. Furthermore, I would like to say to you frankly that I personally find great difficulty when replying, to explain to my Christian faithful the role of us Christians, despite all the projects that I have been able to bring to fruition and that the churches are putting into action with the goal of finding the means of maintaining the Christian presence, one that represents true Christian identity, a being with the other in all his reality, a presence in the Arab world in its Islamic-Christian reality. Well, I tell you frankly that the question is difficult to answer and we don’t have a good response.

Citizens in the Arab World

We Christians are citizens in the Arab world: it is our basic characteristic. There is nothing to be added or subtracted. We are born into this world and are an integral part of it. We have obligations in regard to this world, just as we also have in it the rights of citizens. We shall never accept having privileges just because we are Christians, but we shall never allow ourselves to be discriminated against on the basis of nation, religion or church. This is what we demand: that there be no discrimination against us or others. We would never wish some citizens to have rights and others not the same rights. Besides we know that in our Christian faith, as in Islam, such discrimination is not allowed, either on the basis of tribe, ethnicity, social situation or religion. It is forbidden in the Qur’an as it is in the Gospel.

As for the fact of our insisting on our basic quality of being Arab, no one can deny it, except one who is ignorant of the history of this region. If we Christians are not Arab, then many Muslims are not Arab, for as they know, their ancestors converted to Islam from Christianity! Indeed we are Arab in a true and deep sense of the word Arab: we are of this world and for this world which is Arab and Muslim, though we are not Muslim. We can be called Muslim in the sense of which St. Paul reminds us that he has become “all things to all men.” (I Corinthians 9:22) Moreover, let us not forget that the Gospel clearly has a very special place in the Qur’an, where we read the following (Surah al Ma’ida 5:68) addressed to Muslims, “O people of the Book, you are naught unless you uphold the Torah and the Gospel.” I would like to say with a spiritual conviction that is deep and personal; I wonder who besides me can present the Gospel and its good news in the Arab and Muslim world, to my Muslim brothers whom I love? This is not to convert them, though that may happen here and there, nor to push Muslims to change religion, but because for me, the announcement of the Gospel’s glad tidings, carrying this good news to my Muslim brothers and to the other in general is a spiritual witness which has nothing to do with proselytism.

A new Way of Talking

What is required today is a deep encounter of thought between Christianity and Islam, a mutual discovery, a mutual understanding of the vocabulary of the Gospel and the Qur’an and the concepts of Christianity and Islam, of Christian and Muslim spirituality and language. We have need of a real grammar for understanding basic expressions, usage and way of thinking, theology, and logic in Islam and Christianity. All those are the basic elements for a new dialogue between Muslims and Christians, and for mutual acceptance.

Bearer of a Message

I wonder again, who apart from me, an Arab Christian with my Arab language, Arab thought, Arab origin, Arab history, Arab culture, Arab geography and Arab rhetoric, who apart from me and like me can really witness to the Gospel in the presence of his Muslim Arab brothers?

As an Arab Christian, son of the Church of Islam and Arabs, I must carry out this mission and bear witness to the Gospel to my Muslim brother whom I love, without wounding his religious feeling, spirituality, pride even, identity and convictions. My witness to the Gospel to my Muslim brother should be an act of charity, of love from me to him, as if my mission were a ray of light and deep, spiritual, brotherly meeting with him and with a profound respect for his freedom and for everything that makes his Muslim personality.

Arab Church: Conscience of the Arab world

So, Church of the Arabs means this interaction and conviction about our entire responsibility towards our world which is for us and from us and we from it and for it. That means that in the present circumstances we should stand shoulder to shoulder with others in this Arab world, in Arab countries, to defend common causes and the pressures that we Christians and Muslims are encountering, those challenges which have increased notably since September, 2001, the war in Iraq, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including problems of democracy and human rights, freedoms, dignity, openness, enculturation, dialogue between East and West. That means that the Church of the Arabs must be the Arab conscience, a conscience with and for Arabs.

Co-operation between East and West

With regard to these matters, we must create links of mutual help with our Christian brothers in the West, to collaborate on drawing our viewpoints closer together, their and ours, about Islam. We should help them discover the true face of Islam and also understand our role and mission in the Muslim Arab world, so that we can assist each other.

We cannot leave our European Christian brothers alone in their quest to understand Islam, in East-West dialogue and relations between the Western world and the Arab and Islamic Eastern world. So we must tell them, now more than ever, the meaning of our role in that direction and search, just as we must tell our Arab brothers here and show them besides the importance of our role, so that Muslims understand that we have a role with them and for them in their meeting with the Western world. This is the duty of all Christians and Christian citizens, but above all of us church leaders, who must have a very keen sense of this crucial role in our East-West relations. I became very aware of this during my twenty-six year service in the Holy Land, in Jerusalem, where I gave hundreds of talks and participated in many world conferences and felt how important was our role vis-à-vis the Western world on the themes of dialogue, war, peace and justice, East-West relations and above all the Palestinian case, which has an extraordinary influence on all the other problems we must face in our Arab world and in the Muslim world.

Muslim-Christian Interaction

Are not current Arab conditions an urgent, ceaseless call to put into action our unique role of seeking harmony? Current pressures are so strong against the Arab and Muslim world. Are they not a pressing call to increase interaction between Muslims and Christians in our region and to redouble our efforts towards future progress in the Christian Arab world and towards our common responsibility in the third millennium?

Just as Christians in the early period of Islam played a very important role especially in the realm of translation of the whole of Greek culture into the Arabic language, we too should play today the same civilizing role alongside our Muslim brothers. My hope and prayer and wishes are that there be an interaction of Muslims and Christians and what I am doing as Patriarch is the same as my brother Patriarchs and bishops and the monks and nuns in different institutions, for the preservation of the Christian presence in this region is a part of this reality. But it is also important that my Muslim brothers be in agreement with this role, with this project, let us say, of the preservation of the Christian presence in Arab countries.

The Christian Presence in the East and our Responsibilities as Christians and Muslims

Prince Talal ibn Abdel Aziz wrote two years ago the article that must be a working program for every Muslim, for every member of government and every citizen. In fact the Christian has need of this feeling of security, immunity and respect so that he can stay here in Arab countries and fulfil his mission, his role and feel that he has a place in his country, these Arab countries, in his land and homeland. That is what Prince Talal ibn Abdel Aziz wrote, “When I speak of the Christian presence in the Arab world I mean by that that Christians should stay in the Arab world. They were in fact very important elements in the early formation of the Arab world and their presence may still help to keep away any fanaticism and extremism that leads to violence, terror and historic crisis. Their presence and the fact that they stay in the Arab world tends to consolidate the unity of the modern state with its pluralism and diversification and is a very strong barrier against state apartheid. The fact that Christians are still present in Arab countries strengthens the Arab case when dealing with problems in their relations with the Western Christian world from the social, cultural and economic points of view. Their emigration, on the other hand, means exactly the opposite, as it provides the opportunity for many to exploit conditions and restrict the opportunities for meeting and dialogue. On the contrary, the fact that they remain here, all things being considered, is very important in preventing a scientific and cultural haemorrhage of creative thought from the Arab world and is also a powerful boost to the economy, business, industry, finance, specialization and excellence. All in all, the emigration of Arab Christians, if it continues, becomes a mortal blow striking at the very heart of our future. So our urgent and important care and task is to do everything possible to avoid the continuation of emigration and to help this very important Arab Christian constituent in our world to stay here and ensure that there should rather be immigration, bringing back to their countries of origin those who have left.” So our role as guide in relation to our brethren and Christian children is very important in that respect. But we also expect from Muslim leaders, members of government, our neighbours and companions on the road that they too understand this role.

Civilization of Love

When we say to Christians that Jesus tells you, “When someone strikes you on the right cheek offer him your left,” (Matt. 5:38) it does not mean that Muslims should be encouraged to strike Christians. In fact this commandment is the height of love and tolerance, but on the other hand it demands positive interaction between all who listen to this saying, so that society be converted, change and head towards more love, mutual respect and equality between rights and obligations. So this commandment is a call to the whole of society for the civilization of love to reign in it. That means and requires an education of deep faith in all citizens of all confessions and without this education there is no balance in society, neither religious, political or social and so we must return, unfortunately to the vicious circle of violence, religious persecution and apartheid in all its methods.

The civilization of love is that I love you and you love me. However, to place a condition, I love you if you love me, will tend to harm all sense of relations in society. But, I love you unconditionally, gratis, freely and hope that you love me, also unconditionally, is the true spirituality of the Sermon on the Mount and the spirituality of the Gospel. That is what I meant at the beginning of this talk when I spoke of the new creature, the new mentality, the new spirituality. (That is not what the politicians are talking about today, unfortunately, when they use the word “new”!) But it is what I mean by the new world order and the new Middle East. We have the real model of new living, but if faith is not the foundation of this new system it will be more perfidious, more unjust, more violent, more despotic and a greater apartheid than all the others. The mission that is placed on our shoulders in the Arab world is to challenge the Western world by an Eastern Christian-Muslim union of civilization of faith.

Conclusion

Don’t be afraid of being optimistic with respect to the substance of this talk and its very difficult subject matter. In fact in this talk there is a big cross: there is death and martyrdom. Indeed, the history of the Church of the Arabs has never been a road strewn with flowers and victories. The head of the Church, Christ, died on the cross with a crown of thorns, having accomplished the hard road of the cross. We too must encourage each other, Christians and Muslims, to continue along the road together, even if it is a hard road, a way of the cross, for we have in us the hopes of the resurrection. Speaking of the relationship between Passover and the resurrection, here are some passages from the letter to my brothers, members of the Arab churches written for Easter 2004:

If fear were not a human and daily reality, Jesus would not have repeated his call, “Be not afraid.” If fear is daily with us, its causes are different and manifold.

Despite that, Jesus calls us to banish fear and allow new hope to burst forth in our hearts. He gives us a hidden spiritual strength to help us fight fear and to enroll us in the ranks of the optimists, courageous, fearless, loving and defending life, wishing to improve social conditions rather than be victims of failure. Jesus makes us adventurous alongside himself, the great adventurer, dreaming of a better world, doing all in our power to change the outlook of defeatists, pessimists, the vengeful, the cowardly, those despairing propagandists for a divided world, where violence and force, terror and barbarity, killings, wars, disputes and religious, civil and cultural confrontations reign.

Saints are fearless: sinners are afraid, for they are in darkness. The saint is the courageous one, adventurous and enthusiastic, optimistic, with many projects, full of confidence, trusting not in his own strength but in the power of God.

Don’t be afraid to get involved in the problems of your society, in religious life, in spiritual life, in politics, economics and development. Take your place in society, play your very special role as a Christian citizen alongside your Muslim brothers.

That is what I am talking about: not about proving that we are an Arab Church. Our Arab origin is very well known in the Arab world. History is full of proofs that we are Arab but it is not important to have proofs that we are Arab by referring to history, geography, demography and ethnicity. What is important in talking of the Church of the Arabs and of Islam is the love which must really unite our hearts and make each brother a friend, close to our heart, a citizen who is a companion with us in life. The important thing is that the Church be able to engage in dialogue with the Muslim world and with Islam. What is required of the Church and its members is to love Muslims and Islam on the basis of our faith and not on the basis of a passing feeling, so that together, we Muslims and Christians may build in our Arab countries the civilization of love.

Gregorios III

Translated from the French by V. Chamberlain

Weihnachten 2006

Friede, Zusammenleben,
Christlische Präsenz im Nahen Osten

Back to the top

Diese drei Worte waren Das Thema meiner Meditationen, Vorträge und Predigten während des ganzen Jahres und besonders während und nach dem zerstörerischen, blutigen Krieg im Libanon.
Das Zusammenleben, das Miteinander der Menschen allein trägt ihre Zukunft, die Zukunft der Menschheit und die des Nahen Ostens. Es bedeutet: Ich, Mensch, begegne meinem Bruder, dem Menschen mir gegenüber. Es dedeutet, den Anderen anzunehmen. Es beinhaltet den Dialog der Zivilisationen, der Kulturen und die Begegnung aller Söhne und Töchter des Glaubens.
Die christlich-dienende, zeugnisgebende Präsenz in den orientalischen Ländern ist dabei das Wichtigste Element. Es gibt kein echtes Zusammenleben ohne Pluralismus, ohne die Vielfalt, ohne ICH und DU, WIR und IHR!
Die christliche Präsenz und das Zusammenleben unter den Gläubigen-Christen, Moslems und Juden -, den westlichen und den östlichen, ist bedroht durch die Kriege, die Krisen und den wachsenden Fundamentalismus, den zunehmenden Hass und die Gewalt.
Dem gegenüber aber ist der FRIEDE die grösste Aufforderung, das grösste MUSS, das höchste Gut und die wahre Garantie für eine Zukunft in Freiheit, in Würde, in Sicherheit und mit Fortschritt für die Jugend bei den Moslems, den Christen, den Juden, die die Zukunft der Arabischen Länder bauen und die Fahne des Glaubens und der ethischen Werte Fragen.
All unseren Lieben Freunden wünschen wir alles Gute und GOTTES SEGEN zu Weihnachten und für das Neue Jahr 2007 und laden Sie ein, das Lied der Engel zu singen: „Ehre sei GOTT in der Höhe und Friede den Menschen auf Erden die eines guten Willens sind“ (Lukas II, vers.14)

Gregorios III.

Patriarch von Antiochen und dem ganzen Orient
von Alexandrien und Jerusalem

Message de Noël 2006

Back to the top

Gregorios III,

par la miséricorde de Dieu
Patriarche d'Antioche et de tout l'Orient,
d'Alexandrie et de Jérusalem.

La grâce divine et notre bénédiction apostolique
descendent et se répandent sur nos Frères
les Evêques, membres de notre Saint-Synode,
et sur tous les enfants de notre Eglise Grecque-Melkite Catholique,
clergé et fidèles,
dans les pays arabes et dans ceux de l'émigration.

La paix, la convivialité et la présence chrétienne dans le Proche-Orient arabe

La paix, c'est un des noms de Dieu. C'est le nom de Notre Seigneur et Dieu Jésus Christ, Prince et Roi de la paix. La paix est mentionnée, juste au début de l'Evangile, dans le récit de l'événement de l'Annonciation, quand l'Archange Gabriel apporte le salut de la paix à la Vierge Marie pour lui annoncer qu'elle sera la Mère de Dieu; il la salue en disant: "Sur toi la paix, Marie, pleine de grâce" (Luc 1, 28).

Après la naissance de Jean le Précurseur, son père Zacharie entonne un chant de louange pour ce fils qui précédera le Seigneur et annoncera la venue du Christ, lequel "guidera nos pas dans la voie de la paix" (Luc 1, 79). Et lors de la naissance de Notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ, six mois plus tard, dans la ville de Bethléem, les anges font entendre, à l'oreille des bergers de Beth-Sahour, le "chant des bergers", le cantique éternel de Noël: "Gloire à Dieu au plus haut des cieux et paix sur la terre aux hommes qu'Il aime" (Luc 2, 14).

La paix, programme de la mission de Jésus

       Ainsi, ce cantique devient vraiment le programme de la vie de Notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ. Son Evangile est l'Evangile de la paix: "C'est lui qui est notre paix (…). Il est venu vous annoncer la paix à vous qui étiez loin, la paix aussi à ceux qui étaient proches" (Ephésiens 2, 14 et 17). Les éléments de ce cantique sont liés ensemble comme une symphonie unique: la gloire de Dieu, la paix, la bienveillance et la joie.
       Nous commençons la Divine Liturgie par cet appel très beau et aimable: "En paix prions le Seigneur. Pour la paix d'en-haut, prions le Seigneur. Pour la paix du monde entier, prions le Seigneur". Plus loin, nous prions "afin que notre journée soit paisible", et: "Demandons au Seigneur un ange de paix, fidèle, gardien de nos âmes et de nos corps". A la fin de l'Office de Minuit, nous demandons: "Fais régner la paix dans notre vie", et nous chantons: "Sauve, ô Dieu, ton peuple, bénis ton héritage, et donne la paix à ce monde qui est tien".
       Avec le propète Isaïe, nous disons: "Seigneur, donne-nous la paix, car tu nous as tout donné" (cf. Isaïe 26, 12). Et Jésus s'adresse à ses disciples en disant: "Paix à vous" (Jean 20, 19), et: "Je vous donne ma paix" (Jean 14, 27).
       Les fruits de la paix sont la bienveillance, la joie et la sécurité parmi les hommes. Ces fruits sont liés ensemble: gloire de Dieu, paix sur la terre, bienveillance et joie pour les hommes.
       Ainsi, il n'y a pas de paix, pas de bienveillance sans la gloire de Dieu, qui est liée aussi à la gloire des hommes, car, comme dit Saint Irénée, Evêque de Lyon, "la gloire de Dieu, c'est l'homme vivant" (Contre les hérésies 4, XX, 7). Dieu a respecté la dignité de l'homme en le créant à son image et à sa ressemblance, en l'ornant de tous ses bienfaits, de tous ses charismes, et en lui donnant le pouvoir sur toute la création (cf. Genèse 1, 26-27).

L'homme, à son tour, doit vénérer l'icône de Dieu dans son frére, l'homme. Ainsi, ce cantique de Noël est vraiment une symphonie spirituelle, d'une beauté éblouissante.

Harmonies

       Comme les accords de ce cantique de Noël sont en harmonie, dans ses trois parties, ainsi s'unissent les trois thèmes qui sont énoncés au début de ce Message de Noël: la paix, la convivialité et la présence chrétienne dans le monde arabe.
       Ces trois thèmes sont liés d'une manière existentielle et ferme. C'est ce que nous avons expliqué dans les différentes lettres que nous avons adressées, à l'occasion de la guerre destructrice et haineuse contre le Liban, en juillet-août 2006, aux dirigeants des pays arabes, à ceux des huit grands pays réunis à Saint-Pétersbourg, à ceux des pays de la Communauté Européenne réunis à Bruxelles, aux ministres des Affaires Etrangères des grands pays réunis à Rome, au Secrétaire Général de l'O.N.U. M. Kofi Annan, au Président Jacques Chirac, à Sa Sainteté le Pape Benoît XVI et aux Présidents des principales Conférences Episcopales du monde catholique. Nous avons voulu, au moyen de ces lettres, mettre l'accent sur l'importance de la paix au Proche-Orient, cette paix qui est la clef de tous les biens dont cette région, qui souffre depuis des décennies, a besoin.
       Dans ce Message de Noël, nous voulons porter le contenu de ces lettres à la connaissance de toutes les personnes de bonne volonté. Cela est en harmonie avec nos Messages de Noël antérieurs, dans lesquels nous avons toujours insisté sur l'importance de la présence chrétienne dans le monde arabe, cette présence unique, malheureusement menacée par les cycles de guerres, de crises et de calamités qui s'abbattent sur cette région, laquelle a vu la naissance de Jésus, le Messager de la Paix, et est le berceau du christianisme.
       Notre grand souci, exprimé à travers nos messages annuels, est toujours celui-ci: comment préserver la présence chrétienne, une présence de témoignage et de service dans notre société arabe à majorité musulmane?
       Nous allons exposer, dans le présent message, ces trois éléments: la paix, la convivialité et la présence chrétienne dans la région. En résumé, nous disons que cette présence chrétienne est fondamentale pour la convivialité. Mais elle se dissout peu à peu à cause de l'émigration qui suit chaque guerre et chaque crise. Pour préserver cette convivialité, il faut faire régner une paix globale, juste et durable dans la région.

La cause, c'est le conflit israélo-palestinien

       Nous considérons que les crises, les guerres et les calamités du Proche-Orient sont des produits et des résultats du conflit israélo-palestinien. De même, sans aucun doute, sont des suites de ce conflit les mouvements fondamentalistes, le mouvement Hamas, le Hiszbollah et autres. Sont aussi des produits de ce conflit les discordes à l'intérieur des pays arabes, ainsi que la lenteur dans le développement et l'instauration de la prospérité, la naissance de la haine et de l'inimitié, la perte de l'espoir et la déception chez les jeunes (lesquels forment 60 pour cent de la population des pays arabes).
       Si tout cela est le résultat du conflit israélo-palestinien, l'accord tant désiré entre les Arabes est la seule garantie capable de rétablir la paix et la justice en Palestine et dans tout le Proche-Orient. Cela nécessite une position arabe unifiée, solide, effective et franche au sujet de la question palestinienne et de sa solution. Cela exige aussi une position américaine et européenne franche, solide et unifiée.
       Cependant, ce qui est le plus important aujourd'hui est que nous puissions, nous tous dans cette région, gagner à la fois le combat de la paix et celui de la guerre, une lutte sincère pour la justice, la sécurité, la stabilité et le développement. C'est ce à quoi aspirent les nouvelles générations arabes, chrétiennes et musulmanes, et de même tous les partis politiques, nos fidèles et tous les enfants de nos peuples. Oui, l'unité arabe est la seule garantie capable de proposer une solution pacifique face à Israël, aux Etats-Unis d'Amérique et même aux Nations Unies.

L'unité du monde arabe

Détruire les ponts et construire des murs: voilà ce qui est le fait, malheureusement, dans notre Proche-Orient. Or, ce dont on a absolument besoin, c'est juste le contraire, c'est-à-dire construire des ponts, dans un monde divisé, afin que les hommes puissent se rencontrer, et détruire les murs qui les séparent les uns des autres.
Cela est la seule garantie qui puisse assurer une vie digne des hommes sur cette terre et dans notre monde arabe, à la place de ce que nous voyons malheureusement autour de nous: le feu qui brûle partout, les armes qui sèment la peur et la mort et sont causes de malheurs et de maux infinis, comme c'est le cas en Palestine, en Irak et au Liban.

       Après la guerre contre le Liban, nous nous trouvons tous devant un tournant historique, très important et dangereux à la fois, car il peut donner lieu aussi à beaucoup de calamités. Aussi est-il absolument nécessaire que les Arabes tirent de tout cela les vraies leçons de cette guerre sanguinaire contre le Liban, qui a dépassé par sa férocité toutes les guerres de la région.
       Nous considérons que la politique qui consiste à faire pression sur tel ou tel pays arabe ou autre, comme la Syrie et l'Iran, ainsi que les jugements durs et les attaques contre le Hamas, le Hizbollah et les fondamentalistes islamiques, sont en réalité une fuite en avant, une politique soi-disant réaliste qui consiste à chercher à se dispenser de porter sa propre responsabilité. Le vrai sens des responsabilités exige que tous se placent sur le plan de la vérité et marchent ensemble vers un accord et une unité authentiques pour faire régner la paix et la justice en Terre Sainte, qui, depuis plus de cinquante ans, est devenue – hélas! – la terre de la guerre et la cause de tous les conflits et des guerres dans la région, et même dans le monde.
       En partant du fait que nous sommes une Eglise arabe, l'Eglise des Arabes, l'Eglise de l'Islam, nous nous adressons, avec une grande fermeté, aux Arabes, nos frères, aux pays européens et à l'Amérique, en leur disant: Gare! Et cela avec beaucoup de force, car, s'il y a un délai infini pour résoudre la question palestinienne, cela revient à perdre toute espérance de solution.

L'émigration des chrétiens

Parmi les suites les plus dangereuses du conflit israélo-palestinien, la cause du fait que l'on ne trouve pas une solution juste et solide pour ce conflit, c'est l'émigration: l'émigration des cerveaux, des penseurs, des jeunes, des musulmans modérés, et surtout des chrétiens. Tout cela affaiblit le progrès et l'avenir de la liberté, de la démocratie et de l'ouverture du monde arabe.
Le grand danger est surtout dans l'émigration des chrétiens, qui a des conséquences graves et douloureuses. En effet, l'émigration des chrétiens, qui atteint et frappe toutes les paroisses de toutes les communautés chrétiennes dans le monde arabe, surtout au Liban, en Syrie, en Palestine, en Jordanie, en Egypte et en Irak, aboutira à vider l'Orient des chrétiens.

Surtout, l'émigration veut dire perdre peu à peu le pluralisme et la diversité dans le monde arabe, et la perte des grandes possibilités de dialogue islamo-chrétien, qui est un dialogue humain et religieux, en même temps qu'un dialogue de la vie sociale, des cultures et des consciences, qui se concrétise dans les différents aspects du tissu de la vie quotidienne dans les sociétés arabes.
L'émigration des chrétiens représente une hémorragie continue. Cela veut dire que la société arabe deviendrait une société d'une seule couleur, une société uniquement musulmane, et ainsi le Proche-Orient deviendrait la région d'une société arabe et musulmane face à une société européenne dite chrétienne, bien que l'Europe et l'Amérique soient sécularisées et pas toujours croyantes. Si cela arrivait, et que l'Orient soit vidé de ses chrétiens, cela voudrait dire que toute occasion serait propice pour un nouveau choc des cultures, des civilisations et même des religions, un choc destructeur entre l'Orient arabe musulman et l'Occident chrétien, un conflit de l'Islam et du christianisme. Ce serait un grand malheur.

La confiance entre l'Orient et l'Occident

Devant les suites de la guerre au Liban, et devant ce que nous voyons tous les jours dans les media, la croissance du fondamentalisme, la tension dans les relations humaines, tensions ethniques, religieuses et sociales, nous sentons qu'il y a là un grand manque de confiance entre l'Orient et l'Occident, entre les pays arabes à majorité musulmane et l'Occident européen et américain.
Dans cette atmosphère, on voit monter l'idée de la naissance d'un "nouveau Proche-Orient", et cela dans le torrent et le flot des guerres et des conflits, mais nous sommes certains et convaincus qu'un nouveau Proche-Orient ne peut se réaliser qu'à travers la solution de la question palestinienne et la fin du conflit israélo-palestinien. Ce serait une grande erreur, de la part des dirigeants de l'Europe et de l'Amérique, de croire que dominer le monde arabe, c'est la bonne atmosphère pour la croissance du nouveau Proche-Orient. En partant de notre foi et de notre expérience spirituelle, sociale et nationale, nous voudrions mettre en garde ceux qui propagent ces idées de division, et nous leur demandons bien franchement: comment fonder un Proche-Orient nouveau dans un monde arabe divisé?

       Quant à ceux qui se targuent de diviser le monde arabe et d'en faire des ilôts de communautés religieuses et des cantons en vue de faire naître le nouveau Proche-Orient, c'est un défi perdant, sûrement perdant, car il n'y aurait pas de démocratie, pas de société démocratique dans un pays arabe sans les autres.
       Les tentatives de créer des pactes pour diviser le monde arabe en petits Etats sur la base des communautés religieuses reviennent à détruire l'avenir de la région. Au contraire, la force est dans l'unité. La force des pays arabes est dans leur unité et dans la confiance entre les différents groupes dans ces pays. De plus, la réussite de la naissance d'un nouveau Proche-Orient face à l'Europe et à l'Amérique ne peut venir que de la confiance entre l'Orient et l'Occident, entre l'Europe et l'Amérique d'une part et les pays arabes de l'autre, entre les chrétiens et les musulmans, et entre tous les citoyens de chaque pays.
       C'est là qu'on peut découvrir le rôle des chrétiens dans le monde arabe et pour la naissance d'un Proche-Orient nouveau. Le rôle des chrétiens est de s'atteler à créer l'atmosphère de confiance entre l'Occident d'un côté et le monde arabe et musulman de l'autre. Notre histoire arabe et le fait que nous sommes une partie prenante du monde arabe et musulman nous donnent vraiment ce rôle très important dans les relations entre l'Orient et l'Occident.
       Pour cela, nous, chrétiens orientaux et arabes, nous nous adressons au monde européen et américain en général en ces termes: donnez-nous votre confiance, et nous vous donnerons en échange la nôtre. Ayez confiance dans le monde arabe, et il aura confiance en vous. Ne travaillez pas à la division du monde arabe au moyen de pactes, mais plutôt aidez-le à réaliser son unité et sa solidarité. Ne cherchez pas à créer et à semer la zizanie dans ce monde arabe, surtout entre chrétiens et musulmans, car nous sommes tous arabes, les musulmans et les chrétiens. Nous vous disons franchement: si vous réussissez à diviser le monde arabe, à diviser les chrétiens et les musulmans entre eux, vous vivrez toujours dans la peur et la crainte du monde arabe et musulman.

L'action du Siège Apostolique de Rome

Nous voulons faire mention ici de l'importance du rôle de l'Europe chrétienne dans le processus visant à créer la confiance entre l'Orient et l'Occident. En notre qualité de chrétiens et de catholiques, nous sommes en relation continuelle avec notre monde arabe et notre société musulmane.

Nous nous adressons à notre sœur ainée, l'Eglise de Rome, qui "préside dans la charité" (Saint Ignace d'Antioche), au Siège Apostolique Romain, et à nos frères dans les Eglises catholiques d'Occident, en Europe et en Amérique. Nous les appelons tous à redoubler leurs efforts et à faire tout ce qui est possible, auprès de leurs gouvernements, en se solidarisant avec nous, chrétiens de l'Orient, pour réaliser le but unique et commun: faire régner la paix.
En même temps, nous voulons dire ici notre grande et profonde gratitude aux Conférences Episcopales, surtout d'Europe, qui ont montré une grande sensibilité et solidarité à notre égard et pour nos causes dans le monde arabe. Nous mentionnons surtout les Papes qui ont fait preuve d'un souci exemplaire pour la question palestinienne depuis ses débuts, au temps de Pie XII, puis du Bienheureux Jean XXIII, de Paul VI, du Serviteur de Dieu Jean Paul II, pour arriver à Sa Sainteté le Pape Benoît XVI, qui suit les développements tragiques et douloureux dans cette région avec une profonde sensibilité et un sens aigu de sa responsabilité. C'est lui qui a dit qu'il est immoral de se dispenser de la responsabilité de faire régner la paix au Proche-Orient. De même, le Saint Père a accompagné les différentes étapes de la guerre meurtrière et destructrice contre le Liban avec une grande attention et un grand soin, en rappelant (Angelus du 6 août 2006) que c'est le devoir de tout homme de contribuer à faire régner la paix dans la région.

Paroles du Saint Evangile

En partant de nos convictions chrétiennes, qui sont fondées sur l'enseignement de Notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ dans l'Evangile, nous nous adressons à nos frères chrétiens, ici, en Orient, et surtout en Occident, et nous les interpellons très sérieusement, en leur disant: aimez ce monde arabe, aimez les musulmans, car nous sommes, eux et nous, vous et nous, tous créés à l'image de Dieu et à sa ressemblance (cf. Genèse 1, 26).
C'est à cela que nous appelle notre Saint Evangile, dans lequel nous lisons: "Dieu en effet a tant aimé le monde qu'Il a donné son Fils unique" et L'a envoyé "pour que le monde soit sauvé par Lui" (Jean 3, 16 et 17). Or nous croyons fermement que l'Evangile et Jésus ont toujours raison. En effet, pour le monde, le remède unique à la violence, à la guerre, aux tueries et à l'idéologie du terrorisme est l'amour.

C'est avec ces mots que nous nous adressons à toutes nos communautés de l'Eglise Grecque-Melkite Catholique et à nos frères en Occident, comme nous l'avons fait aux principales Conférences Episcopales européennes et à la réunion du Conseil des Conférences Episcopales d'Europe le 6 octobre 2006 à Saint-Pétersbourg (Russie). Ces mots, pensés et écrits par le Patriarche chrétien d'une Eglise arabe, dans le monde arabe, surgissent du fin fond du Saint Evangile, qui contient les paroles de vie, paroles qui dépassent toute logique politique, toute sagesse humaine, tout calcul, toute stratégie. C'est ce que nous disons dans nos prières: la force qui dépasse les armes (cf. Canon de la Résurrection, deuxième ton, première ode).

La foi, c'est l'arme de la paix

       C'est là l'expression véridique de nos convictions profondes et de notre foi orthodoxe. Nous pouvons même affirmer que notre foi – celle des chrétiens surtout, mais aussi celle des juifs et des musulmans – nous dit que l'arme la plus tranchante dans notre monde, malgré toutes les crises politiques, tous les conflits, toutes les tendances fondamentalistes et l'idéologie du terrorisme, c'est la foi même. Nous sommes profondément convaincus que ces tendances destructrices, dans toute société, n'ont rien à voir avec la religion ou les croyances de n'importe quelle communauté. Si nous laissons l'arme de la foi de côté et la méprisons pour faire valoir notre prudence, notre sagesse humaine et politique, le monde restera dans un cycle infernal, tragique et sanguinaire de guerres, de tueries, de violence, de terrorisme et de fondamentalisme.
       Avons-nous vraiment fait un examen de conscience au sujet des valeurs de notre foi? N'est-il pas vrai qu'il y a une grande faiblesse dans les réalités et les convictions de notre foi chrétienne? Il y a en outre un grand manque de solidarité chrétienne dans les relations à l'intérieur des communautés et entre elles. L'Apôtre Saint Jean a dit: "La victoire qui a vaincu le monde, c'est notre foi" (1 Jean 5, 4).
       Nous faisons appel ici aux gouvernants des pays arabes et à ceux du monde entier. Dans cette atmosphère de la fête de la Nativité de Notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ, Prince de la paix, nous les appelons à travailler pour réaliser l'hymne des anges, que nous citons au début de ce Message de Noël. En effet, cette hymne est un programme de vie pour notre monde, lequel a besoin d'être en relation continuelle avec Dieu, pour Le glorifier, pour faire régner la paix, pour réaliser le bonheur et la prospérité des enfants des hommes.

Un nouveau Proche-Orient sans guerre

Après l'expérience des guerres consécutives, nous considérons que les conditions et les situations actuelles du monde arabe, surtout en Palestine, en Irak et au Liban, sont une occasion propice et excellente pour que les Arabes et les Israéliens comprennent les leçons de l'histoire. Nous les appelons tous à jeter de côté leurs armes afin d'en faire des socs et des faucilles (cf. Isaïe 2, 4) pour la grande moisson du bien, de la sécurité et de la prospérité: un nouveau Proche-Orient sans guerre. C'est pour cela que nous nous adressons à eux tous afin qu'ils travaillent à faire de notre Orient arabe une région dépourvue d'armes, de guerres, de haine et d'inimitié, et que cette terre que Dieu a sanctifiée soit, comme Il l'a voulu, celle où devraient vivre ensemble, en paix et en concorde, tous les enfants des trois grandes religions monothéistes, les juifs, les chrétiens et les musulmans, cette terre qui est leur berceau spirituel commun et où nous sommes appelés à donner des fruits de paix et à les renouveler par l'Esprit de Dieu.
Au lieu que cette région soit le cadre de chocs et de conflits sanglants, comme ceux qui s'y sont répétés consécutivement depuis plus de cinquante ans, au lieu que ces conflits soient le signe de la fin du monde, qu'ils soient le commencement d'un monde nouveau, d'une terre nouvelle et d'un ciel nouveau (cf. Apocalypse 21, 1), où, comme dit le Psalmiste, "s'embrassent la justice et la paix" (Psaume 85/84, 11).

La réconciliation dans l'enseignement de Saint Paul

Nous écrivons ce message avec un esprit bien éloigné de toute haine ou inimitié, de vengeance, de logique du vainqueur et du vaincu. Notre logique de la foi sainte est bien loin de tous ces sentiments et de toute position négative.
Au contraire, notre logique nous appelle à l'amitié, à l'amour, l'amour des ennemis, l'amour sans réciprocité, l'amour qui construit, l'amour qui fait confiance, l'amour qui croit tout, qui espère tout, qui est optimiste, qui ne pense jamais au mal, qui ne se glorifie pas, et est pour cela un amour qui ne passe jamais (cf. 1 Corinthiens 13, 1-13).

       A cela nous invite Saint Paul dans son Epître aux Ephésiens: à dépasser la logique de la guerre, de la violence, du terrorisme, de la vengeance, de la destruction et du bras de fer. Si nous lisons cette Epître avec des yeux nouveaux, nous y voyons une prophétie pour notre siècle et pour nos situations actuelles. Nous y voyons un appel à la réconciliation entre les pays, les peuples et les religions, cette réconciliation qui est à la base de la paix.
       Voici quelques passages de cette Epître aux Ephésiens (2, 13-22):
       "Mais voici qu'à présent, dans le Christ Jésus, vous qui jadis étiez loin, avez été rendus proches par le sang du Christ. Car c'est lui qui est notre paix, lui qui des deux mondes en a fait un seul, renversant le mur qui les séparait – la haine –, abolissant dans sa chair la Loi avec ses décrets et ordonnances. Il a voulu ainsi, établissant la paix, créer en lui, de ces deux hommes, un seul homme nouveau, et par la Croix, tuant en lui la haine, les réconcilier avec Dieu, tous deux en un seul corps. Et il est venu vous annoncer la paix à vous qui étiez loin, la paix aussi à ceux qui étaient proches; car c'est par lui que les uns et les autres nous avons accès auprès du Père en un seul Esprit.
       "Ainsi donc vous n'êtes plus des étrangers ni des hôtes; vous êtes concitoyens des saints, vous êtes de la maison de Dieu; apôtres et prophètes sont les fondations sur lesquelles vous vous élevez, et la clef de voûte, c'est le Christ Jésus lui-même. C'est en lui que tout édifice se lie et monte pour former un temple saint dans le Seigneur; c'est en lui que vous aussi vous entrez dans la construction pour former une demeure de Dieu dans l'Esprit".
       Aujourd'hui, nous avons plus que jamais besoin de cette vision, qui dépasse les crises actuelles, la réalité de la paix et du conflit en Palestine, en Irak et au Liban. Nous dépassons la logique du fondamentalisme, de la force et des armes (comme si c'étaient les seuls moyens!). Nous dépassons la réalité des mouvements qui peuvent faire peur, comme le Hizbollah, Hamas, Jihad et les Frères Musulmans, car tous ces mouvements sont des produits de l'injustice et du despotisme, et n'auront plus de raison d'être dans un monde où règnent la paix et la justice sociale, où se réalisent la prospérité et la sécurité.
       Cette vision que trace Saint Paul est le fondement du nouveau Proche-Orient arabe, le fondement d'une terre nouvelle et d'un ciel nouveau. C'est une vision de la foi qui nous aide – nous, les chrétiens et les musulmans, et aussi les juifs – à continuer notre marche, qui a son point de départ dans la révélation de Dieu à nous tous, dans cette région du monde où Dieu a voulu que nous soyons et où Il a parlé à ses enfants.

Si nous réussissons, dans cette marche commune, à nous accepter les uns les autres, chacun dans sa religion, avec un grand respect de son dogme, de ses droits et de sa dignité, ce sera là la preuve éclatante de la vérité de notre foi, attirante et accueillante pour nos jeunes, afin que ceux-ci acceptent la foi de nos pères avec un grand respect et une grande estime, et vivent les valeurs de cette foi dans leur société.

Appel à la patience et à la confiance

Nous voudrions nous adresser ici à nos enfants, les fidèles de l'Eglise Grecque-Melkite Catholique, avec des paroles d'encouragement pour leur vie quotidfienne, leurs souffrances et leurs problèmes. Nous croyons, de plus, que ces paroles doivent s'appliquer aussi à tous les chrétiens dans notre monde arabe et dans les pays d'émigration.
Chers frères, chers amis, votre appartenance ecclésiale, tenant à votre vraie foi, est votre force devant les difficultés, qui sont réelles dans chaque société, en Occident et en Orient, entre chrétiens et chrétiens, entre chrétiens et musulmans, entre bouddhistes, chrétiens et musulmans. Ne croyez pas que vous êtes les seuls, en Orient, qui souffrez et qui avez des problèmes. Les musulmans aussi, de même, ont des problèmes pour vivre leur foi, ici, en Orient, et en dehors des pays arabes. Les chrétiens, en Europe – ce continent appelé chrétien, mais qui est sécularisé et menacé par différents aspects d'athéisme pratique –, eux aussi ont des problèmes pour vivre leur foi dans une atmosphère sécularisée, où la foi est séquestrée et comme enfermée entre les murs des églises, ce qui représente un danger plus grave que leurs propres problèmes. Cela est pire encore en Europe orientale, où beaucoup ont souffert sous le joug du communisme et sont passés par des difficultés que n'ont connues ni les musulmans ni les chrétiens dans l'Orient arabe et en Occident. J'étais dernièrement (septembre 2006) en Slovaquie, en République Tchèque et en Russie; précédemment, j'avais visité la Roumanie et l'Ukraine. J'y ai entendu des récits de martyre, de ceux qui sont morts et de ceux qui ont survécu, qui ont donné témoignage, avec leur sang, de leur résistance et de leur persévérance dans la foi. Je vous le dis: il n'y a pas de comparaison entre nos problèmes et les difficultés pour vivre notre foi chez nous, et ce que nos frères d'Europe orientale ont enduré.

Il n'y a pas de vie de foi sans difficultés, mais ce ne sont pas les difficultés de la foi; ce sont plutôt des difficultés sociales, politiques, économiques et culturelles, auxquelles est exposé tout homme croyant, ou même incroyant, chrétien ou musulman, indépendamment de sa foi, de sa religion, de sa philosophie, de l'histoire et de la culture de son pays.

N'aie pas peur, petit troupeau

       Nous nous adressons à nos fils, à chacun en particulier, en leur disant: "N'aie pas peur, toi, petit troupeau" (Luc 12, 32). N'aie pas peur d'être ce que Jésus a demandé que tu sois, d'être lumière, sel et levain (Matthieu 5, 13-14 et 13, 33), serviteur, témoin et imitateur du Christ, ferme dans l'application de ses enseignements, contenus dans le Saint Evangile, avec une ouverture entière envers tes frères les hommes, qui ont leur propre foi et leurs propres valeurs. Ou plutôt dis-leur:
       Je suis citoyen avec vous.
       Je suis croyant avec vous.
       Je suis serviteur avec vous.
       Je suis porteur d'un témoignage avec vous.
       Je suis un bâtisseur avec vous, dans la même et unique Patrie.
       Mon avenir est votre avenir.
       Mon progrès est votre progrès.
       Ma langue est votre langue.
       Mon appartenance arabe est comme la vôtre.
       Je suis et resterai avec vous et pour vous.
       Comme que nous avons suivi le même chemin depuis 1.400 ans, nous voulons le continuer avec vous en ce troisième millénaire.

Appel à nos frères et concitoyens musulmans

       Ce ne sont pas des raisons religieuses, mais plutôt sociales, ethniques, culturelles et sociologiques.
       Ainsi, quand nous parlons de la convivialité, de la citoyenneté, il est absolument nécessaire que ces conditions et ces principes soient réalisés par les musulmans aussi bien que par les chrétiens. Cela s'applique notamment quand nous parlons de la séparation de la religion et de l'Etat, de l'arabité, de la démocratie, de la nation arabe, des droits de l'homme et des lois qui proposent l'Islam comme seule ou principale source des législations, dont l'application est source de division et de discrimination raciale entre les citoyens sur la base de la religion, et sont un obstacle à l'égalité de ces mêmes citoyens devant la loi. On peut dire cela aussi au sujet des partis fondamentalistes, des courants d'intégrisme islamique, auxquels sont attribués, ici et là, avec ou sans raison, des actes de violence, de terrorisme, de meurtre, des incendies d'églises, des extorsions, des exploitations de concitoyens au nom de la religion et en s'appuyant sur le fait d'être une majorité pour humilier des voisins et des compagnons de travail.
       Ces choses-là font que les chrétiens se sentent troublés et apeurés devant un avenir inconnu, dans une société à majorité musulmane. Ils sont souvent montrés du doigt et stigmatisés par des épithètes faisant croire qu'ils seraient une "cinquième colonne", des "croisés", des "impies" (kuffar), des collaborateurs de l'Occident ou d'Israël.
       De tels faits, et bien d'autres semblables, sont la cause de la peur chez les chrétiens, et devraient être l'objet, croyons-nous, de cercles d'études, de congrès, de conférences, de réunions dans le monde arabe musulman. Ces problèmes doivent être traités avec beaucoup d'objectivité. Il faut que les musulmans et les chrétiens, ensemble, identifient la vraie raison de l'hémorragie de l'émigration des chrétiens.

Ni protégés, ni dhimmis

Dans ce Message de Noël, nous nous adressons à nos frères musulmans en toute confiance et charité, et c'est la raison de notre franchise. Nous leur disons sincèrement, nous et tous nos fidèles, que nous voulons vivre ensemble, que nous voulons continuer la marche des siècles passés. Mais nous voulons aussi que nos frères musulmans ne nous appellent pas dhimmis ou "protégés", qu'ils nous considèrent comme de vrais citoyens, comme eux-mêmes. Nous avons les mêmes droits et les mêmes obligations qu'eux. Nous devons édifier ensemble nos pays, nos Patries, et collaborer pour un avenir meilleur de ces pays.

Cela fut toujours le rôle des chrétiens dans l'histoire, et il doit en être encore ainsi en ce troisième millénaire de la Nativité, en ce quinzième siècle de l'Hégire.
       Nous ne demandons pas à être protégés par nos frères et concitoyens musulmans, mais nous aspirons à une chance égale de travail et d'emploi. Nous voulons une vie commune, une convivialité, avec tout ce que ces mots impliquent de charité, de confiance, de respect, de dignité, de responsabilité partagée et de solidarité, dans une marche où nous nous donnions et nous sacrifiions ensemble pour nos Patries. Nous voulons sentir cette atmosphère dans tous les pays arabes, sans exception. Les chrétiens sont des concitoyens arabes dans tous les pays arabes, que leur nombre y soit petit ou grand, qu'ils soient pauvres ou riches; tous ont droit à une citoyenneté complète, dans chacun de leurs pays, sans exception. Ils ont droit à la liberté entière dans la pratique de leur religion, dans la construction de leurs églises, lesquelles embrassent les mosquées de leurs frères musulmans.
       Ce sont là les positions et les conduites qui donneraient vraiment aux chrétiens le sentiment d'être en sécurité et de pouvoir réduire le poids de l'émigration.
       Nous disons à nos frères musulmans: nous, les chrétiens, nous avons des forces extraordinaires. Nous avons nos couvents, nos monastères, nos écoles, nos universités, nos sociétés de bienfaisance, nos institutions sociales, culturelles et de santé, et tout cela, nous le mettons à votre service. Mais, si nous émigrons, toutes ces capacités seront dispersées et détruites, et c'est l'homme arabe, chrétien et musulman à la fois, qui sera perdant.
       Nous voulons affirmer ici, de nouveau, que notre convivialité positive et la préservation de notre foi chrétienne et musulmane sont à la base de notre véritable qualité de concitoyens. Le grand défi, pour les chrétiens et pour les musulmans, est celui de savoir comment nous pouvons vivre notre foi dans le monde de la globalisation et comment nous pouvons la transmettre comme un dépôt précieux et saint aux nouvelles générations, aux jeunes chrétiens et musulmans, qui sont tous exposés aux mêmes dangers dans le monde d'aujourd'hui.

L'appel de nos frères les Patriarches Catholiques d'Orient

       Les Patriarches Catholiques d'Orient ont traité, dans le seizième congrès de leur Conseil, du 16 au 20 octobre 2006, à Bzommar (Liban), le même sujet que ce Message de Noël. Ce congrès avait pour thème "L'Eglise et la Terre de la Patrie", faisant suite à celui de 2005 en Jordanie: "La paix et la justice au Proche-Orient". Nous sommes heureux de reproduire ici quelques passages des conclusions de ce congrès, afin que nos enfants entendent la voix de leurs Pères les Patriarches, qui sentent les espérances et les soufrances de leurs enfants comme les leurs propres:
       "3. Notre présence en terre d'Orient est l'expression de la volonté de Dieu et nous impose fidélité au Christ, engagement à témoigner de son amour, mise en application des enseignements du Saint Evangile et accomplissement du devoir de service envers nos sociétés. Aussi insurmontables que soient les difficultés, il n'en reste pas moins que nous décelons des signes lumineux d'espérance dans la richesse spirituelle, culturelle, sociale et nationale qui sertit, des joyaux de son patrimoine liturgique, théologique, spirituel et régulier conformément aux traditions alexandrine, antiochienne syriaque et maronite, grecque-melkite, chaldéenne, arménienne et latine, l'Eglise du Christ une et diverse que Jean le Disciple Bien-Aimé vit 'descendre du ciel, d'auprès de Dieu, prête comme une fiancée parée pour son époux'. Et il entendit une voix qui clamait: 'Voici la demeure de Dieu chez les hommes. Il demeurera avec eux, et eux seront son peuple. Dieu lui-même sera avec eux. Il essuiera toute larme de leurs yeux' (Apocalypse 21, 2-4).
       "4. Le christianisme étant une composante essentielle de la culture régionale qui enrichit cette dernière de ses traditions (cf. Une espérance nouvelle pour le Liban, 1), il s'en suit que l'Eglise appelle une présence et une mission. Il devient ainsi impératif d'instaurer un échange d'idées avec les fidèles des autres religions autour des valeurs spirituelles, morales, sociales et culturelles en vue de promouvoir la justice sociale, l'égalité et la liberté et d'asseoir les fondements de la paix (Décret conciliaire Nostra Aetate sur la relation de l'Eglise avec les religions non chrétiennes, 2 et 3).

"5. Notre foi chrétienne implique d'être incarnée et vécue dans une mission jaillissant du cœur de notre fidélité au Christ, de notre union à Lui et de notre détermination à l'imiter et à le prendre pour modèle, ce qui suppose au préalable, de notre part, de préserver notre existence et notre présence sur notre terre, dans un esprit de solidarité, d'entraide et de responsabilité partagée. La crise économique et sociale nécessite, de la part de l'Eglise et de l'Etat, de toutes les instances compétentes et de tous les hommes de bonne volonté, de prendre une initiative visant à développer la vie économique et à dynamiser des projets de développement offrant des opportunités de travail aux jeunes qui les aident à prendre racine dans leur terre et à se réaliser, et donnent aux familles une possibilité de vie digne et décente dans leur pays.
"6. Quant à la mission, elle commence, dans le fond, par la préservation de la convivialité face au conflit grandissant des cultures et des religions. Elle est témoignage vivant d'une possibilité de coexistence dans la paix et dans la complémentarité créatrice au sein de la différence. Car les religions, en leur essence, sont facteurs de rassemblement, non de division, vu que l'essence de chacune d'entre elles consiste à adorer Dieu et à respecter ses créatures. Les chrétiens d'Orient sont orientaux dans leur appartenance et leur citoyenneté et, à cet effet, profondément engagés pour la cause de leurs pays respectifs" (Communiqué final du seizième congrès du Conseil des Patriarches Catholiques d'Orient, Bzommar, 20 octobre 2006).

Non à l'émigration

En parlant de cela, je rappelle à nos frères et nos enfants bien-aimés, surtout aux jeunes, mon premier Message Patriarcal: "Pas d'émigration!". Je leur demande de prendre ce Message au sérieux. En effet, nous avons besoin de nous encourager mutuellement à rester ici, de tâcher de nous convaincre les uns les autres et de répondre aux objections de ceux qui disent: qu'avons-nous à faire dans ce pays qui n'est pas pour nous? Qu'y a-t-il à faire ici?
Nous disons à tous: non à la fuite devant les responsabilités! Non à se soustraire au devoir et à quitter le terrain de la vie sociale, politique, nationale et ethnique! Non à l'isolement! Non à l'émigration à l'intérieur et en dehors du pays! Non aux sentiments d'infériorité!

       Non à la marginalisation! Non à ceux qui veulent nous marginaliser et à ceux qui se marginalisent eux-mêmes! Non au désespoir à cause des situations dans nos pays arabes! Non à se laisser aller à la déception et au défaitisme devant les événements dont, ici et là, souffrent nos enfants, qui les ont expérimentés eux-mêmes ou en ont entendu parler! Non à se recroqueviller, à se replier sur soi-même ou sur sa propre communauté! Non à la peur devant quelques phénomènes de fondamentalisme, d'extrémisme, devant des actes de terrorisme et des cas d'esprit de supériorité et de discrimination religieuse!
       Toutes ces réalités n'ont rien à voir avec la religion, ni chrétienne, ni musulmane (bien que, parfois, des musulmans peuvent faire ces choses, ou qu'on les leur attribue), ni avec les personnes qui vivent avec nous, à côté de nous, qui sont nos compagnons de travail et nos voisins dans notre quartier.
       Le Seigneur Jésus-Christ dit, à propos des difficultés qui peuvent entraver la vie des croyants:
       "Prenez garde que personne ne vous égare! (…) On se dressera en effet nation contre nation, royaume contre royaume. Il y aura çà et là des famines et des tremblements de terre. Tout cela sera le commencement des douleurs. Alors on vous livrera aux tourments, on vous fera mourir, et vous serez haïs de toutes les nations à cause de mon Nom. Et alors beaucoup succomberont; on se livrera mutuellement. Il surgira une foule de faux prophètes, qui égareront bien des gens et, l'iniquité se multipliant, la charité du grand nombre se refroidira. Mais celui qui tiendra jusqu'au bout, celui-là sera sauvé" (Matthieu 25, 5 et 7-13).
       Saint Paul (ou l'auteur de l'Epître aux Hébreux) nous rappelle l'exemple des héros de la foi:
       "Les uns se sont laissé torturer, refusant leur délivrance pour obtenir un bien meilleur, la résurrection; d'autres ont enduré les moqueries et le fouet, et même les fers et la prison; ils ont été lapidés, torturés, sciés, passés au fil de l'épée; ils ont mené une vie vagabonde, vêtus de peaux de brebis ou de toisons de chèvres, dénués de tout, persécutés, maltraités; hommes dont le monde n'était pas digne, ils ont erré dans les solitudes, les montagnes, les cavernes et les antres de la terre. (…) Ainsi donc, environnés que nous sommes d'une telle nuée de témoins, rejetons, nous aussi, tout ce qui alourdit et le péché qui nous entrave, et courons avec constance dans la carrière qui s'ouvre devant nous, les yeux fixés sur l'initiateur et le comsommateur de la foi, sur Jésus qui, dédaignant le bonheur qui s'offrait à lui, a souffert la croix sans regarder à la honte, et siège désormais à droite du trône de Dieu. (…) Vous n'avez pas encore résisté jusqu'au sang dans la lutte contre le péché" (Hébreux 11, 36-38 et 12, 1-2 et 4).

Pourquoi rester au Proche-Orient arabe?

J'ai dit à Paris, lors de ma participation au Jubilé des 150 ans de l'Œuvre d'Orient: "Vous, les catholiques français, vous nous donnez une aide matérielle, financière, pour soutenir notre présence au Proche-Orient. Mais c'est à nous de découvrir les raisons et les motivations de cette présence, de notre témoignage dans la région".
Il ne nous est pas permis, en tant que chrétiens, d'attribuer toutes les difficultés de la vie, ou leur grande majorité, à la question des relations islamo-chrétiennes. Il n'est pas du tout vrai, non plus, que les raisons de l'émigration soient religieuses, comme l'imaginent quelques media locaux et internationaux, qui poussent des cris de désespoir au sujet du défi de la continuation de la présence chrétienne en Orient. En effet, des experts ont préparé des enquêtes et des questionnaires pour le Conseil des Patriarches Catholiques d'Orient, en octobre dernier, au sujet des raisons de l'émigration, et le résultat en était que les causes religieuses viennent en dernier lieu, presque comme si elles n'existaient pas.

Liberté de culte assurée

En nous fondant sur notre expérience au sujet de la situation des chrétiens dans les pays arabes, nous pouvons affirmer qu'ils peuvent pratiquer leur foi chrétienne sans aucune opposition dans tous les pays arabes, sauf en Arabie Séoudite. En effet, la liberté de culte est assurée au Liban, en Syrie, en Jordanie, en Palestine, en Egypte, au Soudan, en Irak, au Koweit, dans les Emirats Arabes Unis, au Bahrein, au Qatar, en Oman et au Yémen.
Dans tous ces pays, il y a des églises, le catéchisme est enseigné, il y a des livres chrétiens, la possibilité de célébrer le culte, d'observer les fêtes, de recevoir les Sacrements, de faire des retraites spirituelles; il y a des écoles, des institutions sociales, des dispensaires, des hôpitaux, des monastères, des confréries, des groupes de jeunes, des affiches et des revues chrétiennes, autant d'éléments fondamentaux pour la vie chrétienne. Personne, dans ces pays arabes, ne peut empêcher un chrétien de pratiquer sa sainte vie chrétienne. Rien ne peut empêcher les familles chrétiennes de vivre ensemble dans la paix et dans la sécurité, et d'éduquer les enfants dans une vraie atmosphère chrétienne. Il ya certes des difficultés, des problèmes; il y a des pressions parfois quotidiennes, inhérentes à la vie.

Mais tout cela peut se produire aussi dans d'autres sociétés, religieuses et autres, en Orient comme en Occident et ailleurs.

Droits et privilèges

       Pour ce qui est des droits civiques, politiques et sociaux, des privilèges et autres, ce sont autant de thèmes qui n'ont rien à voir avec la religion et la foi. Bien sûr, ce sont des aspects importants et fondamentaux de la vie de chaque citoyen, qui peuvent avoir des conséquences positives ou négatives, et aussi causer beaucoup de crises et de calamités, de difficultés dans la famille, mais doivent être traitées au for civil, et non pas d'un point de vue religieux ou communautaire. Il est certes difficile de séparer, d'une manière définitive, les exigences de la vie religieuse et sociale. Le chrétien a besoin de traiter tous ces problèmes en prenant comme points de départ sa foi, d'un côté, mais aussi sa citoyenneté et ses droits civiques et humains, comme n'importe quel homme. Il doit aussi exiger, par tous les moyens légitimes et permis, le respect de ces droits.
       Mais, pour arriver à ce niveau, dans l'interaction avec notre société et avec les différents courants et les orientations qui s'y rencontrent, il faut qu'il y ait des chrétiens ouverts, présents et qui rendent témoignage dans la société, qui soient engagés dans la vie sociale, politique et économique, qui participent d'une façon entière dans la vie de leur Patrie, en prenant comme points de départ, d'abord, leur citoyenneté, et, en second lieu, leur foi et les valeurs de l'Evangile. C'est un conflit d'intérêts, mais ce n'est pas un conflit religieux, chrétien ou musulman, ou de foi. Le poète a dit: "On ne peut affronter la vie qu'avec la force".
       C'est pour cela qu'il n'est pas permis de classer ces difficultés sous le thème des cultures religieuses, musulmanes et chrétiennes.
       C'est ce qu'a expliqué Sa Sainteté le Pape Benoît XVI dans sa première Lettre Encyclique, Deus caritas est (25 décembre 2005), dont un passage (nº 28) a été cité dans le rapport final de la réunion (13 novembre 2006) de l'Assemblée des Patriarches et Evêques Catholiques du Liban (APECL): (L'Eglise) "veut simplement contribuer à la purification de la raison et apporter sa contribution, pour faire en sorte que ce qui est juste puisse être ici et maintenant reconnu, et aussi mis en œuvre. (…) Elle veut servir la formation des consciences dans le domaine politique et contribuer à faire grandir la perception des véritables exigences de la justice et, en même temps, la disponibilité d'agir en fonction de ces exigences, même si cela va contre les intérêts personnels".

Le rôle de l'Eglise antiochienne

       L'Eglise antiochienne, avec ses cinq dénominations (grecque orthodoxe, grecque-melkite catholique, syrienne orthodoxe, syrienne catholique et maronite) est le lieu ecclésial privilégié pour la convivialité et, surtout, pour celle avec et pour l'Islam, dans et avec le monde arabe; c'est le lieu privilégié pour faire fructifier la présence chrétienne et la mettre en œuvre.
       C'est une réalité historique et géographique. Mais l'important, dans tout cela, est de découvrir le rôle des chrétiens dans ce Patriarcat d'Antioche, dans l'histoire, dans la géographie, dans la culture et dans la civilisation islamo-chrétiennes. Il y a aussi la question de savoir s'il est possible, et quand et comment, de découvrir que cette histoire, cette géographie et cette civilisation font partie de l'histoire, de la géographie et de la civilisation du salut.
       Quelques-uns pourraient dire – je l'ai lu dans une revue française – que je ne cesse de répéter ces idées dans toutes mes lettres. Je le sais, j'en suis conscient et j'y tiens. Je suis en effet convaincu que ma découverte et mon expérience vont de l'avant. Mon souci et ma grande responsabilité sont de savoir comment je peux rester en contact avec mes frères les Evêques, avec les prêtres, les moines, les moniales et tous les enfants de notre Eglise, au sujet de cette conviction de notre devoir de rester, et comment je peux transmettre cette conviction afin qu'elle soit ecclésiale, qu'elle soit celle de l'Eglise et de tous les fidèles. Je répète ce que j'ai toujours dit: si nous n'arrivons pas à cette conviction, il n'y a pas d'avenir pour notre présence chrétienne, ni pour notre témoignage, ni pour notre service spirituel.

Synthèse

A la fin de ce Message, je retourne au début et aux trois termes de son titre: la paix, la convivialité et la présence chrétienne au Proche-Orient arabe. Je résume le contenu de ce Message dans les paragraphes suivants:
1. - La convivialité est l'avenir de ces pays arabes; elle est valable pour les chrétiens et les musulmans. Elle veut dire accepter l'autre, tel qu'il est, le respecter et le vénérer, le reconnaître en tant que concitoyen avec tous les droits qui en découlent, qui sont les droits de l'homme, de tout homme sur cette terre, et surtout en Orient.

       2. - Les chrétiens sont un élément important de cette convivialité. Il n'y a pas de convivialité sans pluralisme, et cela implique que notre société englobe des chrétiens, avec toutes leurs communautés, des musulmans, avec tous leurs groupes, des druzes et des juifs.
       3. - Cette convivialité est menacée par l'émigration, dont la raison la plus importante et la plus dangereuse réside dans les guerres, les calamités et les crises, qui ont toutes leur origine dans le conflit israélo-palestinien et dans l'injustice qui en découle. De même, sont produits de ce conflit l'extrémisme, le fondamentalisme, la violence, l'idéologie du terrorisme, les sentiments d'inimitié et de haine dans la société, le manque d'égalité dans les droits et les occasions d'emploi, le manque de possibilité de participation aux différents postes de responsabilité dans les pays, dans leur direction, que ce soit au Parlement, dans les ministères ou dans d'autres services.
       4. - Si l'émigration et son hémorragie continuent, cela revient à vider l'Orient de son pluralisme et à ruiner la convivialité. En effet, les chrétiens ne peuvent pas résister devant la série des calamités, des crises, des guerres et des conflits.
       5. - Mais ce qui peut aider le plus les chrétiens à résister devant toutes les difficultés et à ne pas émigrer, c'est la conviction, à partir de leur foi, que rester dans les pays arabes, où le christianisme est né, et où Dieu les a plantés, c'est en soi un apostolat, une vocation et une mission. Le cadre de cette mission est l'Eglise chrétienne, nous disons ici surtout antiochienne. Comme Dieu l'a voulu (je le répète toujours), cette Eglise est une Eglise arabe par ses racines et son ethnie. De plus, elle est Eglise des Arabes, Eglise de l'Islam, l'Eglise d'Emmanuel, Dieu avec nous et pour nous; elle est aussi une Eglise avec l'autre et pour l'autre. Cet autre, c'est le concitoyen musulman, dans sa société arabe à majorité musulmane, où les chrétiens sont responsables de porter le message de l'Evangile, son annonce et ses valeurs, afin que l'Eglise soit présente et servante, porte témoignage dans cette société, y participe et soit en interaction avec elle.
       6. - L'atmosphère propice à tous les éléments cités ci-dessus − pluralisme et convivialité, avec tout ce qui en découle − est la paix dans la région, une paix durable, globale et solide, qui soit garante de la fin du conflit israélo-palestinien.

7. - D'autre part, si les pays arabes et les citoyens musulmans tiennent vraiment au pluralisme et à la convivialité, et se rendent compte de l'importance de la présence chrétienne dans la région, il faut que les chrétiens puissent jouir d'une pleine citoyenneté, avec tous les droits qui y sont attachés. Il est absolument indispensable que les pays arabes unissent leur voix afin de donner une solution civilisée, pacifique et juste de la question palestinienne.
8. - Si cela n'est pas réalisé dans un avenir proche et visible, l'hémorragie de l'émigration va continuer, les mouvements fondamentalistes islamiques vont croître, la violence et le terrorisme vont augmenter, et les jeunes musulmans vont en être les victimes en tombant dans les filets de ces mouvements. Cela veut dire que nous donnerions à nos jeunes générations arabes un héritage sombre et un avenir noir. La société arabe musulmane perdrait alors les composantes de son pluralisme et de la convivialité, et ainsi serait malheureusement réalisée la prévision du choc des cultures, des civilisations et des religions.

Faire la paix, c'est le grand défi

Afin d'éviter toutes ces calamités, nous formulons un appel nouveau et ancien, comme nous l'avons fait dans des messages antérieurs, notamment pendant la guerre de l'été dernier contre le Liban. Nous nous adressons aux pays arabes, à leurs Souverains et à leurs Présidents, avec un appel qui surgit de notre amour pour eux, pour nos Patries arabes, en leur disant: faites la paix! Empressez-vous de faire la paix, aujourd'hui, et non pas demain! Vous avez une responsabilité morale à l'égard de la paix. Sinon, les accusations portées contre l'Islam en fait de violence, de terrorisme et de tueries vont être renouvelées sans cesse, bien que l'Islam en soit absolument innocent. Mais l'Evangile dit: "C'est à leurs fruits que vous les reconnaîtrez" (Matthieu 7, 20).
La paix est aujourd'hui le vrai défi, le grand jihad et le grand bien. C'est la vraie victoire et la vraie garantie pour l'avenir de la liberté, du progrès, de la prospérité et de la sécurité pour nos jeunes générations, pour nos jeunes, chrétiens et musulmans, qui sont l'avenir de nos Patries, qui peuvent vraiment faire l'histoire de ces Patries et y porter la bannière de la foi et des valeurs.

Paix sur la terre aux hommes de bonne volonté

       A la fin de la Divine Liturgie, le prêtre dit à voix basse cette prière: "Christ, notre Dieu, Toi qui es la plénitude de la Loi et des Prophètes, et qui as accompli toute l'économie du Père envers nous, remplis nos cœurs de joie et de bonheur, en tout temps, maintenant et à jamais, dans les siècles des siècles. Amen".
       Après la Sainte Communion, nous chantons ensemble: "Nous avons vu la vraie lumière, nous avons reçu l'Esprit céleste, nous avons trouvé la vraie foi. (…) Que notre bouche se remplisse de ta louange, Seigneur (…). Garde-nous dans la sainteté, afin que nous chantions ta gloire, méditant tous les jours ta justice".
       Ceci est un appel aux fidèles, après leur participation existentielle, dans la Sainte Communion, afin qu'ils soient forts, joyeux, résistants et fiers de leur foi, afin qu'ils renoncent à tout sentiment de désespoir, à tout défaitisme, et qu'ils participent à la joie que le Seigneur Jésus-Christ a donnée par sa naissance et qu'ont proclamée les anges dans leur chant; ainsi nous pouvons surmonter le cycle de la peur au bénéfice de notre présence chrétienne, de notre rôle et de notre avenir dans ces pays arabes et dans les pays de l'émigration.
       C'est à nous tous, pasteurs et fidèles, Patriarche, Evêques, prêtres, religieux, religieuses et laïcs, que s'adresse Saint Paul dans son Epître aux Ephésiens (6, 10-16), à chaque éparchie, chaque paroisse, chaque congrégation religieuse, à tous les fidèles:
       "Au reste, fortifiez-vous dans le Seigneur, dans sa puissance souveraine. Revêtez l'armure de Dieu, pour pouvoir résister aux manœuvres du diable. Car ne c'est pas contre la chair et le sang que nous avons à lutter, mais contre les Principautés, contre les Dominations, contre les Souverains de ce monde de ténèbres, contre les Esprits du mal répandus dans les airs. Endossez donc l'armure de Dieu, afin qu'au jour mauvais vous puissiez résister, soutenir jusqu'au bout le combat et demeurer maîtres du terrain. Allons, debout, avec la vérité pour ceinture, la justice pour cuirasse, et pour chaussures le zèle à propager l'Evangile de la paix. Tenez toujours en main le bouclier de la foi, grâce auquel vous pourrez éteindre tous les traits enflammés du Mauvais".
       Et, ensemble, nous chantons, avec une grande joie et une grande espérance: "Gloire à Dieu au plus haut des cieux et paix sur la terre aux hommes de bonne volonté" (Luc 2, 14).

Damas, 1er décembre 2006.

+ Gregorios III, Patriarche

Christmas Letter, 2006

Back to the top

Peace, Living Together and the Christian Presence
in the Arab Middle East

Gregorios, by the mercy of God,
Patriarch of Antioch and of All the East, of Alexandria and of Jerusalem:
May the divine grace and apostolic blessing spread and descend upon
our brother bishops, members of the Holy Synod
and on all the faithful clergy and laity of our Melkite Greek Catholic Church
in Arab countries and countries of diaspora.

Peace is one of the names of God: it is the name of our Lord God and Saviour, Jesus Christ, Prince and King of Peace. The term, “peace” is mentioned right at the beginning of the Gospel of Luke in the event of the annunciation, when the Archangel Gabriel brought the greeting of peace to the Virgin Mary, announcing that she would be the Mother of God and saying, “Hail, (Mary, peace be with you) thou that art highly favoured…”

After the birth of John the Fore-runner, his father Zacharias sings a hymn of praise for his son, who will go before the face of the Lord and announce the coming of Christ, “to guide our feet into the way of peace.” During the birth of our Lord, Jesus Christ, six months later, in the city of Bethlehem, the angels sing in the hearing of the shepherds of Beit Sahour, the pastors’ hymn, the eternal Christmas hymn, saying, “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to men of good will.”

Peace: Jesus’ Mission Programme

So this song really becomes the programme for Jesus’ life: his gospel is the gospel of peace. (“He is our peace… And came and preached peace to you which were afar off and to them that were nigh.” ) So the constituent parts of this song are joined together into one single symphony: glory to God, peace, goodwill and joy.

We begin the Divine Liturgy with this very beautiful, pleasant call, “In peace, let us pray to the Lord. … For the peace from above, let us pray to the Lord… For the peace of the whole world… let us pray to the Lord.” Further, we pray that our day may be “holy, peaceful and sinless” and we ask of the Lord “an angel of peace, a faithful guardian of our souls and bodies.” At the end of the Midnight service, the priest asks, “Make our life peaceful, O Lord.” And we sing, “O Lord, save thy people and bless thine inheritance… Give peace to thy world.”

With the Prophet Isaiah, we pray, “O Lord our God, give us peace, for thou hast rendered to us all things.” Jesus speaks to his disciples, saying, “Peace to you.” And he promises them, saying, “My peace I give unto you.”

In this atmosphere of peace, we praise the Lord. The fruits of peace are joy, goodwill and security amongst mankind. These three things are linked together: glory to God, peace on earth and goodwill and joy amongst people.

So there can be no peace, no goodwill, without the glory of God, which is also linked to the glory of mankind, for as St. Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons, says, “The glory of God is a living man.” So, God has respected man’s dignity, by creating him “in his image and after his likeness,” adorning him with all his graces and charismata and giving him “dominion over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.”

Man in his turn must venerate the image or icon of God in his brother man. So this song of Christmas is really a spiritual symphony of dazzling beauty.

Harmonies

Just as the chords of this Christmas song are in three-part harmony, so are combined three themes in the heading of our Christmas Letter: “Peace, Living Together and the Christian Presence in the Arab world.”

These three themes are firmly linked in an existential way, as we explained in the various letters we sent (consequent upon the destructive, hateful war on Lebanon during July and August, 2006) to the heads of Arab countries, of the Big Eight meeting at St. Petersburg, of the countries of the European Community meeting in Brussels, to the assembled Foreign Ministers of the Great Powers met at Rome, to President Chirac, to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, to His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, and to the President of the principal Conferences of Catholic Bishops throughout the world. Through these letters, we wanted to emphasize the importance of peace in the region, peace which is the key to all good things needed by this area that has been suffering for decades.

Here, we wish in this Christmas Letter to bring the content of those letters to all people of good will. This chimes in with our previous Christmas Letters, in which I have always insisted upon the importance of the Christian presence in the Arab world. This unique presence is unfortunately threatened by the cycle of wars, crises and calamities that assail this region, which saw the birth of Christ, the Apostle of Peace and which is the cradle of Christianity.

Our great concern, expressed through our annual letters, has been and always will be how to preserve the Christian presence as actual, witnessing and serving in our Arab society with its Muslim majority.

We shall set out in this letter the three constituent parts: peace, living together and the Christian presence in the region. Indeed, we shall be saying that the Christian presence in this region is fundamental for living together, even though it is dissolving little by little, because of emigration ensuing upon each war and crisis. To preserve this living together, we have to make universal, just, and lasting peace reign in this region.

The Cause: the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

We consider that the calamities, crises, wars and depredations of the Middle East are the products and results of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Fundamentalist movements such as Hamas, Hizbollah and others, are similarly the results and products of this conflict, as are the discords inside Arab countries, the slowness of their development and prosperity and the growth of hatred, enmity, hopelessness and disappointment among the youth, who make up sixty per cent of their inhabitants.

Concord, which alone can re-establish peace and justice in Palestine and the whole Middle East, presupposes a unified, firm, active, frank Arab position on the Palestinian question and solution, but also an equally sincere, firm and unified American and European position.

However, the most important thing for all of us in this region today is to win the fights both for peace and war in a sincere struggle for justice, security, stability and development. That is what the young Arab generations are expecting, Christians and Muslims, as well as all our political parties, all our communities and our whole people.

Unity of the Arab World

It is this Arab unity, which, by its very existence must impose on Israel, the United States of America, Europe and the United Nations, a peaceful solution to the conflict.

Destroying bridges and building walls is what is happening today in the Middle East. Now, that is just the opposite of what should be happening. Building bridges, so that people can meet each other, and destroying walls of partition: therein lies the warranty of a life worthy of men on this earth, in our Arab world, instead of burning fire and death-dealing weapons causing weeping and wailing in Palestine, Iraq and Lebanon.

After the War on Lebanon, we all find ourselves at a vital, historic and dangerous turning point, which may yet lead to further considerable calamities. That is why it is absolutely necessary for Arabs and Israelis to draw true lessons from that hateful, destructive and bloody war on the Lebanon, the ferocity of which exceeded all other wars in the region.

We consider that the policy which consists of pressuring this or that Arab country, such as Syria, or, outside the Arab world, Iran, and the condemnations of Hamas, Hezbollah, and all types of Islamic fundamentalism and extremism are all a headlong flight from reality; it is realpolitik that shows an unwillingness to shoulder real responsibility, which requires of all sides to place themselves on a true footing and make progress together towards agreement and true unity, allowing peace and justice to reign in the Holy Land, which for more than half a century has been a land of war and key to all warfare and conflicts in the region and beyond.

We, as an Arab Church, Church of the Arabs, Church of Islam, are speaking very firmly and forcefully to our Arab brethren, to European countries and to America, telling them, “Beware!” for if there is a seemingly interminable wait to resolve the Palestinian case, that means, losing all hope of any solution.

Christian Emigration

One of the most dangerous results of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and a cause of the inability to find a just and firm solution to it, is emigration. The brain-drain, the emigration of thinkers, young people, moderate Muslims and especially Christians: all that weakens progress and its future; the Arab world’s freedom, democracy and openness.

The great danger is above all in the emigration of Christians which has grave, painful and dangerous consequences. In fact Christian emigration, severely affecting all our parishes and communities in the Arab world, especially in the Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Jordan, Egypt and Iraq, means the East becoming void of Christians.

Above all, emigration means the gradual loss of pluralism and diversity in the Arab world and of its great opportunities for human and religious Islamic-Christian dialogue and daily, social co-existence of cultures and consciences, visible in the various aspects of the fabric of daily life in Arab societies.

Christian emigration represents a continual haemorrhage, causing Arab society to become monochrome, an entirely Muslim Middle East, over against a European society called Christian, although Europe and America are rather secularized than believing. If it were to happen that the East were emptied of its Christians, it would mean that any occasion would be propitious for a new clash of cultures, civilizations and even of religions, culminating in a destructive confrontation between the Arab and Muslim East and the Christian West, a conflict between Islam and Christianity. What a disaster that would be!

Trust between East and West

Faced with the consequences of the War in Lebanon and what we see every day in the media about the growth of fundamentalism and religious, ethnic and social tensions in human relations, we feel that there is a great lack of trust between East and West, between Arab countries, in the majority Muslim, and the European and American West.

In this atmosphere we see a rising desire for the birth of a new Middle East amidst the torrent and tide of wars and conflicts, but we are sure and convinced that a new Middle East can only be realized through the solution of the Palestinian case and the ending of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It would be a great error for the leaders of the West, Europe and America, to believe that dividing the Arab world would bring about a good atmosphere for the creation of a new Middle East. On the basis of our faith and spiritual, social and national experience, we would like to warn those who make propaganda for this divisive way of thinking and tell them very frankly, “No new Middle East with a divided Arab world!”

As for those who throw down the gauntlet for splitting the Arab world into an archipelago of religious communities and cantons in the name of bringing into being a new Middle East, theirs is certainly a losing wager, for there will be no democracy or democratic society in one Arab country without the others.

Attempts at creating pacts to divide the Arab world into little states, along community and religious lines means destroying the region’s future. On the contrary, strength is in unity and the strength of our Arab world is in its unity and trust among different groups within Arab countries. Moreover, the success of the birth of the new Middle East, over against Europe and America, can only come from trust between East and West, between Europe and Arab countries, between Christians and Muslims, indeed between all citizens of every country.

Therein may be discovered the role of Christians in the Arab world and for the birth of a truly, new Middle East. Their role is to work, to harness themselves to creating an atmosphere of trust between the West on the one hand and the Arab and Muslim world on the other. Our Arab history and the fact that we have a stake in the Arab and Muslim world gives us this very important role in East-West relations.

That is why we Arab Eastern Christians are telling the European community and the United States of America, “Give us your trust and we in turn shall give you ours. Have confidence in the Arab world and it will return your confidence. Don’t try to divide Arab countries through pacts, but rather help the Arab world realize its unity and solidarity. Don’t seek to sow the tares of division in the Arab world, especially between Christians and Muslims, for we are all Arabs, whether we are Christians or Muslims. We tell you frankly, if you succeed in dividing the Arab world and Christians and Muslims from each other, each into their own groups, you will always live in fear of the Arab and Muslim world.”

The Work of the Apostolic See of Rome

We wish to mention here the importance of the role of Christian Europe in the process of creating trust between East and West. We as Christians and Catholics are in continual relations with our Arab world and Muslim society. We are also in conversation with our elder sister Church of Rome, that “presides in charity” (Saint Ignatius of Antioch) and with the Apostolic Roman See and our brethren in the Catholic Churches of the West in Europe and America, calling on them all to redouble their efforts by lobbying their governments and showing their fellowship with us Eastern Christians, in order to reach the single, common goal of bringing about the reign of peace.

At the same time, we wish here to give our great thanks to the Episcopal Conferences, especially of Europe, that showed a great feeling of solidarity with us and our causes in the Arab world. We mention above all the Popes, who have shown exemplary concern for the Palestinian case since its beginning in the time of Pope Pius XII, through that of the Blessed John XXIII, of Paul VI, and of the Servant of God John-Paul II up to the present with His Holiness Benedict XVI, who is following the tragic and painful developments in this region, with a deep sensitivity and a keen sense of responsibility. It is he who said, “It is immoral to excuse ourselves from responsibility for bringing about the reign of peace in the Middle East.” So he followed the different stages of the murderous, destructive war on the Lebanon with great care and attention, recalling (at the Angelus prayer, 6 August, 2006) the responsibility of each and every one for bringing about peace in the region.

Words of the Holy Gospel

Beginning from our Christian convictions, based on the teachings of our Lord, Jesus Christ, in the Gospel, we are talking to our Christian brothers and sisters here in the East and especially in the West, bearing in mind our deep responsibility, saying, “Love the Arab world. Love Muslims, for we, they and we, you and we, are all created ‘in the image and likeness of God.’”

We are called to that by the holy Gospel, in which we read, “God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten son…that the world through him might be saved.” We are sure and certain that the Gospel and Jesus are always right: in fact the only cure for the world’s violence, wars, killings and ideology of terrorism, is love.

As we address these words to the communities of our Melkite Greek Catholic Church and to our brethren in the West, so we addressed on 6 October, 2006 the assembly of the Council of Episcopal Conferences of Europe, held at St. Petersburg in Russia. These words, written and pronounced by an Arab Christian Patriarch in an Arab Church, in the Arab world, spring from the depths of the holy Gospel, which contains the words of life, that go beyond any political logic or human wisdom and all calculation and strategy, being, as we say in our prayers, “strength beyond weaponry.”

Faith is the Weapon of Peace

That is the true expression of our deep conviction and of our Orthodox faith. We may even affirm with profound conviction that our faith - of Christians, Jews and Muslims - tells us that the most cutting weapon of our world, (despite all political crises, conflicts, fundamentalist tendencies and ideology of terrorism and violence, those destructive ways of thinking, that in any society have nothing to do with religion, conviction or community) is faith itself. If we lay aside the weapon of faith, despising it in order to show off our prudence and human, political wisdom, the world will remain in a terrible, tragic, bloody cycle of wars, killings, violence, terrorism and fundamentalism.

Have we really examined our conscience concerning the values of our faith? Is it not rather true that there is a great weakness in our Christian faith and in its realities and convictions? There is besides a great lack of Christian solidarity both inside our communities and between them. Yet our faith is what the Apostle John called, “the victory that overcometh the world.”

So, here we appeal to the governments of countries of the Arab world and throughout the whole world. We, in this atmosphere of the Feast of the Nativity of our Lord God and Saviour, Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, call upon them to work to realize the angels’ hymn, with which we began this Christmas Letter. In fact, this hymn is a programme of life for our world which needs to be in continual relationship with God, glorifying God and allowing peace to reign and realizing joy and prosperity among the children of men.

A New Middle East without War

After the experience of consecutive wars, we consider the current conditions and situations of the Arab world, especially in Palestine, Iraq and the Lebanon, propitious, indeed, an excellent opportunity for Arabs and Israelis to understand the lessons of history. We ask all to throw aside their weapons and make them into “pruning hooks” for that great harvest of goodness, security and prosperity, a new Middle East without war. That is why we are telling all of them to work at making our Arab Eastern region into a weapon-free zone, without war, hatred or enmity, so that this land that God has sanctified may be as he willed, one where Jews, Christians and Muslims, all children of the three great monotheistic religions, may live together in peace and harmony. This land is their common spiritual cradle, where we are called to bear fruits of peace and be renewed by the Spirit of God.

Instead of this region being subject to clashes and bloody conflicts, consecutively repeated over more than fifty years; instead of these conflicts being a sign of the end of the world, let them be rather a sign of the beginning of a new world, “a new heaven and a new earth,” where, as the Psalmist says, “righteousness and peace have kissed each other.”

Reconciliation in the Teaching of St. Paul

We are writing this letter in a spirit very far from any hatred, enmity, vengeance or the logic of victor and vanquished. The logic of our holy faith is very far from all these negative feelings and positions.

On the contrary, our logic calls us to friendship and love: love of enemies, unreciprocated love, constructive love, trusting and believing all things, hoping all things, optimistic, never thinking evil, not boastful: that is why it is never-failing.

St. Paul, in his Epistle to the Ephesians, invites us to go beyond the logic of war, violence and terrorism, vengeance, destruction, force and strength of arms. In fact, if we read that Epistle with new eyes, we can see in it a prophecy for our century and for our present situation, a call for reconciliation between countries, peoples and religions, reconciliation which is the basis for peace. Here are some passages from that letter:

“But now in Christ Jesus, ye who were sometimes far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.

“For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; and that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: and came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.

Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the corner-stone; in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: in whom ye are also builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.”

Today, we more than ever need this vision which looks beyond current crises, the realities of peace and conflict in Palestine, Iraq and the Lebanon: we must go beyond the logic of fundamentalism, which sees force of arms as the only means to an end; beyond the reality of movements that frighten us, such as Hizbollah, Hamas, Jihad and Muslim Brothers. In fact, all those movements are the products of injustice and despotism, and will no longer have any justification for their existence in a world where peace and social justice reign and where prosperity and security are realized.

This vision sketched out by St. Paul is the foundation for a new Arab Middle East, for a new heaven and a new earth. This vision of faith helps us Christians, Muslims and Jews to continue our progress, beginning from the revelation of God to us all in this region of the world, where God has wished us to be and where he spoke to his children.

If we succeed in this common journey, accepting one another, (each in his own religion with great respect for its dogma) and according to each his rights and dignity, there will be the real, dazzling proof of the truth of our faith. It will also make a very attractive case for our young people to accept the faith of their parents and ancestors with great respect and esteem and to live out the values of this faith in their society.

Appeal for Patience and Trust

We would like here to speak to our Melkite Greek Catholic children with words of encouragement for their daily lives, sufferings and problems. We also think that these words may apply to all Christians in our Arab world and in the countries of emigration.

Dear brothers, dear friends, your belonging to the Church comes of your true faith, and this is your strength in the face of difficulties that are the realities of life in every society in East and West, between Christians and Christians, Christians and Muslims, and even between Buddhists, Christians and Muslims! Do not think that you, as Christians, are the only ones suffering and having problems in the East. Muslims themselves have problems in living out their faith here in the East and outside Arab countries. European Christians in Europe, a continent called Christian, but secularized and threatened by different aspects of practical atheism, also have problems in living out their faith in a secular atmosphere, where faith has become cloistered and enclosed inside church walls. That represents a more serious danger for them than our own problems do for us. Christians in Eastern Europe have suffered further under the yoke of Communism, things that neither Muslims nor Christians of West or East have had to undergo! Recently, in September, 2006, I was in Slovakia, the Czech Republic and in Russia, having already visited Romania and the Ukraine. There I heard tell of New Martyrs, those who died and those who survived and gave witness by their blood to their resistance and perseverance in the faith. I tell you, there is no comparison between the problems and difficulties we have in living our faith at home and what our brothers and sisters in Eastern Europe have had to endure!

There is no faith without difficulties, but these are not difficulties of faith: they are rather social, political, economic and cultural difficulties, to which every believing (and unbelieving person) is exposed, whether Christian or Muslim, regardless of their faith, religion, or the geography or history or culture of their country.

“Fear not, little flock.”

We are talking now to all our children and to each one individually, saying to them, “Fear not, little flock.” Do not be afraid to be what Jesus asked you to be: light, salt and yeast, servants, witnesses and imitators of Christ, strong in the pursuit of his teachings contained in the holy Gospel, with complete openness to your fellowmen, who have their own faith and values. Instead, say to them:

I am a fellow-citizen.

I am a believer with you.

I am a servant with you.

I am a witness with you.

I am building with you, in one and the same homeland.

My future is your future.

My progress is your progress.

My language is your language.

My Arab identity is one with yours.

I am and will remain with you and for you.

Just as we have journeyed along the same road for the last fourteen hundred years, so we wish to continue with you in this third millennium.

Appeal to our Muslim Brethren and Fellow Citizens

In seeking to convince our Christian faithful to stay in their homelands, where God has planted them, we find we absolutely must talk, with them and in their name, on the basis of our responsibilities as Arab citizens in Arab countries, to our Muslim brethren, those in government, sheikhs, theologians, cultured people, muftis and all Muslims and tell them frankly what the fears are that haunt us and what kind of fearful attitudes amongst us, impel some of us to emigrate.

They are not just purely religious reasons, but they also have a social, ethical and cultural aspect.

So when we are talking about living together and citizenship, their concomitant conditions and principles absolutely must be recognized as permanently binding duties for Muslims, just as they are for Christians: this is what we mean by speaking of separation between religion and state, Arabism, democracy, the Arab nation, and human rights. Laws which are based on Islam as sole or chief source of legislation and application are a source of division and quasi racial distinction between citizens on the basis of religion and are an obstacle to equality before the law, diminishing equality of citizenship. One could say the same about fundamentalist parties, that strictly follow the Islamic Qur’an and those fundamentalist movements here and there to which are attributed (whether truly or not and with or without reason) acts of violence, terrorism, murder, church burning and extortion and exploitation of citizens on the basis of religion, while the perpetrators rely on the fact of being in the majority, to humiliate their neighbours and workmates.

Those things make Christians feel troubled, fearing an unknown future in a society that is in the majority Muslim. Often they are characterized and stigmatized by epithets such as fifth columnists, crusaders, impious (kuffar), and collaborators with the West and with Israel.

Those and many other such things are the cause of fear amongst Christians and ought to be, to our way of thinking, the subject of study circles, congresses, conferences and meetings in the Arab and Muslim world. Those problems should be treated with a great deal of objectivity and Christians and Muslims together should identify the real wound underlying the haemorrhage of Christian emigration.

Neither Protégés nor Dhimmis

Through this Christmas Letter, we are speaking to our Muslim brethren in all confidence and charity and that is the reason for our frankness. We tell them plainly, we and all our faithful, want to live together and continue the journey of previous centuries, but we wish that our Muslim brothers would not call us dhimmis, or protected people. We would like them to consider us as real citizens, like they are, having the same rights and the same obligations as them. We wish to build our countries, our homelands, together and collaborate towards a better future for them and for us all. That has always been the role of Christians throughout history and that must still be our role today in the third millennium of the Nativity and in the fifteenth century of the Hijrah.

We do not ask for the protection of our Muslim fellow-citizens, but equality and an equal opportunity for work and a job. We want a common life, living together with all that that implies, charity, trust, respect, dignity, shared responsibility, solidarity and progress together, to which we are prepared to devote ourselves sacrificially for the sake of our homelands. We wish to feel this atmosphere in all Arab countries without exception. Christians are Arab fellow-citizens in every Arab country, whether their numbers are small or large, whether they are poor or rich. All have the right to full citizenship in every Arab country without exception. They have the right to complete freedom in the practice of their religion and the building of their churches, alongside the mosques of their Muslim brethren.

Those are the kinds of attitude and behaviour which would really give Christians the feeling that they were in security and would lessen the load of emigration.

We say to our Muslim brethren, we Christians have an extraordinary strength: we have our convents, monasteries, schools, universities, welfare societies, our social and cultural societies, our medical centres and hospitals; all those we are ready to place at your service. But if we emigrate, all these capabilities will be scattered and destroyed. The losers will be Arabs, Christians and Muslims alike.

We wish here to affirm again that our positive living together and the preservation of the values of Christian and Muslim faith are the bases of our real co-citizenship. The greatest challenge for Christians and Muslims is how to be able to live our faith in the world of globalization and how manage to pass on this precious, holy deposit to new generations, especially young Christians and Muslims, who are both exposed to the same dangers in today’s world.

Appeal of our Eastern Catholic Brother Patriarchs

The Eastern Catholic Patriarchs have treated in their sixteenth Congress of their Council, from 16 to 20 October last, the same subject as is dealt with in this letter. The title of their congress was “The Church and the Homeland.” This congress followed on from what they had studied in their previous one of 2005 in Jordan, “Peace and Justice in the Middle East.” We are happy to pass on to you some passages from their communiqué, so that our children may hear the voices of their fathers, the Patriarchs, who feel the hopes and sufferings of their children as their own:

3. “Our presence in the East is the expression of the will of God, obliging us to be faithful to Christ, involved in witnessing to his love, putting into action the teachings of the Holy Gospel and fulfilling the duty of service to the societies in which we live. However insurmountable the difficulties, we nevertheless detect radiant signs of hope in the spiritual, cultural, social and national wealth which adorns with the jewels of its liturgical, theological and spiritual heritage, well-ordered in conformity with the Alexandrian, Syriac and Maronite Antiochian, Melkite Greek, Chaldean, Armenian and Latin traditions, the Church of Christ that is both one and diverse that John, the Beloved Disciple saw “coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. “ And he heard a voice that cried aloud, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.” (Revelation 21:2-4).
4. Christianity, being an essential component of the regional culture, enriching the latter by its traditions (cf. A new hope for Lebanon, 1) it follows that the Church calls for a presence and a mission. So it becomes imperative to set up an exchange of ideas with the faithful of other religions about spiritual, moral, social and cultural values with a view to promoting social justice, equality and freedom and laying the foundations of peace. (Conciliar decree Nostra Aetate regarding the relationship of the Church with non-Christian religions, 2 and 3)
5. Our Christian faith implies being incarnate and lived out in a mission springing from the heart of our faithfulness to Christ, our union with him and our determination to imitate him and take him for our model, which supposes, to begin with on our part, preserving our existence and presence in our land, in a spirit of fellowship, mutual help and shared responsibility. The economic and social crisis requires Church and State, all competent authorities and all people of good will, to take an initiative designed to develop economic life and instigate development projects that would provide job opportunities to young people and help them put down roots in their native land, fulfil their potential and give families the possibility of earning a decent, respectable living in their own country.
6. As for the mission, it begins, in fact, by preserving living together in the face of the growing conflict of cultures and religions. It is a living witness of the possibility of co-existence in peace and creative complementarity in the heart of difference. For religions, in their essence, are a factor for gathering and not division, since the essence of each is worshipping God and respecting his creatures. Eastern Christians are Eastern in their belonging and citizenship and in fact are profoundly involved in their respective countries’ cause.”

No to Emigration

Speaking of that, may I remind our children, beloved brothers and sisters, especially young people, of my first Patriarchal Letter: no emigration! I ask them to take this message seriously. In fact we need to encourage each other mutually to stay here and try to convince each other and respond to the doubts of objectors who say, “What can we do? This country is not for us. What is to be done here?”

We say to all, “No. No running away from responsibilities! No withdrawal and leaving the field of social, political, ethical and national life. No to isolation. No to internal migration or emigration outside the country. No to feelings of inferiority. No to marginalization: no to marginalization by others and no to those who marginalize themselves. No to despair because of situations in our Arab countries! No letting ourselves fall into disappointment and defeatism in the face of events here and there, from which our children are suffering, whether because they have experienced them themselves or because they have heard tell of them. No shrivelling up and turning in on oneself or to one’s own community. No to fear in the face of certain aspects of fundamentalism, extremism and movements and acts of terrorism and cases of religious superiority and discrimination.”

All these realities have nothing to do with Christian or Muslim religion, (although sometimes some Muslims may do these things or such things are attributed to them) or with those people who live with us, alongside us as workmates at our place of work and neighbours in our district.

The Lord Jesus Christ says to us, reminding us of the difficulties which may lie in life’s way for the faithful, “Take heed that no man deceive you.…
For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in diverse places. All these are the beginnings of sorrows.

Then they shall deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.

But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.”

St. Paul, or the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, reminds us of the heroes of faith, in chapters 11 and 12: “(Some) had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: they were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; of whom the world was not worthy: they wandered in deserts, in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth…others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection…Ye have not resisted unto blood, striving against sin…Wherefore seeing we are also compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith: who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Why Stay in the Arab Middle East?

I made a remark in Paris, during my participation in the 150 Year Jubilee of “L’œuvre d’Orient,” saying to them, “You French Catholics are giving us material, financial help to maintain our presence in the Middle East, but it is up to us to discover reasons and motivations for that presence and witness in the region.”

We Christians are not allowed to file all or most of our life’s difficulties under the heading of Islamic-Christian relations. Neither is it quite true that the principal reasons for emigration are religious difficulties, as some local and international media imagine, raising cries of despair about the challenges for Christians of continuing their presence in the Middle East. In fact inquiries and questionnaires on the subject of reasons for emigration were prepared by specialists for the Assembly of Eastern Catholic Patriarchs last October. Their results showed that religious causes are least important, virtually inexistent.

Freedom of Worship Assured

Basing ourself on our personal experience about the situation of Christians in Arab countries, we may affirm that Christians are able to practice their faith without any opposition in all Arab countries, except Saudi Arabia. Indeed, freedom of worship is assured in the countries of Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, Egypt, Sudan, Iraq, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and Yemen.

In all these countries there are churches, catechism classes, religious books, the possibility of celebrating prayers and festivals, sacraments, spiritual retreats; there are schools, social institutions, clinics, hospitals, monasteries, brotherhoods, youth groups, Christian pamphlets and reviews, all basic elements for Christian living. In the Arab world, no-one can prevent me from living a holy Christian life. No-one can prevent families from living together in peace and security and from educating their children in a true Christian atmosphere. There are difficulties and problems, sometimes daily pressures, which are part of any life, but the same can happen in other societies, religious or otherwise, Eastern or Western, or elsewhere.

Rights and Privileges

As for civil, political and social rights, privileges and the like, these are so many themes that have nothing to do with religion and faith. Of course, they form important and basic parts in the life of every citizen: they may have a positive or negative effect, and may yet be the reason for many crises, calamities and difficulties in the family, but they must be dealt with in the civic domain, not from the point of view of religion in the community. Of course it is difficult to make a distinct separation between life’s religious and social demands, but the Christian needs to deal with all these problems, taking faith as his starting point, then his citizenship, civil rights and human rights, which are the same for everyone. Besides, he must demand by all permissible and legitimate means that these rights be respected.

But, to reach this level of interaction with our society and with its different currents and outlooks, there have to be open-minded Christians, who give witness in their society by their presence and are involved in social, political and economic life, participating whole-heartedly in the life of their homeland, taking their citizenship as their starting point and after that, their faith and Gospel values. It is a conflict of interest, not a religious or Christian-Muslim conflict, or a conflict of faith. The poet said, “One can only face up to life through strength.”

That is what His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI explained in his first encyclical letter, Deus Caritas Est, 25 December 2005, and which was quoted in the final report of the Assembly of Catholic Patriarchs and Bishops of the Lebanon in October, 2006:

“(The) aim (of the Church’s social teaching) is simply to help purify reason and to contribute, here and now, to the acknowledgment and attainment of what is just….

… the Church wishes to help form consciences in political life and to stimulate greater insight into the authentic requirements of justice as well as greater readiness to act accordingly, even when this might involve conflict with situations of personal interest.”

That is why it is not allowed to class these difficulties under the heading of Islamic and Christian religious cultures.

The Role of the Antiochian Church

The Antiochian Church, with all its five denominations (Greek Orthodox, Melkite Greek Catholic, Syriac Orthodox, Syrian Catholic and Maronite) is a privileged ecclesiastical place for living together with Islam and for Islam, in the Arab world and for the Arab world. It is a privileged place for bringing to fruition our Christian presence and putting it to work.

More important than this historical and geographical reality is learning to discover, if possible, the true role of Christians in the Patriarchate of Antioch, in Islamic-Christian history, geography, culture and civilization. By all possible means, we must learn to see its history, geography and civilization in the light of salvation.

Some could say (and I read it in a French review) that I only go on repeating these ideas in all my letters. I know that and do it willingly, because I have a firm conviction, which I discover ever more profoundly. It is my daily care, concern and responsibility: how can I remain in touch with my brother bishops, priests and deacons, monks and nuns and all our children in all communities throughout our Church on the subject of our duty to remain? How can I spread this conviction, so that it becomes that of the whole Church with all its parishes and parishioners? I repeat then, what I have always said, “If we do not reach this certainty, there is no future for the Christian presence or for our witness and Christian service.”

Summary

Finally, at the end of this letter, I return to the beginning and to the three terms in
its title, “Peace, Living Together and the Christian Presence in the Arab Middle East” and I sum it up in the following paragraphs:

1. Living together is the future of these Arab countries and is valuable for both Christians and Muslims. It means accepting the other as he is, respecting him and venerating him, recognizing him as fellow-citizen, with all concomitant human rights, those of every one on earth and especially in the East.

2. Christians are an important element in that living together. There is no living together without pluralism, meaning that our society comprises Christians in all communities, Muslims in all their groups, Druzes and Jews.

3. This living together is threatened by emigration, whose most important and dangerous reasons are the wars, calamities and crises whose origin is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the injustice that flows from that. In the same way, products of this conflict are extremism, fundamentalism, violence, the ideology of terrorism and feelings of enmity and hatred in society and lack of equality in rights and job opportunities. There is also a lack of opportunity for participating in different posts of responsibility in the countries, their governance and parliament, ministries and other services.

4. If the haemorrhage of emigration continues, it means the East will be void of its pluralism. There will be a collapse of what we call living together. In those circumstances, Christians would not able to resist the series of calamities, crises, wars and conflicts.

5. But what may yet help Christians to resist in the face of all these difficulties and not emigrate is the conviction of faith that remaining in Arab countries, where Christianity was born and where God has planted them, is in itself an apostolate, vocation and mission. The framework of this mission is the Church, especially from the fact that the Antiochian Christian Church here, as I always repeat, is an Arab Church from its roots and ethnicity. Moreover it is Church of the Arabs and Church of Islam and Emmanuel Church, God with us and for us. It is also the Church with and for the other: the other is the Muslim fellow-citizen in our Arab society which is in the majority Muslim, in which Christians are responsible for bearing the Gospel message, and proclaiming its values in society, so that the Church may be present and witnessing in society, participating and interacting with it.

6. The atmosphere suitable for all these elements cited above - pluralism and living together with all that goes with that - is peace in the region; peace that is lasting, complete and firm, that may be the warranty for ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

7. On the other hand, if Arab countries and Muslim citizens really care about pluralism and living together and if they feel the Christian presence is important in the region, then Christians have to be able to enjoy full fellow-citizenship with all the rights that go with it. It is absolutely indispensable that Arab countries unite their voices to bring about a civilized, just and peaceable solution for the Palestinian question.

8. If that does not happen in the near future, the haemorrhage of emigration will grow, as will Islamic fundamentalist movements, violence and terrorism and young Muslims will very simply fall victim into their net. That means that we should pass on to our young up and coming Arab generations a sombre inheritance and a black future. Then Arab Muslim society would lose the components of its pluralism and living together and there would be realized, unfortunately, the prophecy about the clash of civilizations, religions and cultures.

Peace-making is the Great Challenge

In order to avert all these calamities, we make an appeal both new and old, that we have mentioned in our previous letters, during the War on Lebanon in the summer of 2006. We appeal to Arab countries, to their kings, princes and heads of state: it is an appeal that arises out of our love for them and for our Arab homelands, saying to them, “Make peace. Hurry to make peace, today and not tomorrow. You are responsible, with a moral responsibility for peace. Otherwise, the accusations that are made against Islam about violence, terrorism and killings are going to continue to be levelled, despite the fact that Islam is completely innocent: but the Gospel says, “By their fruits ye shall know them.”

Peace today is the great challenge: it is the great jihad for the greatest good. It is true victory and the true guarantee for future freedom, progress, prosperity and security for our young generations, our Christian and Muslim youth, who are the future of our countries and who can really make their history, carrying the banner of faith and values in their homelands.

Among Mankind, Goodwill

At the end of the Divine Liturgy, the priest says in a low voice this prayer, “Christ our God, thou art truly the fulfilment of the Law and the Prophets. Thou hast accomplished all the economy of the Father towards us. Fill our hearts with joy and gladness, now and for ever and ever. Amen.”

After receiving Holy Communion we sing together, “We have seen the true light, we have received the heavenly Spirit, we have found the true faith,” and, “May our mouths be filled with thy praise… Keep us in thy holiness, so that every day we may sing of thy glory.”

This is a call to the faithful, after their existential participation in Christ in Holy Communion, for them to be strong, joyful, resistant and proud of their faith, laying aside all feelings of despair and defeatism, and participating in the joy that our Lord, Jesus Christ has given us through his birth and that the angels proclaimed in their song. So we may go beyond the cycle of fear for the benefit of our Christian presence, our role and future in these Arab countries and in the countries of emigration.

And to us all, pastors and faithful, Patriarch, bishops, priests, monks, nuns and laypeople, St. Paul speaks in his Epistle to the Ephesians, a letter addressed to each eparchy, parish, religious congregation and to each one of the faithful, “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put ye on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.”

And together we sing with great joy and great hope, “Glory to God in the highest and peace on earth to men of good will. ”

Gregorios III

Damascus, 1 December 2006

Translated from the French by V. Chamberlain

Lecture at the Sheptytsky Institute
Ottawa 23 November 2006
“Does Christianity have a Future in the Middle East?”

Photos of this event

Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky Institute of Eastern Christian Studies (Faculty of Theology)

Back to the top

Lecture at the Sheptytsky Institute Ottawa
23 November 2006
“Does Christianity have a Future in the Middle East?”

It is a very great pleasure to me to inaugurate the chair dedicated to the memory of our revered predecessor Patriarch Maximos IV, who raised a clarion call for the Christian East during the Second Vatican Council and gave outstanding witness for the Churches of the Middle East. At the present time, when the region is shaken by terrible convulsions, we may well wonder whether there is a future for Christians in this cradle of Christianity. That will be the theme of our talk this evening. By way of introduction, we would like to remind our listeners of the definition given by the late lamented Mgr. Edelby, Metropolitan of Aleppo, of our identity as Melkite Christians, “We are Arab, but not Muslim; Eastern, but not Orthodox; Catholic but not Latin.”
An open identity
Our identity, thus defined, has the merit of being open. It does not shut us into a definition. Now a closed identity can become deadly. We see the terrible effect that this can have in the tragedies that beset our region. A closed identity always has a tendency to deny the other person, or at least to see him as a rival. It is defensive by nature and so conservative. It erects walls between peoples, confessions and religions. An open identity, on the other hand, does not lock anyone into a definition or prejudices. It always strives to look beyond itself. It is always ready to engage in or instigate any possible dialogue. It is suited to bridge-building. It is creative.
Needless to say, the condition for this openness is rootedness. It is because I take on fully my own identity that the other person does not seem like a threat. Rootedness and openness are then the two essential poles for the Middle East’s Christians if they wish not only to maintain their age-old presence, which would be a fairly “defensive” definition, but above all to work to build up a Middle East where one can live and be at peace, thus contributing to the dialogue of civilizations which is of vital importance for humanity today.
This open identity is historically that of the Patriarchate of Antioch. Having inherited the Greek Patristic legacy, without being Hellenic but multicultural from the very beginning, since its liturgy for example, was celebrated in three languages, Greek, Syriac and Arabic; called Melkite for its fidelity to the faith defined at Chalcedon; speedily integrated into Arab culture after the advent of Islam; the Patriarchate of Antioch has always kept a lively sense of Catholicity, which made it the pioneer of rapprochement with Rome from the 16th century. The Patriarchate of Antioch is not only encultured in the region where it is based, but it is also traditionally the transmitter of cultures. It is in fact in the sphere of influence of Antioch that Melkite and Syriac Christians translated into Arabic the philosophical, astronomical, mathematical and medical heritage of Ancient Greece. Brought by Muslims into Spain, it at last reached the Christian West through a final translation into Latin, thus realising an astonishing circuit of sharing and transmission of knowledge around the Mediterranean. All these historical aspects underline the peculiar charisma and mission of our Patriarchate: that of being a factor of unification at all levels, be it between the Eastern Churches; between the East and the Christian West; between Islam and Christianity and on the temporal plane, between Islam and the contemporary West.
I – The incarnation, source of all unity.
The label of “Melkites,” given at first in a pejorative way to the faithful members of the Patriarchate of Antioch, is in fact a glorious title, insofar as it refers to the Christological definition of Chalcedon, in 451, which laid the foundations on which rests the whole of Christian doctrine: that of the mystery of the incarnation, which is none other than a mystery of union, the union of the two natures in Christ, a token and earnest of the union of all mankind with God, through Christ. This union of the two natures, a transcendental miracle of diversity in divine simplicity, is the prototype of the communion of wills and hearts which is the Mystical Body of Christ. The incarnate Word, first-born of a multitude of brothers, first-fruits of the new, regenerated humanity, makes all humans members of one big family. As St. Paul says, “Wherefore thou art no more a servant but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.” (Gal. 4:7). We discover through this mystery the origin, essence, goal and incomparable dignity of our human condition, that the Church Fathers express through the well-known term of divinization. “For the glory of God is a living man, ” said St. Irenaeus of Lyons, meaning a man who has attained his full divine stature. St. Athanasius of Alexandria confirmed it by saying, “God became man so that thou, man, mightest be capable of receiving divinity. ” St. Gregory of Nazianzus made it clear as follows, “Christ became man to unite us to God in his own person. ” Only the mystery of the incarnation can enable us to discover the meaning, worth and dignity of our life, linked as it is to the heavenly life and God himself. Man’s horizon is nothing less than divine life. That is the source of all joy, whether given or received, all altruism and contribution to humanity’s welfare. But this supreme dignity conferred on us by the incarnation of the Word requires of us in return to bear fruit, serve others and contribute to the building of a civilization of life, working like peacemakers and tireless servants of unity, capable of showing divine love and so contributing to the good and to the development of the society in which we live.
This work of unification is our duty as a Church and it must develop in all directions. We venture to recall some personal memories, to illustrate just how much this unifying vision has been the guiding thread of our whole sacerdotal life. Beginning in 1962, we founded in Lebanon the review “Unity in Faith.” We participated actively, throughout the 60’s and 70’s, in ecumenical activities that developed in Lebanon. During our service as Patriarchal Vicar in Jerusalem, we took the initiative of bringing together the heads of Christian Churches for monthly gatherings, as well as for more informal brotherly meetings, without the worry of protocol and these gave birth to a real fraternity amongst us and to a more effective collaboration over local, social, pastoral or ecclesial activities. Also in Jerusalem we founded in 1983, together with Christian and Muslim friends, the Al-Liqa’ Centre, as well as the St. Cyril Adult Theological School in 1975. The aim of all those projects was to unify spiritual teaching and social and pastoral reflection, in order to yield fine fruit in all the Churches of the Holy Land. In 1996, with the ecumenical commission of our Patriarchate, we instigated “the Antiochian initiative,” aiming to explore the way towards reunion of the two separated branches of the Melkite Patriarchate of Antioch and the reestablishment of full communion between them, in order to give to the Church a prophetic message of hope and courage.
II – Reuniting Christian East and West
The Antiochian tradition
That is only the continuation of a long tradition. The Melkite Patriarchate of Antioch has been distinguished throughout its history for its care for the unity of the Churches and particularly for communion with the See of Rome. The intervention of Peter III of Antioch, just after the disastrous events of 1054 at Constantinople, remains rightly famous. His words to the touchy Michael Cerularius deserve to be quoted: “Day and night, I have been wondering why this division of the Church and how one can set aside the successor of the great Peter and separate him from the divine body of the Churches, so that his voice can no longer be heard in the meeting of bishops and he no longer takes his part in the cares of the Church, so that he too may receive from them fraternal and pastoral direction.,” and further on, “It is desirable that we give proof of good will, especially where God and faith are not in danger and that we incline rather towards peace and love of our brethren….Bowing down in spirit at your feet, I beg you, relax your strictness; show yourself more moderate and condescending where the things of God are not at stake. Take care that in wishing to mend the tear, you don’t enlarge it!” Words worth their weight in gold that ought to inspire the heads of all Churches! The Patriarch of Antioch sets out in a masterly way the principles for maintaining communion, by distinguishing with generosity of heart the essentials of faith from what pertains to the legitimate variety of customs.
Peter III wanted to avoid breaking communion. From the 16th. century, as soon as the hold of Constantinople on the Patriarchate of Antioch slackened, his successors tried hard to repair the breach. Despite the deplorable state of theology under Ottoman rule, the Eastern Church’s ethos that had been kept alive particularly through the liturgy, was sufficiently vital for the Melkite Patriarchs of Antioch to defend instinctively the traditional ecclesiology of the Christian East. They envisioned the reunion of ecclesial bodies, judging boldly, considering the period, that the state of schism and in particular the separation from Rome was deeply abnormal. Their intention then was the reestablishment of full communion with the See of Peter, without however separating from Constantinople. This project for twofold communion was about to be shown as, if not utopian, at least impossible to bring about, as much due to the centralizing Roman ecclesiology consequent upon the Council of Trent, as to the network of communion between the Orthodox Churches. The act of union of 1724 was registered in the desire for this twofold communion. Were it not for the vigorous Hellenizing reaction of Constantinople, provoking the election of a competing Patriarch a week after that of Damascus, in September, 1724, history would have been different and would have allowed us to explore all the possibilities of that prophetic intuition.
After their union with Rome, the Melkite Patriarchs made every effort to defend the same ideal. However, since they now found themselves in the bosom of the Roman communion, their role had shifted. Allow me to recall two great figures among our predecessors, who played a leading role in the last two Councils of the Catholic Church. Gregorios II, taking up again on his own account the wise and pacific position of Pope Leo III, when the latter was being pressured by the Carolingian theologians to add the Filioque to the Nicene-Constantinopolitan creed, forcefully declared that a definition of the importance of papal infallibility was a matter for the ecumenical domain, by virtue of the very nature of the Petrine ministry and could not be the subject of a unilateral decision that ignored the Orthodox Churches. As soon as a definition concerns the whole catholicity, it cannot be decided in absentia. So Gregorios II became the voice of those without a say. As for Maximos IV Sayegh of blessed memory, he was one of the major figures of the Second Vatican Council whose moral authority was unanimously recognized. His influence and that of his episcopate on the conciliar debates and decisions was exceptional. He never tired of repeating over and over again that Latinity is not catholicity and that the Church cannot make the world hear its symphony of salvation without the part played by the Eastern Churches.
The creativity of love
When we consider this impressive inheritance, we cannot appear fearful or discouraged in the face of the demands of Christian unity. The mediating role of our Church is more than ever necessary. In the heart of the Roman communion, we must always keep in mind the great absent, yet present one: the Orthodox Church. Not that we wish at all to take its place and substitute ourselves for it, God forbid! But it is our role to draw the attention of the Christian West to the rich theological, patristic, liturgical, spiritual and pastoral heritage of the Christian East. That is why we have to draw a line under all the human factors that have weighed so heavily in tearing us apart in the past, give up any sulkiness and put charity into action, emphasizing what unites us rather than what divides us. We are absolutely convinced that the union of Churches will be possible if we humble ourselves before God and allow ourselves to welcome the fruits of the unifying incarnation. Then we shall be able to resolve the most tangled theological problems on the basis of our generous, complete open-heartedness. Living together in mutual exchange and re-established communion, we shall discover each other from within and from the heart of our common mind, we shall incarnate the love of God for us and our love for one another.
III – Church of the Arabs
Church for the World
This unifying vocation is not limited to the Church, but must also extend outside. For we are the disciples of Emmanuel, God with us, who said, to show the meaning of his life-giving incarnation, “For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many.” (Mk. 10:45) “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” (Jn. 10:10) St. Paul witnesses on that subject, “For even Christ pleased not himself,” (Rom. 15:3) and again, “For none of us liveth to himself.” (Rom. 14:7) In short, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” (Mt. 5:16) We are not Christians for our exclusive salvation, for our spiritual welfare and even less for our own glorification. One is Christian for the salvation of the world, for the benefit of the whole of humanity, for everyone wherever he may be. The Christian, by his very vocation, must go beyond himself. That is what the “Catholic Church” means. In its catholicity it loses none of its particularities. On the contrary, from the very heart of its particular identity, it loses nothing of its catholicity, insofar as it goes beyond itself to be “all things to all men .” But this humanity which it has the vocation to serve is not an abstraction, but is incarnated in a particular culture, language, civilization and land. Catholicity only manifests itself in particularity. In this perspective, we would like to insist on our fervent desire to be and to remain a Church without borders, but with broad horizons, a Church of hope, open to the future and to progress, a Church with and for. Emmanuel Church in fact is not a Church for itself, but a serving Church. For us, that means that Arab Christians, whatever their nationality or citizenship, must absolutely understand that their vocation, mission and role is not to live for themselves, which would amount to being Christian only in name. That would be to lose the deepest understanding of their Christianity, the true meaning of their baptism, chrismation (‘άγιον μύρον), the divine sacraments and their belonging to the church. They must be the Church for the other and so, in their particular environment, Church of the Arabs, Church of Islam. This idea is profoundly anchored in our deepest inner conviction, thought and conscience. It is the fruit of long reflection, not borne from a wish to adopt a position of strength over against Islam.
Church of Islam
Our own identity is to be the Church of the Arabs. As Arabs are in the immense majority Muslim, we are the Church amidst Islam, the Church for Islam, the Church of Islam. This expression generally raises a murmur of incomprehension, even of protest. Let’s explain the meaning. If we were Christians of India, we would find it quite natural to say that we were the Church amidst Hinduism, the Church for Hinduism, the Church of Hinduism, in the sense that it would be the form of Christianity that specifically reflected Indian culture and expressed therein the message of the Gospel. Our place is the Middle East; our language, Arabic; our culture, Islamic; our neighbours, Muslims. Our history has intimately and closely linked us to them. We are, in some way, flesh of their flesh, in that we share their blood, tribal origins and traditions. We cannot ignore them as though they were strangers, as if their existence did not concern us. No, we live with them in an existential relationship and their destiny is inextricably linked to ours, every day that God sends. “Church of Islam” is then an expression designed to show this unique and extraordinary situation that links us to the Arab Muslim world. It signifies the bond of our Church with Islam, a bond that touches our inmost awareness, our common culture and future and our spiritual relationship. It indicates especially our responsibility towards Islam and Muslims. Please understand that there can be no question here of any kind of proselytism. Our responsibility towards Islam must on the contrary take the form of love, charity, respect, mutual aid, fellowship, understanding, dialogue, affection, “zeal for others,” as the Qur’an says. There is no question here either of a premeditated choice, of a circumstantial and opportunistic strategy adapted to predetermined social and political objectives. Rather this responsibility constitutes a part of our very being as Christians living in the Middle East. It is theological and existential, rooted in our conscience and thought, in our Christian, human and spiritual experience. Facing up to this is a question of life or death: “to be or not to be.”
Christians of the Middle East must every day face up to a great sea of problems, suffering and struggling to make a daily living, whilst trying to understand Gospel values, faith values and the meaning of their mission in the world in which they live. While we are talking of living together, common life, fellowship, dialogue, meeting, tolerance, forgiveness, love, in short of all that could help us avoid the murderous division of our world through the clash of civilizations, those Christians are wondering anxiously amidst the difficulties in which they are struggling and the upheavals that are affecting them, “What is our role? What is our mission in the Arab world with its Muslim majority? Why should we stay here? Do we have to isolate ourselves and live in a ghetto? Must we create an independent Christian state?” It is indeed a grave dilemma that faces them. Is the future of Christianity in the Arab world to live out its presence as a millet (from the Turkish word that defines a separate “nation,” semi-autonomous, according to ethnic and above all confessional criteria)? Must they devote their energies to defending their privileges, their own rights and the status quo? Must Christian identity be based on the fear of Islam? Ought they to engage in the kind of relationship where each party tries to convert the other to his religion? Is the answer to all these questions flight or emigration? That would be a great loss not only for Christians, but also for Muslims. In fact, history teaches that we are called to live together. Together, we have overcome many a difficulty and attained successes, however relative. We must go on together in this direction in order to realise greater and more profound achievements. We think that the answers to all these fundamental questions are to be found within ourselves, as Christians and Muslims. But this answer is not easy, we are the first to agree.
Firstly, we must be aware of the fact that we are an integral part of the Arab world. We are Arab in the true and deep meaning of the word, in that we are of this world and for this world, which is Arab and Muslim, though we are not Muslim. We have to be, according to what St. Paul said, “all things to all men.” (I Cor. 9:22) Who other than we can offer the good news of the Gospel to Muslims, as the Qur’an itself invites us to do (Surah al Ma’ida 5:68 ) in a spirit of love? Again, there is no question of proselytism but of the pressing need of bringing a spiritual witness to the heart of the world in which we live.
If we are faithful witnesses, if we assume our whole responsibility as Christians in the Arab world, we shall be able to contribute to this region’s no longer being perceived as synonymous with aggressiveness, extremism, fanaticism, fundamentalism, terrorism, violence and “holy war,” but arouse and encourage the best in Islam. In order to do that, we have to become aware that we are a Church of the Arab world and for the Arab world and that equally, the Arab world is ours from every point of view. Practically, that means that, in the present circumstances, we should stand shoulder to shoulder with our fellow-citizens in all Arab countries, defending together common causes and resisting together the pressures to which we are subjected. These challenges are even greater since September, 2001, with the war in Iraq and the worsening of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Together, we have to defend the most basic values: democracy, human dignity, openness, enculturation, pluralism, freedom of religion and of conscience, fundamental human rights and dialogue between East and West.
IV – Avoiding the clash of civilizations
Many dynamics, nowadays, seem to combine to bring about a head-on collision of civilizations, with the Middle East as the battle-field. Muslim East against Christian West, jihadist against crusader, with each one seeking to demonize his adversary in order to feed the suicidal logic of confrontation. Now this disastrous fate is avoidable and the Middle East’s Christians have a key role in this regard. As the direct heirs of the Apostolic Church and of the first Christians, they are an integral part of this world. They have shared all its successes and vicissitudes, the good times and bad. They have been living with Islam for more than 1400 years, sharing the same land, history and language, and are in solidarity with it in every fibre of their being. They have always been pioneers in the blossoming of Arab culture, so they are all well suited to serve as mediators between Islam and the West.
Understanding and loving Islam
What Westerners rarely take into account is the degree to which the explosive nature of contemporary Islam is the fruit of an immense frustration and even of disappointed love. Arab Muslims, young ones particularly, perceive the disdain with which the West too often regards them as an ongoing humiliation. The latter, naively convinced of its supposed moral superiority and its technological prowess, unconsciously displays a secularized messianism, which makes it think that its lifestyle and political model must be imposed everywhere. In so doing, it merely stirs up the resentment of the Middle East’s Muslims. Certainly, there is no question of denying the partial responsibility of the Arab peoples and leaders in the present misfortunes of our region. They too have to make their share of the way, and they have a long way to go. In any case, confrontation will not help them at all, but understanding, on the other hand, will greatly simplify the task. But what concerns us above all, us Christians of East and West, is to realize what should be our contribution. Since, rightly or wrongly, the West is perceived by Muslims as Christian, we tell the West very seriously that confrontation and power politics are not a solution, but lead on the contrary towards the abyss. We have to take another way: that shown us by the Gospel: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son … that the world through him might be saved.” (Jn. 3:16-17). Love Muslims, since they are, like us, created “in the image and likeness of God.” Love Muslims. Understand their sufferings and their frustrations. You cannot imagine how much marks of esteem and love could reverse the situation. The Semitic mentality has always been more swayed by emotion than reason, by feeling rather than calculation. Muslims are hypersensitive to contempt, but also to trust and generosity. Don’t refuse them yours: it will be repaid.
If we wish to avoid the clash of civilizations, there is no more time for cynical calculations of short term interests; for the realpolitik which divides, the better to rule; for the language of force, for caricature and paranoia. The unity of the Arab world, reciprocal trust between Middle Eastern countries, trust between Muslims and Christians in this region are not a threat for the West, but on the contrary, they are a gage of stability for the future. But to clear the way forward, we have to work at reconciliation and not separation and give up imposing our own recipes. Is classical representative democracy well suited to countries where confessional identity is so strong? It would mean the perpetual domination of minorities by the majority. We have to allow Middle Eastern countries to develop their own form of consensual democracy that would be respectful of distinctive identities.
A local participant in dialogue
That is why it is so important that Arab Christians should be participants in dialogue with Islam. The fundamentalist Christians, who unconditionally support the state of Israel, because they think they see in it a stage in the plan of God and an eschatological event, are playing with fire and doing a very bad service to Israel itself. They are giving Muslims a disastrous image of Christianity. They are actively preparing the clash of civilizations. Let us remember a double historical fact: the increasing inflexibility of Islam and the demographic and cultural decline of Eastern Christians in the 12th. century were due to two simultaneous factors : the accession to Muslim power of dynasties of Turkish, not Arab, ethnicity and the counter shock of the Crusades. This first violent irruption of Western Christianity into the Middle East resulted in innumerable misfortunes, particularly for local Christians. Let us learn lessons from history. Let Arab Christians bear witness to the Gospel among Muslims. Like them, they are Semites and like them, they share an outlook based less on contract than on negotiation. Living together has always had pre-eminence over law; interpersonal relations more importance than material comfort. It is the peculiar charisma of Middle Eastern Christians to bear such witness, as an earnest of diversity and coexistence, of spiritual and cultural enrichment and therefore of peace.
V – Conclusion: the future
So what is the future for Christians in the Middle East? Paraphrasing one of the most ancient Christian writings, composed no doubt in the region of Antioch, we may say that two roads lie before them: one leading to death, the other to life. The first would be that of a closed identity, retiring within itself, defending its confessional interests, willingly paranoiac and cultivating a minority complex. Such a mindset would only reinforce the logic of confrontation. Without the prospect of a future, it would invariably end in emigration and disappearance. It is storing up for itself the fate of the “dead towns” of northern Syria, about which you could say, “Here was the country of Jesus. Here Christians used to live. That was yesterday. Today, they are no more, they have emigrated and are scattered. Here are the things they left behind.” So the Arab world will have lost a symbol of its history, an integral part of itself; brothers and sisters, parents and friends who were travelling companions along the road of history, who contributed to building up both Arab and Muslim history and civilization, with its literature, culture, philosophy and science. They will also have lost an element that prevented the murderous bipolarization of the clash of civilizations.
Noblesse oblige
The other way that leads to life goes through an Arab Christian identity that is positively and creatively assured, not being concerned to safeguard its own interests, but caring about the interests of the other. It is indeed a privilege to live in a land that is the cradle of monotheism, but that creates duties too, in particular that of understanding that this place in the world is the natural meeting place between Christianity, Judaism and Islam, and that it is in the depths of our respective faiths that we shall find solutions to the conflicts that are tearing us apart. To do that, Christians, for their part, must just live there very simply, but integrally, their Christian vocation just as we have tried to explain. The Patriarchate of Antioch would renew its role of linking languages, civilizations and religions. It will be once more a transmitter of culture and a mediator between East and West, a factor for peace-making.
Peace and living together
There is no “holy war,” nor could there be. Only peace is holy. Peace is the basic condition for maintaining the Christian presence and therefore for any possibility of genuine cohabitation in the Middle East. We are not talking about an armed peace, which would be based on an ever-fragile counterpoise of forces. Neither is it the kind of peace to be found in treaties, however important, but that which is born of neighbourly trust and therefore of the recognition of the person opposite as another self. For that, we must begin by looking after and healing the gaping wound in the side of the region: the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It is, directly or indirectly, the source of all the misfortunes, frustrations and fanaticism that have broken out over the Middle East, and that have found in it a growth medium. We ask then, nay, we implore the Western powers to put all their weight behind finding the solution to this interminable conflict. It is in their interest to do so, because it is not only a question of the future of the region’s Christians, but of the security of the West itself. While it is satisfied with this tragedy, there can be no peace either for the Middle East, or between civilizations.
Faithfulness
For Christians to be able to play a role and fulfil their special vocation in the Middle East, there have to be some Christians left: that is a self-evident truth! The necessary and sufficient condition is summed up in a beautiful word: faithfulness – (fides in Latin means faith, belonging, and confidence in the sense of trust) - faithfulness to their land, to their Patriarchate, to their vocation and so to their heritage. For Christian vocation can only be expressed in a particular ethos. That of the Patriarchate of Antioch’s Christians is rich in all its roots (Judeo-Christian, Greek and Syriac) whilst being remarkably encultured in its Arab expression. Faith in their Master, the incarnate Word, who said, “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.” (Elk. 12:32); belonging to their spiritual heritage, so that it becomes “bone of their bones and flesh of their flesh;” confidence in the future. All that requires a perpetual conversion of the heart: then the haemorrhage of emigration will be able to be staunched. This flux, evident from 1860 onwards, has multiple causes: economic, political and social…among which the factor of religion does not play the greatest role. But it is sure that crises, wars and conflicts feed the continual flow. It constitutes, as we hope to have shown, the greatest threat to the permanence of Christian witness in the Middle East, and so, up to a point, to peace in this region and in the world.
But since God “writes straight with curved lines,” the emigration of Christians may have a providential role in their host countries. They can and must, wherever they are, fulfil their vocation by being mediators between their Eastern Christian tradition and the Latin tradition, because they have a long familiarity with both; between their Muslim brothers who have emigrated and Western culture, from the fact of their experience of enculturation; between public opinion and the civil authorities of their host country and the misunderstood world of Islam. To all the children of the Patriarchate of Antioch, wherever in the world they may be, we say with love and trust: don’t be afraid of the future! Don’t be ashamed of your roots! Don’t melt into anonymity! Be what you are! As Christ told you, you are light, leaven and salt! Besides, we would like to remind our faithful members from the East that the church that is the centre of the world, in Jerusalem is called the Church of the Resurrection, not the Church of the Holy Sepulchre! Just as this church is called the centre or navel of the world, so resurrection is the centre and basis of our holy faith. History tells us also that the title of the first Christians in Syria was “children of the resurrection.” These theological and historical realities are, for Eastern Christians and our brethren throughout the world, the real reply to the question asked by the organizers of this lecture and that finds an echo throughout the world: what future is there for the Christians of the Middle East? The future is resurrection and life! The future is the words of our Lord: “I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly.” (Jn. 10:10) The future of Christians is the order of Jesus to his apostles, “Give ye them to eat.” (Elk. 9:13) The future of the Middle East’s Christians is the order given by Jesus to Peter, “Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.” (Elk. 5:4) and the prayer of Jesus, “Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest.” (Elk. 10:2)
Christians have played a very great role in the history of the Arab and Islamic world. They still have a role: that of being builders of the civilization of life and love!
Thank you.

Gregorios III
Patriarch of Antioch and of All the East,
Of Alexandria and of Jerusalem
For the Melkite Greek Catholics

Translation from the French V. Chamberlain

The Position of H.B. Gregorios III on the Lecture of Pope Benedict -Letter of 29 September 2006 -To the Beloved Muslim Brethren in the Arab and Islamic World

Back to the top

In this address, we would like to speak to our Muslim brethren as we are an Arab Patriarch who has designated his Church the Church of the Arabs and Muslims, and whose Church has lived an humane and civilised experience alongside the religion of Islam and Muslim brethren for the last fourteen hundred years.

We would like, through this letter, to assure our Muslim brethren of our solidarity with them in the Arab and Islamic world and that we understand their feelings and are suffering with them in their suffering. Since we are in one Holy Church with His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, we may say that the reference in his academic lecture to the Emperor’s words was out of place. On the other hand, we approve the wonderful initiatives and clear phrases with which the Pope has invited all believers of whatever religion to religious dialogue, which is the future of the world today, more than ever it was in the past.

As an Arab Christian Patriarch living side by side with Muslim brethren in the Arab world, we apologise to them for the injury to their feelings caused by His Holiness’ lecture. However, we know with certainty that he did not mean to cause this grievous offence, especially not with reference to the great Arab Prophet, to the venerable Qur’an, to the Islamic righteous believers, nor to Muslim brethren, as he himself rightly said in his own words, speaking at the time of the Angelus prayer on Sunday, 17 September, 2006.

On the contrary, we would like to bear witness at this difficult time to the whole world how the Eastern Patriarchs present during Vatican II asked the Council to include an invitation to Christians to discover the ways of piety and the wonderful spirit that is to be found in the Holy Qur’an and in Islam.

Our shared history reminds us about different passages from the Qur’an … and in Christian thinking there are many passages about God’s promises to humanity, as when He says, “I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.” (Ezekiel 36:26). This is his basic promise, and when Christ, the Master, was saying farewell to his disciples at the Last Supper, he spoke about this New Testament, saying, “This is the New Testament in my blood.” (Luke 22:20) We are in need, Muslims and Christians alike, of a new future and we are invited to have a new vision. I found this invitation to make peace and to love one another in the Holy Liturgy, when the priest invites all, saying, “Let us love one another, that with one mind we may confess…” To this new age and new future we are invited in this third millennium. Let us listen together to the words of St. John the Beloved, inviting us to love because God is love and the believer in God is loving: “If a man say, I love God and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?” (I John 4:20) For your fellow-creature and brother is created in the image and likeness of God like you.

We believe strongly that the moral choices outlined in Islam help us understand the need for a framework of laws (shari’ah) for humanity and we as Eastern Christians find in these laws an echo of the Holy Bible’s teachings and these assist us, as Christians and Muslims in our Arab society, to seek to continue our way of sharing in all aspects of life: of sacred belief, faith, society, politics and especially in matters of justice, so as to stop the attacks of unbelievers, provoking violent response by Arabs and Muslims seeking their legitimate and historic rights, particularly in the Holy Land.

Gregorios III, Patriarch of the Melkite Greek Catholics

Translated from the Arabic by Maher Labbad
Linguistic Editor for English V. Chamberlain

Thoughts about the Lecture of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI of Tuesday, 12 September 2006, by His Beatitude, Patriarch Gregorios III of Antioch and All the East of Alexandria and of Jerusalem

Back to the top

We were frightened by the reactions in the Islamic world to the lecture of His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI given lately at Regensburg, where he was Professor from 1969-1971. He is now known as one of the greatest living Christian theologians.

We read the lecture in the German original, then in French and English, during our trip undertaken to publicise issues arising from the war in Lebanon and continued to reflect on it after our arrival in England on 15 September (2006).

We had the opportunity to read what appeared in the newspapers of different languages and countries about the reactions of Christians and Muslims: some of them violent demonstrations, others reports and analyses, saying that the Pope was insulting Islam and Muslims, that he should apologise or clarify the meaning of this lecture. Then we read reports of Vatican spokesmen and theologians, specialist historians and those involved in inter-faith dialogue.

Arising from these events, from our position as an Arab Christian Patriarch in the Arab world; from our spiritual, pastoral and scholarly responsibility towards our faithful, who were upset about what they heard and saw in the media about this issue; from our responsibility towards our fellow-Christians in the West and in consideration of our Christian ecclesial communion with the Holy Father and the Catholic Church – from all these diverse responsibilities, we think it our duty to make some remarks to help shed light on this issue, by explaining some complex aspects of this lecture, its context and its scientific, religious, spiritual and historical content. It is very important to clarify these things in order to overcome reactions and positions, which may have very bad consequences for Christian-Islamic dialogue, which has covered a lot of ground since Vatican II, where our Eastern Arabic Churches were pioneers in putting forward a very clear document about the position of Christianity in order to develop and deepen that same dialogue in our Arab world.

We ourself founded, together with wonderful Muslim brothers, outstanding Palestinian professors and thinkers, the Aliqa’ in Jerusalem in 1983. Since our election as Patriarch in 2000 we also founded Encounter Centres in Lebanon (2003), Syria (2003) and Egypt (2005) and we have continued to explain in our bi-annual Patriarchal Messages our thoughts about our presence and experience as Church of the Arabs and Church of Islam.

There follow some remarks about the lecture of His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, given at Regensburg University on Tuesday, 12 September during his pastoral visit to his home country and his birthplace in Bavaria. The title of the talk was “Faith, Reason and the University: Memories and Reflections.”

His Holiness began by pointing out some academic, scientific discussions (disputationes) raised in the University in his time there about the relationship between faith and reason – a subject highly topical still today.

His Holiness also pointed out that he profited, when thinking about the problem, from a book by the title of "Paléologue: Entretiens avec un Musulman, 7e controverse", first published in 1966 by Rev. Prof. Adel Theodore Khoury, formerly Dean of the Theology Faculty of Münster, Germany. Father Adel Khoury is a priest of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church and a member of the Paulist Society, well known for their leading role in the Islamic-Christian dialogue through their quarterly Al Macarrat.

The book quoted by the Holy Father dealt with topics of faith in the three structures embodied in the Bible (Torah, Gospel) and Qur’an. It is well known that this last contains several verses common to Christianity and Judaism, so that we may consider that religious dialogue lies at the heart of the three great monotheistic structures and is not extraneous to them. Furthermore, the texts of the faith on which Christianity, Judaism and Islam are based offer in themselves fundamental elements for a dialogue of faith of the broadest possible nature, embracing dogma, rites, devotion, ethics, politics and sociology.

Now we come to the offending paragraph, which caused the huge wave of criticism of this lecture, which began with a discussion of the relationship between faith and reason in the “three structures,” which took place most probably around 1391 between the Byzantine Emperor, Manuel II Paleologos and an unknown Persian Muslim scholar and quoting a passage where the Emperor referred to insulting suggestions about Islam and its Prophet, relating to the practice of spreading faith by the sword.
The Emperor then added that spreading the faith by force is contrary to reason. “Violence is incompatible with the nature of God and the nature of the soul.”

The Emperor’s words should be understood neither as an insult nor as a condemnation, but as part of the dialectic of scholarly controversy, designed to provoke his interlocutor to refute the charge of pursuing a manner of thinking likely to lead to violence. In philosophical debate, this is classified as an argument ad hominem, and an invitation to further, more profound discussion. It all happened according to the rules of scholarly debate of the period.

Thus we can see that the Holy Father intended no insult to Islam, but rather to echo the Emperor’s remark in a spirit of urgent enquiry to a debating partner: it is surely impossible for a way of life such as Islam to be a path of violence? It may be read as an invitation to Muslims to frank and open dialogue with Christians on the topic of jihad through the centuries. He too was speaking in the context of a university lecture, aimed at clarifying to his listeners the role of a modern university as a forum for educational and constructive interfaith dialogue.

It is in this same context that the Holy Father quoted another passage from Professor Adel Khoury’s book, citing Arnaldez’s views on the Muslim scholar Ibn Hazm (Ibn Hazn in the papal text) who founded a short-lived school of thought which aimed at a literal understanding of Qur’anic precepts and their direct application to everyday life. That school also favoured a narrow approach to the scope and use of Hadith. This school happily did not find favour with mainstream Islam. Its principles therefore should have no place in an assessment of Islam. The doctrine of jihad, which is really to be understood in a spiritual sense, akin to zeal for faith, or a call to war in a casus belli, has nothing to do with general violence.

What then is the Holy Father’s position on Islam? Firstly it is clear that, like the great Christian theologian that he is, he wants to engage in a dialogue with Muslims. He is very far from wishing to insult them. Indeed, he called them to stand up together with Christians in a common position of faith in opposition to atheism when he spoke to the German Muslim community in Cologne in August, 2005.

Then, in what he said about faith and reason and the literalist approach to the Qur’an of Ibn Hazm, he wished to point out that this issue of literalism is a problem commonly discussed over centuries of debate between followers of Judaism (Torah and halakhah), Christianity (Gospel and Christian tradition) and Islam (Qur’an and Islamic thought). These issues were not just topics of debate for the Byzantine Emperor and a Persian scholar but are also relevant today.

In fact, the Holy Father’s principal criticisms are directed at a “Christian” Europe where faith is largely rejected by society in favour of relativism, personalism and individualism, in which a person is the sole arbiter of his own behaviour in every sphere – political, ethical and social. Faith is in danger of being entirely lost. The targets of the Pope’s main criticisms then are really current atheism and secularism in a society in which religion has become merely a matter of personal taste, enclosed behind the walls of churches, having little to do with the structures of contemporary society, politics and ethics.

We consider that the Holy Father’s remarks (however inopportune, imprecise and lacking in clarity they may appear) on the controversy between the Byzantine Emperor and the Persian Muslim scholar and on the views of Ibn Hazm, are rather designed to encourage a better understanding of Islam than to malign it. He was in fact insisting on the need for a reading of the Qur’an, which comprises life and structure and dogma, that looks both to the letter and the spirit, to reason and faith.

If any doubt this analysis, they have only to look at the concluding part of the lecture, where the Holy Father’s true intention is plain. Our explanation is not merely intended as an apology for His Holiness or born out of a desire for complaisance to Islam, but the product of logical thought and scholarly analysis of an academic lecture that cannot possibly have been intended as an attack on a venerable faith and its teaching. Remember too that Islam was not the topic of his lecture.

We would like to conclude our presentation on the Holy Father’s lecture by giving the most important passage of his conclusion, in which he calls for “the broadening of our concept of reason and its application.” … “We will succeed in doing so only if reason and faith come together in a new way and if we overcome the self-imposed limitation of reason to the empirically verifiable.” He added, “Only thus do we become capable of that genuine dialogue of cultures and religions so urgently needed today.”

In a clearly critical remark directed at the European position on reason and faith on the one hand and the position of Islam and the East towards faith and reason on the other, he says, showing a remarkable preference for the East, “In the Western world, it is widely held that only positivistic reason and the forms of philosophy based on it are universally valid. Yet the world’s profoundly religious cultures” – and here we have a clear reference to the East and Islam – “see this exclusion of the divine from the universality of reason as an attack on their most profound convictions A reason which is deaf to the divine and which relegates religion into the realm of subcultures is incapable of entering into the dialogue of cultures.” He concludes, “It is to this great logos, to this breadth of reason, that we invite our partners in the dialogue of cultures.”

We understand the emotional reaction of the Islamic world to the lecture of the Holy Father and through these remarks we have shown that not only was it not his aim to upset Muslims, but that it was a profound, sincere, frank and faithful way to call for furthering the way of Islamic-Christian dialogue.

Furthermore, we as Arab Christians wish to call upon our fellow-citizens in the Arab world to close ranks to preserve our unique model of daily dialogue of life and faith and to continue to live together as we have for the last fourteen hundred years, unshaken by emotional reactions.

We would like to emphasise our unique role, even while facing the danger of the collapse of culture and the clash of civilizations, through continuing our unique model of life-dialogue in the Middle East, where the three great monotheistic religions originated and where the faithful are still living.

This unique model of living together in the Middle East should lead the Arab world to reach through its unity a real solution for the Israel-Palestine conflict in a just, lasting peace. This same model, practised in the Middle East, should be a help for Jews, Christians and Muslims living in Europe, the U.S.A. and elsewhere to create a similar model for living together and for each other, which is the only future for the world.

Linguistic editor V. Chamberlain

Patriarchal Paschal Message, 2006
The Feast of the Glorious Resurrection – Charity and Resurrection

Back to the top

Charity is Resurrection

Gregorios, by the grace and mercy of God,
Patriarch of Antioch and of All the East, of Alexandria and of Jerusalem:
May divine grace and apostolic blessing fill
our brother bishops, members of the Holy Synod,
and all faithful clergy and laity of our Melkite Greek Catholic Church.

My Paschal Letter for this year is a meditation on the two words “charity” and “resurrection.” These two headings sum up the principal meanings of this glorious feast of the resurrection of our Lord God and Saviour, Jesus Christ. I discovered this while reading and meditating on the First Epistle of St. John the Evangelist.

The life of our Lord Jesus Christ is totally linked to charity: firstly, because of his charity (love) for his Father, as he says, “My Father loves me and I love my Father,” and secondly, because of his love for mankind, his creature, as we read in John 13:1, Christ “having loved his own … he loved them unto the end.” Our fathers defined their faith in the resurrection by saying, “I believe in one God … Jesus Christ, the only-begotten son, who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven... and was crucified for us, he suffered and was buried and on the third day, he rose from the dead.”

Jesus Loved: He Died and Rose

Saint John the Beloved says, “God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten son, so that whoever believeth in him shall not die, but have ever-lasting life.” (John 3:16) He also says, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”(John 15:13) Giving one’s life, in Holy Scripture, means death: we read in fact that “it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not.” (John 11:50) And Jesus said, “Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.” (John 12:24)

The Miracles of Jesus: all Miracles of Love and Resurrection

The life of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is really love and resurrection. Since Jesus loved and taught love, he has called us to love. He healed every illness by his love and said, “I came that they might have life and have it in abundance.” (John 10:10) Jesus loved and healed; loved and fed the hungry in the wilderness; loved and gave drink to the thirsty; loved and raised from the dead the widow’s son at Nain; loved and raised the head of the woman bent double; loved and purified the lepers; loved and pardoned the prostitute all her sins, saying, “Her sins, which are many, are forgiven: for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.” (Luke 7:47) He loved and declared justified the publican rather than the Pharisee; loved and healed the madman; loved and calmed the storm; loved and called to forgive seventy times seven. (Matthew 18:22) He loved and called to love of enemies. (Matthew 5:44) He called to a love that is free, spontaneous, absolute, unconditional, without ties. He loved and called children to him; loved and gathered sinners all around him.

All his works are works of love, charity, pity and compassion: they are in fact a resurrection: restoration; healing; raising; placing in a good straight, posture; consolation; trust; courage: all those things are elements of the resurrection; appearances of resurrection, transfiguration; modes of resurrection. They signify the complete healing of mankind and constitute the summoning of mankind to life. As he said, “Rise, take up thy bed and walk.” (John 5:8) And elsewhere, “Lazarus, come forth.” (John 11:43)

So, the whole life of Jesus is love and it can also be said to be wholly resurrection. He was not just raised on the third day: his whole life was a continual act of resurrection for all those who came to him. He came to awaken Adam, the first man, to lift him up after his fall. That is why Simeon the Elder said, “this child is set for the fall and rising again of many…” (Luke 2:34) And, as we said above, he came, “that they might have life.” (John 10:10) And he said himself, “I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.” (John 11:25) “He that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.” (John 6:58b) And earlier, he says, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” (John 6:51)

When Jesus says here, “I will give” he means, “I am dying for the love of the world.” It means, “I want to give my body to be destroyed for the life of mankind, because I love them and want them to live too and I shall rise on the third day, for those for whom I died.” So the life of Jesus is for our life and his death is for our life, as St. Paul said, Christ “died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.” (II Corinthians 5:15) St. Paul says, “The life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20) He died for me and he was raised also for me: so the whole life of Jesus is linked to these two poles: charity (love) and resurrection.

Charity (love) as the Condition for Participating in the Resurrection

So that is what St. John the Evangelist, (the Theologian, the Eagle soaring aloft in his spiritual expressions) expressed so well, declaring the most beautiful name of God, in the phrase “God is Love.” (I John 4:16) He also gave us in his Epistles General most beautiful explanations of love and resurrection: as in these verses from his First Epistle General, “He that saith he is in the light and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now.” (I John 2:9) And the light of Jesus risen from the dead does not yet illuminate him, because he does not love. St. John says elsewhere, “(And be) not as Cain, who was of that wicked one and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil,” (I John 3:12) - because he was not firm in love. St. John affirms it in an extraordinary way: “Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he (Jesus) laid down his life for us.” (That is to say, he died for us.) “And we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” (I John 3:16) That means that I must show the veracity of my love for the brethren and be ready to die for them so that they may live.

And St. John says these very beautiful words, which were at the beginning of my meditation: “We know that we have passed (the passage of Pascha) from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.” (I John 3:14, 15) “He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.” (I John 4:8) Finally, he says, “Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment.” (I John 4:17) So, love is the condition of resurrection: there is no resurrection without love.

Judgment is Love

These last verses link up for us with the description of the Judgment in Matthew’s Gospel, when God will judge us according to our works of charity, love and compassion, which are works of resurrection and life. We can enter into life, we shall participate in the resurrection, seated at the Father’s right hand and inherit the Father’s Kingdom, if we practice works of compassion and love, which are: feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, giving asylum to foreigners, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and visiting prisoners. (Matthew 25:35, 36) And on the contrary, we shall not merit life and have no right to the resurrection, the Kingdom and the vision of God face to face if we do not do the works of charity cited above.

So, works of charity or love are works of life and resurrection and to neglect practicing works of charity means exposing oneself to death and perdition. To practice love, then, is the basis for the construction of the world. If love is lacking it means the destruction of the world and the end of the world. As Jesus told us, at the end of the world “and because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” (Matthew 24:12)

On the contrary, “love is strong as death” (Song of Songs 8:6) and love is stronger than death: that means, love can raise the dead and even prevent death, by setting aside the reasons for death. Love heals and binds up wounds, love wipes away tears, love gives hope, love arouses trust and security, love purposes the good and mercy, love consoles, love counsels, truly, love is resurrection and, from its acts of resurrection, one can say of love what Jesus said of his body and blood, “if any man eat of this bread (of this bread of love), he shall live for ever.”(John 6:51)

Sin is Death: Love is Resurrection

It is to that which St. Paul alluded, when he established the link between sin and death: death and sin really banish love and cause all sorts of passions to burst out. So lack of love is sin, leading to death. So St. Paul says, “Reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:11) That means, make yourselves participants with Christ in his resurrection. St. Paul continues, “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God as those that are alive from the dead.” (Romans 6:12, 13) “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey, whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?” (Romans 6: 16) Either one is slave to sin or slave to good, “for the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23) All that means participating in the holy resurrection of Christ: so St. Paul continues, in his epistle, to describe life as obedience, or as holiness; they are so many expressions meaning charity and the reward for all that is resurrection in Jesus Christ.

Works of Charity are Works of Life and Resurrection

So, works of charity springing from love are works of life: neglecting them, that is to say, neglecting love is killing.

The life of the world, then, is based entirely on love. The world’s perdition, its death and destruction, are caused by the lack of love in human hearts: as Fairouz, the great Lebanese singer has said, “Love has backed away in people’s hearts, and in those hearts, love’s abode has been seized by war.” So, hatred is death. Envy is death. Slander is death. Lying is death. Passion is death. Violence is death. Pursuing evil is death. Vengeance is death. Despair is death. Aggressiveness is death. Speaking ill of one’s neighbour is death. Prefabricated judgments are death. Exploiting others is death. Attacking others’ reputations, lives, possessions, customs is death. Disputes are death. Struggles are death. Denigrating others is death.

On the other hand, devoting oneself for others is life and resurrection. Solidarity with others is life and resurrection. A smile is life and resurrection. Making others happy is life and resurrection. Defending the rights of others is life and resurrection. Loving the poor, people on the margins of society, repudiated by society, who are in doubt, handicapped, small, weak, needy, loving all these is life and resurrection. Working to make the world grow and progress in prosperity, working with sincerity and fidelity, remaining faithful is life and resurrection.

If we devote and spend ourselves for others, we live and become the object and cause of life and resurrection for others. If we refuse mortification, devotion and help to others, we shall die and become the cause of spiritual death for others.

“She was born to die, and she dies to live.” That is how a nun prepared the text of her memorial photo to be distributed after her death. She was born (at such a date) to die: she died (at such a date) to live for eternity. That is what St. Paul said, “Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20) That giving of life is the cross, passion and death: these are the constituents of and conditions for the resurrection.

That is really the golden rule in the lives of individuals, in the conscience of the person himself and in his own witness before his own conscience: it is the golden rule in all dimensions and fields of action in life: in the family, in societies, in monastic and dedicated religious communities, in jobs, in civic and political life, in social relations, in international relations, in our behaviour with individuals, adherents of different religions, between friends, students, different generations, young and old.

Love is the ground of respect for life (resurrection) for the other, be he weak, sick or powerless. Love is the ground of service for the life of others. When Jesus wept for his friend Lazarus and raised him, the Jews said, “Behold how he loved him!” (John 11:36) So love and charity are linked to the resurrection: that is why the resurrection itself is the miracle-worker; the miracles of family happiness, friendship, the happiness of being healed, of veracity and all that was the basis for the miracles of Jesus.

Growth of Love and Growth of Life in the World

The one who does not love abides in death, in isolation, turned in upon himself, in despair, through selfishness, in egocentricity, in withdrawal and introversion of himself. He is really within a continuous death.

He who loves is really raised from among the dead; he conquers every day; triumphing every day over death, sin and reasons for the causes of death in his life. He finds in love reasons for life and resurrection, reasons for courage, optimism, forgiveness, friendship, compassion, adventures, strength, giving, service, triumphing over evil and corruption, over illness and pain. He who loves is trusting, adventurous, courageous, optimistic, open, always valiant, a faithful friend. He serves with much friendship, gives advice, and is a brother. He who loves is not afraid of life, but from his heart “shall flow rivers of living water” which flow to eternal life. (John 7:38) because love casts out fear and where there is love, there can be no fear. (cf. I John 4:18)

St. Paul says in his Epistle to the Ephesians, summing up the different precepts for the believing family, that the wife should love her husband and be obedient to him, but that the husband should love his wife as himself and give his life for her: that is love. (cf. Ephesians 5:22, 25)

So the man dies for his wife and children, that they may have life and have it in abundance. The mother loves her children and dies every day for them and in the twilight of their life, their children devote themselves to and spend themselves for their parents. In the final analysis, the parents die that their children may live: the life and death of the mother is resurrection for her children. As we read in the funeral hymns for Christ (addressed to the Virgin Mary) in the Maronite rite, “Make the death of thy Son life for those who seek it.” The mystery of life is the mystery of death and resurrection. Mysterium vitae, mysterium mortis et resurrectionis.

The grain of wheat, if it does not die, remains alone. If it dies, it bears much fruit. (cf. John 12:24) That is what we sing in the funeral rite for Christ of the Byzantine tradition: “The life-giving Seed, twofold in nature, today is sown with tears in the furrows of the earth; but springing up He will bring joy to the world.”

That is what we sing on the glorious Day of Resurrection: “Yesterday, O Christ, I was buried with thee, and today, I rise again with thy rising. Yesterday, I was crucified with thee: do thou thyself glorify me, O Saviour, in thy kingdom.”

Walk according to love. Conduct yourselves according to love. Live in love. That is the way of resurrection.

Prayer: Invocation

Let us pray that the equation “charity is resurrection” be an equation of life for our brothers, for my venerable brother bishops, members of the Holy Synod, my sons the priests, monks and nuns, the faithful of all our eparchies and parishes in the Arab world and in the countries of emigration.

We pray very insistently that this equation, charity is resurrection, may be the way of peace, security and prosperity, solidarity, development, freedom, justice, dignity for all citizens of our beloved Arab countries.

We pray especially that this equation, charity is resurrection, be a reality in the Holy Land, in Palestine, in Sudan, in Iraq and all the countries which have need of security and peace, justice and means of living, opportunities for work, earning their daily bread in worthy a way, in our society and throughout the whole world.

We pray especially for young people, so that they themselves and in themselves may experience this beautiful royal road of love and resurrection, so that for them life may abound and that before them may open wide the road of the future and that in their hearts, hope, joy and happiness may spring up.

So may the joy of the resurrection spread throughout the whole world, the joy of life, despite wars, calamities and catastrophes. So may we spend all our efforts in building together the civilization of life and resurrection. So may we sing together, “Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death and to those in the tombs he has given life.”

Feast of the Glorious Resurrection, Damascus, 16 April 2006

Gregorios III

Translation from the French: V. Chamberlain

Patriarchal Christmas Letter 2005 -

The Unifying Incarnation

Back to the top

Gregorios, by the mercy of God,
Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, of Alexandria and of Jerusalem:
May the divine grace and apostolic blessing fill
our brother bishops, members of the Holy Synod
and all those who make up our Melkite Greek Catholic Church, clergy and laity;
May grace and benediction come upon them.

The Unifying Incarnation

“The unifying incarnation” is an expression that sums up our holy Christian faith and explains in a very precise, concise and splendid way the mystery that we are celebrating today during these blessed days, the Feast of the Nativity in the Flesh of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. “For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and of the Virgin Mary and became man.” He became flesh, like our flesh: that flesh which he created and moulded, in the beginning of creation, when he created the heavens and the earth and all that therein is and breathed into man the breath of life and said that it was good – man, speaking of whom the Psalmist said, “What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet: all sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; the fowl of the air and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.” (Psalm 8: 4-8)

The Dignity of Man

God wished to single out man, of whom Pascal said that he “is a reed, but a thinking reed,” from all the other creatures he had made, making him to rule over them, and like to himself. So it is written, “God created man in his own image… male and female created he them .And God blessed them and God said unto them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth and subdue it.’ ” (Genesis 1:27, 28)

God wanted man to be his friend, closely united with and linked to him, as his vicar on earth. In fact, there are, in the verses of Genesis, expressions of friendship, love, intimacy, affection, mercy and tenderness between God and his creature, the potter and his vessel. So we read that God was “walking in the garden in the cool of the day.” (Genesis 3:8) God gave man the great dignity of being in his image and an extraordinary quantity of grace, gifts, (charismata) in his body, soul, limbs, all his senses, his reason, sensibility and heart. Man is really a beautiful, magnificent work, prodigious in every detail. He is like a coin or a colourful picture, an icon reflecting the disposition of its maker, or like a colourful rainbow betokening the covenant between God and man, a covenant of love, beauty and splendour.

The Loss of Dignity through Sin

Man disregarded this dignity, so falling into sin as described in Genesis, through eating from the forbidden tree. Then there is another image: that of nakedness and the shame of it, which led Adam and Eve to hide from the face of God. They became estranged from one another and from God their Creator. However, they remained in great yearning for him. That existential experience is so beautifully and movingly described in the striking expressions of our liturgical prayers, where we read, in two hymns from Vespers (on Saturday evening) for Forgiveness Sunday:-

“The Lord my Creator took me as dust from the earth and formed me into a living creature, breathing into me the breath of life and giving me a soul; he honoured me, setting me as a ruler upon the earth over all things visible, and making me companion of the angels. But Satan the deceiver, using the serpent as his instrument, enticed me by food; he parted me from the glory of God and gave me over to the earth and to the lowest depths of earth. But, Master, in compassion call me back again.

“In my wretchedness I have cast off the robe woven by God, disobeying thy divine command, O Lord, at the counsel of the enemy: and I am now clothed in fig leaves and garments of skin. I am condemned to eat the bread of toil in the sweat of my brow, and the earth has been cursed so that it bears thorns and thistles for me. But, Lord, who in the last times wast made flesh of a Virgin, call me back again and bring me into paradise.” (Lenten Triodion )

So Adam appeals to paradise, a paradise full of beauty and grandeur, shining with an extraordinary radiance, in the following striking expressions: “O precious paradise, unsurpassed in beauty, tabernacle built by God, unending gladness and delight, glory of the righteous, joy of the prophets and dwelling of the saints, with the sound of thy leaves pray to the Maker of all: may he open unto me the gates which I closed by my transgression and may he count me worthy to partake of the tree of life and of the joy which was mine when I dwelt in thee before.” (Lenten Triodion )

The Virgin, Showing God, Lover of Mankind

Christ became incarnate for sinful man, because he loved him. At the incarnation of this love, the angel announced to the Virgin of Nazareth, Mary, a message both very simple and at the same time amazing and strange, surpassing all comprehension, speaking a welcome, pleasant and desired word, full of great hope for all humanity and its aspirations. The angel says to her a phrase both simple and succinct, but with a heavenly meaning in its characters: “Hail to thee, Virgin Mary. The Lord is with thee, God is with thee and with us because of thee,” as our liturgical hymns say. When the angel had spoken, the Lord of all creatures took flesh in Mary’s bosom. When she had accepted the angel’s greeting, in her womb the Word became flesh, taking up his dwelling in her and in us. He came to his own, from whom he had never separated himself. He came to his image and likeness fallen from heaven to earth; to his handiwork, filling it with the breath of God himself. He came to his own, for whom he had always had a deep longing and eternal desire. He became flesh and dwelt among us whom he loved and created, with an act of eternal love.

The incarnation is the mystery of God’s love for mankind, his creatures, his image, icon and likeness. It is the mystery of God’s love for thee; for thee, woman; for thee, man; for me; for us all, for God is Creator and lover of mankind, lover of the world. He spoke to us in the Old Testament, by prophets and mediators sent on his behalf. When the plenitude of time had come, he wished to come down to earth himself, from his paradise into this world, to restore man - become a workman and labourer - and to live with his creature, because he loves and respects this man, who has great dignity in his eyes. This is what Isaiah said, “Thus saith the Lord that created thee… and he that formed thee... Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by name; thou art mine. Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee...” (Isaiah 43:1, 4)

The Incarnation is an Act of Love

The incarnation is an act of love: the mystery of love. It is the fruit of God’s love for mankind. Why do we reject the incarnation? Why do we refuse the entry of God into our lives? Why run after foreign gods, which do not exist, but are the works of human hands and products of human passions, the imaginings and phantasmagorias of men and human futility? The incarnation is not an intellectual dogma, but your mystery; my mystery; the mystery of every person, whether Christian, Jew, Muslim or Buddhist. It is the mystery of man’s love for God and the desire of God for man. The incarnation is the reply to all man’s longings, buried deep in him. I don’t understand why we think that this mystery is difficult or incomprehensible, or why some think it flies in the face of human reason, or others that it is a heresy or worse. In fact, the incarnation is a precise, profound, natural expression which is, as a matter of course, the most adequate response to man’s dreams and eternal aspirations, since it matches the sublime level of his nature, that of a weak, but “thinking reed,” as we said. The incarnation is the natural fruit of creation and if God created through love, he became incarnate too, through love.

Of God, Loving Creator

That is why we say in the Creed, “I believe in one God, Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth and of all things, visible and invisible...” We do not say, “I believe in God who created heaven and earth, then finished creating,” in which case any relationship would be at an end between Creator and creature, but we say, “Creator of heaven and earth” meaning that he is in a continuous relationship with his creation, eternally present, active at the moment, in relation with his world and his creature, man, the king of this world, whom he has created after his image and likeness. Incarnation is a continuation of the creation and a continual relationship of the Creator with his creature. That is what Jesus affirmed when he said, “My Father worketh hitherto and I work.” (John 5:17) “I work,” not just, “I worked in the past, at the beginning of creation, in history,” but in mankind’s present.

God was Incarnate in Human History

He is the Creator of every living breath in this world and that is what St. Paul affirmed to the Athenians when, standing in the middle of Areopagus, he said, “Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him I declare unto you. God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth…he giveth to all life and breath and all things; …For in him we live and move and have our being.” (Acts 17:23, 24, 28) That is the incarnation, an incarnation in the history of humanity, not only at the beginning of Christianity, but also in the year of our Lord, 2005. That is why we pray and sing at Christmas, “Today, the Virgin has given birth to him who is above all being, and the earth offers a cave to him whom no man can approach...” and “Today, Christ is born of the Virgin in Bethlehem. Today, he who knows no beginning now begins to be, and the Word is made flesh.”

So it is that we sing also in the same kontakion of Christmas, “For unto us is born a new Child, God from before the ages.” We say “new”, rather than little, meaning that there is a new creation in Jesus Christ; we say “from before the ages” meaning that this Child, new-born in history, is God, before history, the Lord of history. In him, history begins and ends, because he is of yesterday, today and tomorrow: he is Alpha and Omega.

This affirmation then, on the one hand of the day and on the other hand, of the new-born Child, God from before the ages, indicates and explains to us that this day is not only a material day, a day limited to history, but is a day linked to the story of the incarnation. That is what I read on an information-panel in one of the museums of Berlin, where the dates of different museum-pieces were given as, “before the time change” and “after the time change”: that is, before the Nativity and after the Nativity.

St. Cyril of Jerusalem gave a beautiful explanation of its significance by saying, “If you listen to the Gospel where it says ‘the book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham,’ understand by that, ‘according to the flesh,’ for he is the son of David in the fullness of time, but he is Son of God before all ages, without beginning. He accepted to become son in a bodily sense not proper to him, but he remains the Son begotten by the Father from before the ages. He has two fathers: David, according to the flesh and God, the Father, according to his divine nature. As son of David he is subject to time, palpable and with genealogical descent, but He who is of a divine nature is not subject to time and place and genealogical descent, for ‘His generation who shall declare?’ ‘God is a spirit,’ he who is Spirit has begotten spiritually, as incorporeal and that is why no-one can explain or discover the generation. The Son himself says of the Father, ‘The Lord said unto me, Thou art my Son: this day I have begotten thee.’ This today is not a new thing, but is eternal. It is a timeless day, before all ages. ‘From the womb, before the morning star, have I begotten thee.’”
(Catechetical Lecture XI, 5 )

So the incarnation links humans to the life of God, links the minutes, hours, days, months and years of man to the life of God and his eternity. So the incarnation unifies human history and links it with God’s eternity, making of this human time a time of salvation, a story of salvation and redemption. Moreover, it really makes limited human time the unlimited time of God: it gives to limited human time an eternal, immortal value. It gives to the work of human hands in time, space and geography, within earthly and historical limits, an eternal value, a value of salvation and redemption for the human being, the human soul and the whole human family.

The Unifying Incarnation

The Word of God becomes incarnate so that the world may be one, that mankind be one, in harmony, unified, beautiful, illuminated, keeping the imprint of its Creator, his charismata and above all, his unity. As the Qur’an says, “One God alone, without peer,” did not wish man to be lost in the multitude, through being scattered, torn apart, in loss, estrangement, alienation from God, division, discord, hatred, war, killing, destruction, vengeance and confusion. He wanted to enable humanity to participate in his divine unity: that’s why he became human in the person of Jesus Christ, in order to “gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad.” (John 11:52) and to bring light to those in darkness, show the way to those who had gone astray and save those who were lost. St. Paul expressed that, speaking of the unifying incarnation, in a splendid way in his Epistle to the Ephesians, saying: Christ “is our peace, who hath made both (peoples) one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us, having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; and that he might reconcile both unto God in one body, by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby; and came and preached peace to you which were afar off and to them that were nigh. For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.” (Ephesians 2: 14-18)

Jesus, the Word Incarnate

“And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father) full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)

The Word who was at the beginning, in principle, God the Word, God the Creator Word was made flesh. He created by a single word, saying, “Be,” and it came into being. He said, he spoke, he created, he became incarnate. The Creator Word is the Word incarnate.

“And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” (Genesis 1:26) It is he himself who created and he himself who became incarnate. That is why St. John the Evangelist and Apostle whom Jesus loved said, “God is love.” (I John 4:8) God, the Creator God is love, the Creator Word incarnate is the Word who is the love of God for his creature, for people, for humans whom he has created and continues to create. God has so loved the world that he has sent his only Son to the world, to this cosmos that he loved and that he compared to a vine, saying, “I am the true vine and my Father is the husbandman. I am the vine, ye are the branches.” (John 15:1, 5)

In our Eastern rite, comparably with all other rites of East or West, there is a single chant that may be sung in a variety of styles and melodies and that sums up the different meanings of glorious Christmas. It is the hymn of the incarnate Word that is sung at every Divine Liturgy: “O only-begotten Son and Word of God, who being immortal, yet didst deign for our salvation to become incarnate of the Holy Mother of God and ever-Virgin Mary, and without change of essence wast made man; who wast also crucified for us, O Christ God, trampling down death by death and art one of the Holy Trinity, glorified with the Father and the Holy Spirit, save us.”

The Incarnation is the Basis of our Christian Faith

The incarnation is the basis and substance of our Christian faith. So Christmas is not just a human, material feast, a feast of the body. Christmas is not presents and Father Christmas, an external, superficial celebration. The incarnation is linked to the life of human beings, whether Christian or not. The incarnation is really the point on which are focused all human hopes and human nature itself. That is what is expressed by the holy fathers, as we read in the service of Matins for the Feast of the Annunciation to the Virgin Mary, “Today is revealed the mystery that is from all eternity. The Son of God becomes the son of man that, sharing in what is worse, he may make me share in what is better. In times of old, Adam was once deceived: he sought to become God, but received not his desire. Now God becomes man that he may make Adam God. Let creation rejoice, let nature exult.”

And we sing for the Feast of Christmas, during Vespers, “Come, let us greatly rejoice in the Lord as we tell of this present mystery. The middle wall of partition has been destroyed; the flaming sword turns back, the cherubim withdraw from the tree of life, and I partake of the delight of paradise from which I was cast out through disobedience. For the express image of the Father, the imprint of his eternity, takes the form of a servant, and without undergoing change he comes forth from a mother who knew not wedlock. For what he was, he has remained, true God: and what he was not, he has taken upon himself, becoming man through love for mankind. Unto him let us cry aloud: God born of a virgin, have mercy upon us.” Further on, we read, “Heaven and earth are united today, for Christ is born. Today has God come upon earth and man gone up to heaven” (Great Compline of the Christmas Vigil)

The Incarnation Shows Forth the Goal of Life

Through the incarnation and faith in the Word of God incarnate, we discover that we are members of a big family. As St. Paul said, “Thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.” (Galatians 4:7) So we become in the incarnate Christ God’s family, the family of the Church and of the whole of humanity. Through that we discover the meaning of our life: its origin, existence, substance, goal, nobility and dignity. We also realise and feel the importance of the responsibility which derives from this nobility of origin and original dignity and from that very high and noble position.

Through that, we discover how much we ought to bear fruit, serve others and build a world of civilization and life, as peace-makers, agents of peace who can bring about charity, good and development in society. Without these convictions, we fall into despair and vexation, losing all sense of life. Moreover, we become criminal persons: injuring and even killing our neighbours; exploiting, despising, mutilating and tarnishing that image of God which is man, (since God became man) our brother and travelling companion. All our relationships - husband, wife, father, mother, son, daughter, relative, neighbour, fellow-citizen, foreigner, white, black, from this region or some other - no longer have any meaning.

The incarnation is really the origin of human dignity, nobility and value and he who has not understood the incarnation has not understood the meaning of life. He who does not believe in the incarnate Son of God in this world, cannot understand or discover the meaning of life, or rather, cannot find pleasure or happiness in life, working to make others happy or serving them. That is why St. Irenaeus said, “The glory of God is a living man ,” thus linking the meaning of life to that of heaven and the value of life and soul to divine worth, even the life of God himself. That is what the holy fathers expressed theologically by the well-known term theosis (divinization) and participation in the divine filiation and in the life of God, saying, “God became man so that thou, man, mightest be capable of receiving divinity .” (St. Athanasius of Alexandria) “Christ became man to unite us to God in his own person .” (St. Gregory of Nazianzus) This is the great mystery which is accomplished for us, the mystery of God incarnate for us. He came to make all one in Christ.

The Eucharist is Continual Incarnation

We designated the year 2005 the Year of the Eucharist and we participated around Pope Benedict XVI with about two hundred and fifty bishops from all over the world in the Episcopal Synod, meditating together on the subject of the holy Eucharist.

The Eucharist is the mystery of continual incarnation and the realization of the incarnation. That is why our Melkite Church has introduced into its service the Feast of Corpus Christi, which is of Western origin, being especially linked to the miracle that happened in Italy. Our church has made of that feast, the feast of the incarnation, the feast of the whole divine economy, the feast of feasts and season of seasons, a continuous Pascha, so to speak.

That is what we discover in the prayers, chants and hymns of this feast. In the troparion it says, “Christ, having loved his own, loved them until the end, and gave them his body and blood as food and drink.” Further, we read, “It is indeed a tremendous miracle to see God taking flesh and becoming man, …but the highest of all miracles, O Christ our God, is (thine) ineffable presence under the mystic species.”

Through the Liturgy we celebrate the mystery of the incarnate Word and we consecrate and sanctify with the Spirit the bread and wine and finally participate, through the bread and wine, in the body and blood of Christ and indeed in his whole life.

At the end of the Liturgy we sing a chant that is both of Christmas and Trinitarian: it is the hymn after communion, “We have seen the true light; we have received the heavenly Spirit; we have found the true faith. We worship the undivided Trinity, for the same hath saved us.” Further on the priest prays in a low voice at the end of the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, “Thou who art the fulfilment of the law and the prophets, O Christ our God, and hast accomplished all the dispensation of the Father: fill our hearts with joy and gladness always…” And at the end of the Liturgy of St. Basil the Great, “We have seen the symbols of thy resurrection; we have been filled with thine endless life.” So, we see through these prayers how we live through the Liturgy and the Eucharist, the events of the incarnation and the different stages of the economy of God over us.

The Eucharist is the Sacrament of Christian Unity

The Eucharist is the great sacrament of Christian unity: the unity of God with humans and unity of humans with each other. That is the goal of all our efforts for Christian unity: unity in the one Christ and in the Eucharist, above all, which is the symbol of union, its summit and perfection. In fact there can be no true union without a single Eucharist between all Christians. There is no true Eucharist without Christian unity. The witness of Christians will always remain limited and weak, if the one Eucharist is not realized, in which all Christians gather around the single table and one Christ; and from this one table, one Christ, one bishop there will be a single, spiritual, ecclesial, social, constitutional and institutional communion.

That is why all Christians long for a single Eucharist and on the other hand, they are divided about the one Eucharist. That is why we understand the reason and the depth of reason why we cannot participate in the single Eucharist between Christians, if complete and true unity is not realised among us all.

It is true that in certain circumstances Christians may receive communion in different Churches, but that is a matter of personal conduct and of a passing occasional, nature and as the result of a personal decision. No-one can conclude thereby that unity between Catholics and Orthodox has been brought about. For example, we blessed and God blessed us: we consecrated together, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch Ignatius IV Hazim and I, a single, common church, common to us all (Greek Catholic and Greek Orthodox): it is the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul at Dumar, a suburb of Damascus and despite that, we did not realize unity between us. But we took a step, a very notable and new step together and God will help us to go forwards to realise the goals of unity and the successive stages which will guide us one day to the church unity that we hope for so much. So we never lose the hope of realizing it, because it is the object of the prayer of Jesus, who wanted all his believing disciples to be one, that the world might believe.

The Prayer of Jesus for Unity

Incarnation and monotheism (or oneness) are two expressions which are mutually attractive. We see them as signs of the will of God to unify all his creatures, unifying them amongst themselves in the depths of divine revelation.

So we find this in the New Testament, in the message of Jesus, his teachings and miracles, parables of the Kingdom of God amongst men, discourse before the life-giving and saving passion and above all in the solemn, mysterious, sacrificial, sacerdotal prayer that Jesus made for the union of all believing Christians, in which he says, “Father, that they may be one as we are.” (cf. John 17:21) So we see throughout the whole life of Jesus, a leitmotiv linking all the events in it, a divine concern, that does not wish to see man lost, isolated, scattered, divided against himself in his mind and heart, aspirations and personal life, employment, family and social life. God created human beings after his image and likeness and wishes to gather them into a single fold, like the good shepherd that he is, leaving the ninety-nine sheep inside, to go in search of the one that has gone astray, and bring it back on his shoulders, returning inside the fold with it. So there will be a single community and a single shepherd, a single fold and a single pastor and he will be the vine and all humans will be the vine-shoots, united by the tendrils of love. So they will be able to yield fruit, fruit both abundant and permanent.

To that unity, a very beautiful troparion from the Feast of the Divine Ascension alludes: “O God, thou hast lifted up in and by thyself, the nature of Adam, which had fallen into the prison of Hades, and today thou hast caused it to ascend above all principalities, for having loved it, thou hast seated it beside thee and in thy mercy thou hast united it to thyself and in so doing, thou hast suffered in it and since thou hast suffered in it, thou who canst not be the object of suffering, thou hast glorified it with thee.” (Pentecostarion)

Then there is the event of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit descended on the disciples, happy despite the difficulty and great responsibility of the mission that the Lord had confided to them after his resurrection, saying to them, “Go ye into the whole world and preach the gospel to every creature.” (Mark 16:15) and besides encouraging them, by giving them the promise of the earnest of the Holy Spirit and saying to them, “Wait for the promise of the Father, which…ye have heard of me. … But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you and ye shall be witnesses unto me … unto the uttermost part of the earth.” (Acts 1: 4, 8)

On the day of Pentecost, the disciples received the Holy Spirit in the form of tongues of fire and saw that among the crowds listening to the sermon of St. Peter, faith in Jesus Christ burst forth. They returned home edified by the one faith and subsequently, the apostles left to go out into the whole world and in whatever corner of the earth people listened to the message of Pentecost, there the apostles were able to spread faith in Jesus Christ among different languages, cultures and peoples.

The event of Pentecost is, so to speak, the incarnation of the world’s unifying Spirit, as we read in the kontakion of the service for the Feast of Pentecost, “When the Most High came down and confused the tongues, he dispersed the nations: but when he distributed the tongues of fire, he called all to unity. Wherefore with one voice we glorify the All-holy Spirit.” From this hymn, we discover the unity of God as Trinity, calling mankind to unity. That is what the holy fathers expressed in a beautiful hymn from the Vigil of Pentecost, where we read, “Come, O ye people, let us worship the Godhead in three persons, the Son in the Father, with the Holy Spirit. For the Father before time has begotten the Son, who is co-eternal and equally enthroned and the Holy Spirit who was in the Father and was glorified together with the Son: one might, one essence, one Godhead.”

The Church – Place of Unity

The event of Pentecost is the feast of unity and diversity. Moreover, it is the basis of the signs of the Church, as the Church Fathers have formulated it in the Creed of the Council of Nicaea, “We believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.”

These signs are the realization of the goals of the incarnation, redemption and salvation of the whole world: in fact the Church is the place of unity, salvation and redemption. That is what St. Irenaeus († 202) expressed with great elegance, where we read, “The Church, though dispersed throughout the whole world, even to the ends of the earth, has received from the apostles and their disciples, this faith: in only one God, the Father almighty… and in one Christ Jesus, Son of God, who became incarnate for our salvation and in the Holy Spirit…. Although scattered throughout the whole world, yet, as if occupying but one house (it) carefully preserves this faith. It also believes these points just as if it had but one soul and one and the same heart, and it proclaims them and teaches them and hands them down with perfect harmony, as if it possessed only one mouth. For although the languages of the world are dissimilar, yet the import of the tradition is one and the same...The Catholic Church possesses one and the same faith throughout the whole world… ”

The Church expresses its unity among all the faithful worldwide through the service of sanctification, teaching and administration, so that their unity may be realized through the same teaching, the one celebration of the sacraments and the one administration and organization of pastoral work.

Practical Recommendations

The call of Jesus incarnate is unifying in its scope. This call is addressed to our Melkite Greek Catholic Church on all levels: internal and external unity: unity among ourselves, with our heritage, traditions, rules and laws (codification) of our Church, our rite, and the concessions, typikon and codification of our religious communities of men and women.

The Unifying Role of our Church

This unity is the work of all of us in the Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarchate: unity on all levels; so that the fruits of the unifying incarnation may be realized in this apostolic Church, so that the wish of Pope John-Paul II may be realized, a wish that he expressed on his first visit after our patriarchal election, in February, 2001, “You are a strong and coherent Church.”

I discover more and more the importance of this unity in my patriarchal service. It is not surprising, since I have always been preoccupied by unity since my years of theological and priestly studies and my education at Saint Saviour’s and my academic studies in Rome. Following on from that, I founded in the Lebanon in 1962 the review “Unity in Faith” and I participated in the ecumenical movement in the Lebanon in the 1960’s and the early 1970’s. During our service as Patriarchal Vicar in Jerusalem, we took the initiative of bringing together the heads of Christian Churches for monthly gatherings, as well as for more informal brotherly meetings, without the worry of protocol and these gave birth to a real fraternity amongst us and to a more effective collaboration over local, social, pastoral or ecclesial activities. In Jerusalem, I also founded with Muslim and Christian friends the Al-Liqa’ Centre and Christian Club and the St. Cyril Centre Adult Theological School: so many projects, all with the aim of unifying spiritual teaching, and social and pastoral thinking. This bore fruit, in all its beauty, in our Eparchial Synod of all Catholic Churches in the Holy Land, which we called together on the eve of the Great Jubilee of the year 2000.

The realization of the goals of the unifying incarnation is our most important obligation both inside and outside our Church: inside our Eastern ecclesial society and on the level of the universal Church. It has been the task of our Antiochian Church and its role throughout history, as I have shown in my different speeches in Rome, during the Episcopal Synod of the month of October last, 2005. That is what I have shown to be the different phases of this role throughout the history of our Church, since the time of Patriarch Peter III of Antioch who drew to the attention of Patriarch Michael Cerularius, the damage and the unhappy consequences of breaking union with Rome in 1054. Here is an extract from his letter to Cerularius: “Day and night, I have been wondering why this division of the Church and how one can set aside the successor of the great Peter and separate him from the divine body of the Churches, so that his voice can no longer be heard in the meeting of bishops and he no longer takes his part in the cares of the Church, so that he too may receive from them fraternal and pastoral direction.” Let us not forget the first group of Melkites who struggled for the union of our church with Rome, despite all the implications of the union of 1724. We cannot forget either our predecessor, Gregory II, in the Council of Vatican I in 1870, during which he drew attention to the dangers of Rome drawing up in a unilateral way the definition of papal infallibility, because of the great importance of this dogma for the relations between the Roman and Orthodox Churches. This role reached an extraordinary climax – a very important and unique phase, very effective and appreciated¬¬- in the part played by our predecessor, Maximos IV Sayegh and the bishops of our Church in Vatican II: in several aspects of the council’s work, one sees clearly the particularly ecumenical influence of our Church on the whole, touching both the life and constitution of the wider Church.

When we consider this impressive inheritance, we cannot appear fearful or discouraged in the face of the demands of Christian unity. We don’t have the right to doubt our unifying ecumenical role on all levels, especially Eastern and Western.

In the heart of the Roman communion, we must always keep in mind the great absent, yet present one: the Orthodox Church. Not that we wish at all to take its place and substitute ourselves for it, God forbid! But it is our role to draw the attention of the Christian West to the rich theological, patristic, liturgical, spiritual and pastoral heritage of the Christian East.

What is called the Great Schism, which has received as a symbolic date the year 1054, was not a schism caused by theological differences in an Ecumenical Council. It started with a lingering sulkiness between Patriarch Michael and Cardinal Humbert. Then well-known historical, political circumstances combined to deepen the gulf between East and West. All that had nothing to do with Christian doctrine and subsequently, each group came to insist on the things that separate us and that increase the gulf between East and West and increase estrangement between them.

Today, it has to be said, unity will be realized through reconciliation, setting aside the sulkiness of former times and putting charity into action, emphasizing what unites us rather than what divides us. That is the summary of the theology of the incarnation and the meaning of Christmas. We are absolutely convinced that the union of Churches will be possible if we humble ourselves before God and allow ourselves to welcome the fruits of the unifying incarnation. Then we shall be able to resolve the most tangled theological problems on the basis of our generous, complete open-heartedness. Living together in mutual exchange and re-established communion, we shall discover each other from within and from the heart of our common mind, we shall incarnate the love of God for us and our love for one another.

My pastoral patriarchal letters in these years of my service as Patriarch have all had as goal to fortify and uphold the progress of our Church, so that it may be stronger and more coherent, may grow and be more interdependent and united. For unita manent – “things united remain” and as the proverb says, “Strength is in unity.” And it is through that that we all can understand the true vision of our ecumenical role.

Unity in Liturgical Life

The Church insists on the unity of rite, for it is the expression of the unity of the Church. That is what we read in the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, Canon 39, where it says, “The rites of the Eastern Church must be kept and upheld with great reverence, for they are the heritage of the universal Church of Jesus Christ. In the liturgy shines forth the tradition that comes from the apostles through the fathers and through it we affirm the divine unity of faith in its diversity.” In paragraph I of Canon 40 we read the following: “Let all those who preside over Churches sui iuris, and all local spiritual heads take great care to preserve their rite and be faithful to it and practice it with exactness and refuse all change, except such as is internal, placing before themselves the importance of solidarity and unity between Christians.” We read in the address of Pope John Paul II on the subject of faithfulness to the rites of the church, “In our century we ought to discover the value of obedience to the typikon and rubrics of the Church, for it is a way of witnessing to and mirroring the unity and universality of the Church. All that bursts upon our gaze during the liturgical celebrations. In fact, the priest who, with his parish, celebrates the Divine Liturgy with fidelity to the text and rubrics causes to shine forth silently and eloquently, his love and the love of his parish for the Church.”

Much effort has been made in our Church in the liturgical sector, since the 1950’s, especially in the time of Bishop Neophytos Edelby and in 1969 the Holy Synod decreed very important changes and also in the time of our predecessor, Maximos V and during the time when the presidency of the Patriarchal and Synodal Liturgical Commission was entrusted to us from 1996. Since then our liturgical books have taken on a very beautiful form, both in texts and melodies. And despite that, we find that there are, here and there, people who despise these efforts and hesitate to use new liturgical books and there are others who publish liturgical books without the permission of the ecclesiastical authority or Imprimatur and even invent certain texts at leisure. All this is contrary to church discipline and clearly contrary to canon law. In all liturgical matters, it is well known that the authority of the Patriarch is complete and embraces the whole Melkite Greek Catholic Church in Arab countries and the countries of emigration and throughout the whole world.

We would like to recall a paragraph from a decree of our predecessor Maximos V on the presentation of new liturgical books. This passage sums up all our aspirations with regard to the Liturgy: “We have the sure hope that this book in its new form will help to animate our noble liturgical heritage and bring about understanding of the Eastern liturgical tradition. We hope that it will be the means for us to approach God in dialogue and to imitate our predecessors of blessed memory, who found in the prayers of our Mother Church a very rich source of devotion and adoration that became for them a path to Christian life and holiness.”

The unity of the Church appears not only in the texts but also in liturgical chant and melody. We declare that our choral singing is a Melkite heritage common to the whole Church and the traditions are very similar, although there are minor, very secondary differences, and that is why we have done everything possible to publish this heritage of song and have done so under a new title which does not claim it for a particular group but acknowledges its importance as belonging to the entire Church. It is entitled “The Liturgical Music of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church.”

We have every hope that this publication will help to unify as far as possible the singing of the services, so that the common melodies of the most well-known chants will be the same throughout our eparchies, parishes and monastic communities of men and women, in our schools and brotherhoods, in our different institutes and teaching establishments. Of course, the prayers, singing and liturgical celebrations are no doubt the most important ways of showing to best and finest effect, an image of the strength of our Church and its compactness and unity. So we put into practice, all together, the motto that we have everywhere in the liturgical books and in the typikon of our church, always proclaiming and saying publicly, “One Melkite Greek Catholic Church! Unified liturgical texts; unified liturgical books; unified popular hymns!”

Unity of Pastoral Work

The unity of the Church is also revealed in the field of pastoral work and above all in the sacramental ministry, in the service to parishes and especially in the pastoral care of young people. These themes will be the subject of our Patriarchal Assembly that canon law requires be held every five years. Canon 141 says, in fact, that the Council or Patriarchal Assembly is the instance of highest collegiality in the Church and that it is presided over by the Patriarch and the Episcopal Synod of the Patriarchal Church to discuss the most important business of the Church, helping to accord the traditional forms and methods of apostolate and ecclesial discipline, on the one hand, with new developments in time and the welfare of the Church on the other, whilst at the same time keeping under consideration the common good of the whole region in which the Church lives sui iuris. That is the import of the official text of this same Canon 141. The Patriarchal Assembly, then, must be called together at least once every five years and with the agreement of the permanent Synod, or of the Patriarchal Church, or as often as the Patriarch judges it necessary.

We very much hope and expect that the preparatory studies for the Patriarchal Assembly and the conclusions and decisions that will be promulgated after it has been held, will in future form a general, pastoral guide that will clearly embody our pastoral vision and the goals and means – new and modern - adapted to give priority to our pastoral work, so that this Patriarchal Assembly will help the unity and efficacy of pastoral work and preserve a strong, deep faith in our eparchies, in our parishes and especially among our young people.

Unity of Church Discipline in our Eparchies

A new set of canon laws appeared in 1990 under the title, Codex of Canons of the Eastern Churches: this canon law is obligatory for all our Eastern Catholic Churches, and it is on the basis of this canon law that the canonical commission presented to the Synod a project for the constitution of bye-laws for each diocese, so that each particular eparchial constitution should be in agreement with general and particular canon law and should be indeed the rule for all eparchies in all their specificities. That was decided in the Synod of 2004. These rulings or sets of bye-laws must take into consideration the different situation of each church and be published as the constitution for each eparchy, binding upon the bishop, priests, monks, nuns and laity and be in the hands of the faithful, so that all can co-operate for the good running of the church in collegiality and unity for the welfare of individuals, social groups and for the whole community and for the progress of the pastorate.

Unfortunately, many eparchies have not yet produced these rulings and if there are any such, they often remain in the hands of the bishop only or one or two people besides and are not really in the hands of all, in such a way that they feel themselves concerned by them. Such constitutions would be the guarantee of the unity of the Church and would be a pastoral obligation according to our common law. We would like to affirm here that to transgress, neglect or fail to conform with the Church’s canon law shows ignorance or lack of concern, or reluctance to learn and take action, that leads the Church into laxity and really weakens the strength of exaltation and the progress of our renewal and diminishes the harvest of our pastoral service and the success of our pastoral work on every level, making the Church less able to meet the challenges it encounters or respond to the aspirations of new generations, or fulfil successfully its apostolate in society: moreover, it really undermines from within the unity of the Church. Our Melkite Greek Catholic Church has need of renewal and, according to its gifts, of progress based on modern techniques and methods, so that it can be in a complete relationship, in a real inner enculturation, with all its children, sons and daughters of our parishes and eparchies, indeed, of the whole world.

Unity in Commitment and Solidarity

Among the fruits of the unifying incarnation is the internal unity of the Church, because the Church is the body of Christ as St. Paul says, very clearly, showing that the unity of the Church is the unity of the faithful in Christ, the unity of man and woman, the unity of the family, unity of the members of the one body. As he says, “For as the body is one, with its many limbs, which, many as they are, together are one body, so is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, slaves or free and have all been made to drink into the one Spirit.” (I Corinthians 12:12-13.) Our patriarchal motto is “Watch, and walk in love.” It behoves the whole Church, in all its members to be vigilant, so that in all of them - Patriarch, bishops, priests, monks and nuns, laity of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church in the whole world - may be filled with the fruits of the Nativity.

We are a Church without borders, open to all, but, to be so and to realise all these qualities, we have to have a clear identity and a strong internal unity, based on the sources and roots which are common to us all and capable of resisting all the dangers of schism, laxity, internal fundamentalism, sectarianism between communities, clergy, eparchies and ethnic groups in our Arab countries.

It is absolutely necessary to close ranks, as I said in my letter of 2003, entitled “Poverty and Development” and as I suggested in the project called “Melkite Solidarity,” in which I proposed that every member of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church pledge to give one dollar a year to show support for and solidarity with his Church, spread throughout the whole world.

I have shown also that this project of “Melkite Solidarity” must include all Greek Catholics everywhere. It is not merely concerned with material progress and the collection of large sums of money for service to the poor and to set up in the church a workshop for development, but it also has a spiritual, collegial and ecclesial dimension.
We hope to realise through it a growth in our sense of commitment and belonging to the church, in our collegial and general ecclesial solidarity with the Melkite Greek Catholic Church throughout the whole world and in the feeling that we all belong to one body and one and the same Church, forming just one community, so that every member of the Greek Catholic Church throughout the whole world will feel solidarity, linked to his Greek Catholic brother or sister throughout the world, through, among other things, the donation of just one dollar.

We would like to insist here, above all, on the unity between the individual members of the one family and of all its members, because many dangers threaten the unity of our families and the permanence of the sacrament of marriage. In fact St. Paul links the mystery of the unity of the Church and Christ with that of husband and wife in the unity and firmness of Christian marriage, when he writes, “This is a great mystery.” (Ephesians 5:32)

Great is our Christian faith in the incarnate and unifying Christ, to reinforce the family ties in our parishes. In fact, it is through the family that the mystery of the incarnate Christ appears and the fruits and the effects of the sacraments that the faithful receive, especially the sacrament of marriage.

Love must be the token and characteristic of our Church, so that in us may be realized what Christ said to his apostles, “It is thus that you will be known as my disciples,” and I would say, that you are Greek Catholics, if you love one another.

This unity is necessary at the social level: it means social and sociological involvement in the work place and in political life, at every level in the life of our Church. Our society needs us all and together we can build a better world, a saved and redeemed world, a world which lives out the values and virtues of the Church and the Gospel, the virtues of the incarnate and unifying Christ.

Unity through Christian Education

The realization of the goals of the unifying incarnation can not but touch on all levels of the Church’s life and, amongst others, the level of education and training. Education was in fact the principal topic during the meeting of the Catholic Patriarchs and bishops in Lebanon in November, 2005.

Christian education is the continuation of the growth of Christ: see my letter of Christmas, 2002, entitled “Jesus is Growing.” So it is the continuation of the growth of the Christian in the life in Christ, through the efficacy of the sacraments in his life. All the efforts of all the Christian pastors, bishops, priests, monks and nuns must be consolidated to preserve the heritage of faith and to make it deeper and purer in the hearts of all our faithful, especially the young, to whom we should dedicate the greatest care, for they are the Church’s future. Let us not forget the education of our priests, monks and nuns in the faculties of philosophy and theology and in training establishments, for they are the Church’s guides and leaders of the future. We have to raise and renew the levels of their education, and bring up to date the teaching and training programs and give all that a pronounced and distinctive Eastern quality. Let us not forget either the importance of languages, both ancient and modern, in creating a better theological and academic preparation.

So it is vitally necessary to develop in our churches programs of Christian education, in order to give to that training a real Melkite Greek Catholic spiritual character as well as a general catholic character, which will give it more conformity with other Christian Churches in the region.

I am convinced that we cannot have an interaction with others, if we are not ourselves faithful to our own identity and to the special role of our Church, because no-one can give what he does not possess and we shall not be able to co-operate and collaborate with others if we have nothing to give them.

Union through the Religious Communities of Men and Women

The unifying incarnation has a uniquely privileged meaning for the religious communities of men and women, which have a big role in carrying the message of Christ, of his birth and incarnation into our world, our society and Church in a very special way.

Our service is one, although the typikon, the lifestyle and the kind of apostolate of our religious communities may differ. I have a very dear wish in my heart, that I have expressed in my visits to our convents and religious communities, in many different meetings with them, to make all possible efforts to see what can be done in the direction of solidarity, mutual help, reciprocal advice and interaction, in order to realize what we can in the way of unity and religious confederality. So we may arrive at greater Christian and religious perfection and contribute to the welfare of monks and nuns: realize a better service in the Church and in society and ensure better, clearer religious education, centralise administration and improve the economic condition of the communities; exploit the grounds of the different communities and also develop the role of the monasteries, convents and institutions and broaden their service, especially in the social sphere, through benefaction and development, help for the poor, for social development and for all humanity.

Let us not forget either that the word “monk” in Greek, Syriac, French and other European languages means one who is unified, united and who aspires to unity with himself, with God and with his neighbour. In that original sense of the word, we are all called to be “monks,” in order that we may overcome all the motives for division in our own person and the causes of division in our Church and in society. The monk and indeed every Christian must be unifying and unified and an apostle of unity in society, after the example of Jesus Christ, the apostle of unity and the link of unity.

Call for Unity in the Arab World

Our Christian faith in the unifying incarnation cannot confine itself to efforts for Christian unity. Belief in one God becomes a call for unity among humankind and the unity of the incarnation calls for the unification of our common goals in society in order to face up to different challenges that are common to us all, both Muslims and Christians. Unity in God, unification from God must be a call for unity amongst men, to solidarity between them and to deepen the links of love between them.

We should unite: the unifying mission of the incarnation is more than ever necessary in the Arab world.

We Arab Christians who live in an Arab society which is largely Muslim have a special mission in that sense in a society which is from us, as we are from it, and which is for us, as we are for it.

We have to understand that we are an Arab Church and moreover the Church of the Arabs and the Church of Islam, because of our profound communion and union with this Arab, Islamic world in its culture, civilization, values, politics, sociological aspects and in all aspects of its life over the history of the last fourteen hundred years.

We all, Muslims and Christians alike, are facing a terrible conspiracy. We must not let ourselves fall into the mesh of this plot, which aims at ridding the East of its Christians and polarizing East and West, the better to strike at Muslims and remaining Christians!

Yes, we have a special vocation to face up to this great plot. We ought to love one another, to show solidarity with each other and help each other, so that Muslims help Christians and Christians help Muslims, so that Muslims defend Christians and Christians Muslims, so that Christians show the best aspects of their Christianity and Muslims the best of their Islam.

Let us say to everyone in the Arab world that the solution to our problems lies in our faith as Muslims and Christians. If we succeed in facing up to this challenge in a positive and decisive way, we shall bring about a unique victory and surely be an example to the whole world as agents of peace and salvation in our world, both Eastern and Western.

Muslims and Christians in their Arab world are then faced with this challenge. Again, Muslims living in Europe and America are in general faced with this challenge. This subject has often been brought up during my participation in the Catholic Episcopal Synod in Rome, during October, 2005 as well as in newspapers, reviews and in a big speech I gave in the town of Piacenza in Northern Italy and in talks I gave in the English Parliament and in the University of London in November, 2005. This theme was evoked in my talks in Europe and America. We all hear daily about and follow the debates that are occurring all over Europe about the enculturation of Muslims and their integration into European society, whilst still retaining their faith and their traditions.

Faced with these truths and challenges, we realize more than ever the importance of our union and our solidarity in the Arab world. Besides, I would say that among the priorities of our Church is working for unity and service of the Arab world. We are from this world and for it and its development, for its service, to defend its role and for interaction and solidarity with it and all related causes. We are obliged, as a Church, as individuals and a community, each one in his position, in his eparchy, in his parish, each according to his professional, social and political commitment to listen to all its thoughts, to its whole vision.

The fruits of the unifying incarnation also touch all the nations of the whole world and it is as Jesus said, or rather as is said about Jesus, that he will “die for the nation,” but not only for the (Jewish) nation, but also to unify all the scattered children of this world. That is why it is the duty of Christians to be the initiators, the heralds of unity for the entire world.

We wish, through this Christmas message, to address an urgent appeal to all the kings and heads of state of the Arab world to realize as much as possible unity amongst themselves, so that all together we can meet the challenge discussed above and which really threatens the unity of peoples of the whole region. Indeed, we have many unified and unifying factors amongst us: our Arab nature, Islam, language, culture, civilization, history, and especially the fact that our lands are holy for Christians and Muslims and even for Jews.

Noblesse oblige. If our lands are called “the cradle of religions” and if we are all proud of being monotheists and worshipping one God alone, then we shall succeed in realizing unity between our peoples, and respond to the appeal of new generations and their aspirations to faith in God, by living together side by side, in common service and solidarity, in human dignity, in co-citizenship, in freedom of worship and conscience in a society which is more and more divided, in justice, equality, safety and just peace, which is the key to peace for the whole world and the warranty for starting new progress towards finding a way to development and prosperity in the region.

The Arab countries ask America and Europe and all countries of the world to help them conclude and resolve the Palestinian Arab and Israeli conflict, which envelops and destroys the region, subjecting it to terror and violence and which has been at the root of all our problems, wars and crises for the last fifty years and more. I, as Patriarch of a Church which feels itself in profound solidarity with the Arab world, think that we should overcome our regional differences and realize an Arab unity which would be the warranty for really finding a just, general and lasting solution to this conflict and also assuring a brilliant future for the Arab world, meeting the aspirations of our young generation.

I am absolutely convinced that our faith, Christian and Muslim, is our greatest weapon both today and tomorrow to realize the different aspects of our holy mission and for preserving the values of our common, holy faith. I refuse absolutely to allow our countries to be considered the home of fundamentalism, violence, terrorism, aggressiveness theory, extremism and religious war. These expressions and situations are absolutely contrary to our values, faith, tradition and civilization. And in all that, unity is the foundation which can help us to repel these accusations hurled at the Arab world.

We are all unifying monotheists. Through our common faith, we must be strong enough to reject these charges and besides, be creative in finding solutions for Arab Muslim-Arab Christian, Arab Palestinian-Israeli conflicts and also for the bloody situation in Iraq and for all the other social and sociological, economic, religious and spiritual crises which threaten our societies and families, young people and cultural institutions and which touch all aspects of life in the homelands of our Arab world.

We also wish to allude to the care that the Eastern Church takes in all its communities for the causes of peace, justice and reconciliation throughout the region. The Eastern Catholic Patriarchs have produced very interesting documents in the service of justice and peace. This theme of Justice and Peace was the subject of their annual reunion at Amman, Jordan in November-December 2005, in which they discussed this particular problem in its different aspects in different Arab countries, especially in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, Egypt, Iraq and Palestine.

So our churches are realizing magnificently their spiritual service, of being places where one can address the problems of Arab countries from the point of view of religion and spirituality, of dialogue and culture and through that we become world spokesmen for the defence of the values of faith of us all, Christians and Muslims in the Arab world.

Conclusion

This Christmas letter is a meditation on the mystery of the unifying, divine incarnation. Besides the theological and spiritual meditation, I wanted to give some practical orientation to each reader of the letter, with love, with trust, with a feeling of respect and thanksgiving for all my beloved brother bishops, members of the Holy Synod and with a deep feeling for my patriarchal ministry, in order that in our Melkite Greek Catholic Church should be realized the fruits of the incarnation, redemption and salvation, and through our Church and from our little society towards the greater society, near and far, in Arab countries and the countries of emigration.

I address, through this letter, with cordial wishes for a Merry Christmas, all the sons and daughters of our parishes, clergy and people, so that for them all, the birth of our Saviour, Jesus Christ may be a feast of goodness and blessing, a festival of progress in faith and love in the hearts of all, so that in all of us should be realized the wishes of the angels’ song, from the region of Beit Sahour near Bethlehem and that its echoes should reach all our Church’s faithful throughout the whole world, in Arab countries and in the countries of emigration.

Our prayer is that the meaning of this angelic song should be realized in our countries and Arab homelands, especially in Palestine and in Iraq, and in the Lebanon and Syria for a better understanding in both these countries, so close and so brotherly, to help them overcome the crises and challenges which confront them locally, generally and in the whole world, always remembering that in the region of the Lebanon and Syria, we have the largest number of our faithful.

We gather all these meditations, proposals and words of guidance put forward in this letter to create a spiritual bouquet, fragrant with our love and offer it to the new Son, the Child of the cave, the Orient from on High, the new-born Child, God from all ages, asking him, at the intercession of our Mother, the Virgin Mary, to nourish our souls by his divine word and by the mystery of his love in the holy Eucharist.

And in his name and from the cave of Bethlehem, we invoke upon you all the blessings of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, one God, and we wish you all a holy Festival of Christmas, a New Year which will bring to us all the tidings of the realization of the values of justice, peace, solidarity, brotherhood and love in the hearts of our faithful, in our parishes and families. Happy Feast!

With my love and apostolic blessing,

Gregorios III

Damascus, Christmas, 25 December 2005
Translated from the French by V. Chamberlain

Patriarchal Christmas Message, 2004
Emmanuel – God with us

Back to the top

Gregorios, by the grace of God,
Patriarch of Antioch and of All the East, of Alexandria and of Jerusalem:
May divine grace and apostolic blessing rest on and embrace
my brothers, their eminences the bishops, members of the Holy Synod
and all the faithful of our Melkite Greek Catholic Church, clergy and laity.

Emmanuel, God with us, is the name by which God revealed himself to the Prophet Isaiah, saying, “A virgin shall conceive and give birth to a child and shall call his name Emmanuel – God with us.” (Isaiah 7:14) And when the angel appeared to Joseph in the dream, he said to him, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary, your wife. That which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son: you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:20-21.) John, the disciple of Jesus and his beloved Apostle, who leaned on his breast and uniquely experienced him as Master and Lord, calls him by a name which surpasses all others and which unites in him all names, “God is Love.” (I John 4:8)

The Three Names

So are gathered three names for him who said of himself, “I am he who is.” The name that is found in the halo surrounding the icon of Jesus Christ is, written in Greek letters ‘o ών’, he who is, the Creator, the Pantocrator, who is in an intimate relationship with his creation, with the universe, with nature, with all creation because he loves them. He has never hated anything that he created, for he created everything with a superabundance of love for men and for all his creatures. And it is that which the three names express, with such an intimate relationship and so all these names are realized, as they are also in the person of Jesus Christ.

So we read in the creed, the profession of our faith, that we pray every day and which forms the essential basis of our faith and spirituality and which is, so to speak, the code of our ethical and moral behaviour. So appears the first verse of the creed which concerns creation: “I believe in one God, the Father, almighty, maker of heaven and earth and of all things…” We read in the second paragraph, “I believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, only-begotten Son of God, who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became man.”

This unique God is in direct relationship with the creation which he made: the Lord Jesus Christ came to incarnate this relationship through the divine birth, redemption and salvation. The relationship of God with men and the pledge of his love for them are expressed by the three names. Moreover, the incarnation became a relationship with the other: the name of God incarnate became God with us, Emmanuel. The second name became the title of the incarnate Word of God, Jesus, Saviour because he is the incarnate God who came to earth to live among those he had created. He took flesh like theirs, matter, blood and bones like theirs to save them from evil, sin and crime. The third name, God is Love, came to express in a clear, concise and very beautiful way the meaning of the two previous names, Emmanuel and Jesus. For God, Pantocrator, there was “He who is.” Emmanuel, the Saviour and Redeemer, is God who is love and the God who loves mankind, as we repeat in our liturgical prayers.

The Economy of Salvation

From these three names, Emmanuel, Jesus and Love are derived all the attributes and names that can be given and by which one can describe the works of God in what we call in Eastern theology the economy of salvation. This economy of salvation is to be found by opening the Gospel: in fact all its chapters, stories, sayings, miracles, teachings, indeed all that the apostles told – the four evangelists told each in his own way, to carry the beautiful gospel message to the first Christians who listened to it - yes, every page of this holy Gospel and every verse of it is but the expression of these three names: God with; God saves; God loves. He is not then in his ivory tower, in his hermitage alone in his solitude. No, he is in continuous relation with his creation: as Jesus said himself, “My Father works and I work.” (John 5:17) This is what St. Paul the Apostle said to the Athenians, when he saw the abundance, the profusion, the multitude of gods in their city, explaining to them that the “God who is the Creator of heaven and earth” and who “gives to all life and breath and all things, and has made of one blood all nations of men living on the face of the earth… is not far from each one of us, for it is in him that we live and move and have our being.” (Acts 17:24-28) And this is what St. John the Apostle said, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) That is the object of the Feast of Christmas that we celebrate in the fourth year of the third millennium, thanking God for our splendid Christian faith. This faith is not an intellectual theory; it is not a changeable vision, nor an arithmetical category, dry and complicated: no, this faith can be summed up in the love of God for man. He is the Creator God who came to meet his creature, his world, mankind. He came to be in their hearts, consciousness, families and homes. He put up his tent beside their houses. He became flesh and “that which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and our hands have handled.” (I John1:1) It is he, the new-born babe, who is God before the ages.

Father Christmas – a Travesty of the Meaning of the Feast

So, why are we going to make of our beautiful, magnificent faith a mere trifle and put in place of Jesus a fellow named Father Christmas? Jesus wanted to be God with us; he wanted to be a child, close to us, beloved by us, a friend and Saviour in our schools and meeting rooms and instead of that, instead of Christmas being the advent of Jesus, a little Child, a new Child, God before the ages, it becomes the arrival of Father Christmas or Santa Claus – if only it were Saint Nicholas, who is the friend and protector of children, of the rights of those struck by misfortune and subject to injustice!

That is why we appeal to all our Melkite Greek Catholic children throughout the whole world, to our brother bishops and our monks and nuns to do all in their power to keep the arrival of Father Christmas away from our churches and all the places where we celebrate the Feast of Christmas.

Alternative Nativity Scenes
The alternative which we offer to our brothers is the icon of Christmas, which must take its place of honour in its just proportions in all our homes and families, schools and church halls. In it we find an extraordinarily detailed depiction of the event of the divine birth. The alternative is the Christmas tree, the hymns of the angels bearing the verses that relate to Christmas, “Glory to God in highest heaven and peace on earth to men of good will.” The alternative is the verses from the prophets, which all speak of Emmanuel, Jesus the Saviour, of his love and the love of God, the love of that Child, Jesus Christ. These verses could very well decorate the Christmas tree. The alternative is the Christmas liturgical chants available on different recordings, which ought really to fill the atmosphere of our homes by their prayers and melodies, with a very agreeable theological meaning. So old and young will be able to learn them, listen to them and sing them spontaneously, often, with joy, enthusiasm and thanksgiving, gratefulness and piety. Another alternative are Christmas films, which help our children understand the meaning of Christmas. Another alternative besides, above all is the Christmas cave, with all that it contains of Christmas decoration, the persons represented in it, the different roles that these people took in relation to Jesus Christ, the holy Virgin Mary, Mother of God, Joseph, the angels, the wise men, the pastors or shepherds.

So, each one should feel the Feast of Christmas in an extraordinary way, for God has come as Saviour and new-born Child and really is with us and amongst us, filling our houses with joy, happiness and thanksgiving and shining into our hearts faith, hope and charity, calling us by his love to love mankind and to value above all children, whom Jesus loved. It is vital that the Feast of Christmas be transformed into an international festival for the world’s children and that it be a wake-up call to our conscience to protect, love and educate children, to respect and preserve their rights and not to exploit them or abuse them, so that they become innocent victims of war, violence, terror, famine or trafficking. Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, for of such (and for such as are like them), is the Kingdom of Heaven.” (Luke 18:16)

Christmas Atmosphere

These alternatives of faith help to create a real atmosphere of spirituality for the Feast of Christmas, a festival of love and reconciliation, peace, joy and universal brotherhood. We ought to create this atmosphere so as to replace by things pertaining to Christmas the photographs of violence and terror, of terrorism and hatred, aversion, jealousy and aggression, weapons, destruction and blood, images which every day fill our hearts, minds and eyes and which are reported daily by means of the media.

Let us do everything in our power to create a true atmosphere of Christmas and let our house be transformed into Jesus’ house, where is Emmanuel, God with us, Saviour, redeemer God, lover of mankind, the apostle of peace and charity, who calls every one to brotherhood, solidarity, mutual help and dialogue.

Emmanuel, the Basis of Christian Theology

From all that it clearly appears that the divine incarnation, the birth of Jesus Christ is really the foundation of Christian theology, Christian experience, Christian thought and Christian ethics and morals. Moreover, the name of Jesus Christ, Emmanuel, is really the basis of what we say in Oriental theology: “God became man, so that man might become God.” God became man, like us, in everything save sin, a new Child, in order that mankind might become a new creature in a New Testament, in a new ethic.

Besides, the name of Jesus Christ, incarnate, Emmanuel, is at the basis of the relationship of God with men and of his relationship with the cosmos, nature. These relationships are developing today in an extraordinary way and bringing with them each day a new way of living, possibilities of communication and relationships among mankind, in a cosmopolitan atmosphere of globalization, which invades all aspects of our life, at home, school, in culture, in international relations both political and economic.

Christmas and Globalization

We can consider without exaggeration that the name of Emmanuel God is

News & Events

News & Events

Patriarchal Letters

The Christmas Letter of the Greek Catholic Patriarch The Cultural Revolution that still awaits the Arab World Article by Fady Noun Orient-Le Jour 24 December 2007

« Pourquoi l'Arabie saoudite a-t-elle peur des églises et des évangiles? »

Grégoire III appelle à la liberté religieuse dans le monde arabe

Le message de Noël du patriarche grec-catholique La révolution culturelle qui attend encore le monde arabe L'article de Fady NOUN

Patriarchal Christmas Letter 2007

“The Word became Flesh”

Letter for the Birth in the Flesh of Our Lord God and Saviour Jesus Christ 25 December 2007

Given at the Patriarchal Residence, Damascus

Gregorios III

Translation from the French: V. Chamberlain Translation from the Arabic: Maher Labbad

Allocution of His Most Eminent Beatitude Patriarch Gregorios III on the occasion of the opening of XVII Congress of the Council of Eastern Catholic Patriarchs Ain Traz, 15 October 2007

Translation from the French V. Chamberlain

Baptism as Passover

Sermon on Mark 16:9-20, preached in Cologne at Matins on the 14th Sunday after Pentecost, 2 September 2007, by H.B. Gregorios III, Patriarch of Antioch and all the East, of Alexandria and of Jerusalem for the Melkite Greek Catholic Church

V.C.

Senate of the French Republic Paris, 12 July 2007

Une conférence de Sa Béatitude Grégorios III Patriarche d’Antioche et de tous l’Orient d’Alexandrie et de Jérusalem "Paix, Convivialité et Présence chrétienne dans le Proche-Orient Arabe" à Raboueh -Liban Vendredi 18 Mai 2007

Paschal Letter 2007

“O my Joy, Christ is Risen!”

Gregorios, by the grace and mercy of God, Patriarch of Antioch and of All the East, of Alexandria and of Jerusalem: May divine grace and apostolic blessing fill our brother bishops, members of the Holy Synod, and all faithful clergy and laity of our Melkite Greek Catholic Church.

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!

!المسيح قام! حقا قام (al-Masih qām! Haqqan qām!)

April 8 2007

Gregorios III

Translation from the French: V. Chamberlain

Lent Letter 2007

Good Holy Lenten Fast, with my friendship, affection and blessing,

Gregorios III

Patriarch of Antioch and of All the East, of Alexandria and of Jerusalem

Translation from the French by V. Chamberlain

Digest of talks by His Beatitude, Gregorios III, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, of Alexandria, and of Jerusalem given in Amman, Jordan (May 2005) and in the Sultanate of Oman (2006) following the outline of that given at the opening of the Al-Liqa’ Centre in Lebanon (2003)

Church of the Arabs

Gregorios III

Translated from the French by V. Chamberlain

Weihnachten 2006

Friede, Zusammenleben, Christlische Präsenz im Nahen Osten

Gregorios III.

Patriarch von Antiochen und dem ganzen Orient von Alexandrien und Jerusalem

Message de Noël 2006

Gregorios III,

La paix, la convivialité et la présence chrétienne dans le Proche-Orient arabe

Christmas Letter, 2006

Peace, Living Together and the Christian Presence in the Arab Middle East

Gregorios III

Damascus, 1 December 2006

Translated from the French by V. Chamberlain

Lecture at the Sheptytsky Institute Ottawa 23 November 2006 “Does Christianity have a Future in the Middle East?”

Gregorios III Patriarch of Antioch and of All the East, Of Alexandria and of Jerusalem For the Melkite Greek Catholics

Translation from the French V. Chamberlain

The Position of H.B. Gregorios III on the Lecture of Pope Benedict -Letter of 29 September 2006 -To the Beloved Muslim Brethren in the Arab and Islamic World

Thoughts about the Lecture of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI of Tuesday, 12 September 2006, by His Beatitude, Patriarch Gregorios III of Antioch and All the East of Alexandria and of Jerusalem

Patriarchal Paschal Message, 2006 The Feast of the Glorious Resurrection – Charity and Resurrection

Charity is Resurrection

Gregorios, by the grace and mercy of God, Patriarch of Antioch and of All the East, of Alexandria and of Jerusalem: May divine grace and apostolic blessing fill our brother bishops, members of the Holy Synod, and all faithful clergy and laity of our Melkite Greek Catholic Church.

Feast of the Glorious Resurrection, Damascus, 16 April 2006

Gregorios III

Translation from the French: V. Chamberlain

Patriarchal Christmas Letter 2005 -

The Unifying Incarnation

With my love and apostolic blessing,

Gregorios III

Damascus, Christmas, 25 December 2005 Translated from the French by V. Chamberlain

Patriarchal Christmas Message, 2004 Emmanuel – God with us

The Christmas Letter of the Greek Catholic Patriarch
The Cultural Revolution that still awaits the Arab World
Article by Fady Noun Orient-Le Jour 24 December 2007

Le message de Noël du patriarche grec-catholique
La révolution culturelle qui attend encore le monde arabe
L'article de Fady NOUN

Letter for the Birth in the Flesh
of Our Lord God and Saviour
Jesus Christ
25 December 2007

Given at the Patriarchal Residence,
Damascus

Translation from the French: V. Chamberlain
Translation from the Arabic: Maher Labbad

Allocution of His Most Eminent Beatitude Patriarch Gregorios III
on the occasion of the opening of
XVII Congress of the Council of Eastern Catholic Patriarchs
Ain Traz, 15 October 2007

Sermon on Mark 16:9-20,
preached in Cologne at Matins
on the 14th Sunday after Pentecost, 2 September 2007,
by H.B. Gregorios III,
Patriarch of Antioch and all the East, of Alexandria and of Jerusalem
for the Melkite Greek Catholic Church

Senate of the French Republic
Paris, 12 July 2007

Gregorios, by the grace and mercy of God,
Patriarch of Antioch and of All the East, of Alexandria and of Jerusalem:
May divine grace and apostolic blessing fill
our brother bishops, members of the Holy Synod,
and all faithful clergy and laity of our Melkite Greek Catholic Church.

Digest of talks by His Beatitude, Gregorios III,
Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, of Alexandria, and of Jerusalem
given in Amman, Jordan (May 2005) and in the Sultanate of Oman (2006)
following the outline of that given at the opening of the Al-Liqa’ Centre
in Lebanon (2003)

Friede, Zusammenleben,
Christlische Präsenz im Nahen Osten

Patriarch von Antiochen und dem ganzen Orient
von Alexandrien und Jerusalem

Peace, Living Together and the Christian Presence
in the Arab Middle East

Lecture at the Sheptytsky Institute
Ottawa 23 November 2006
“Does Christianity have a Future in the Middle East?”

Gregorios III
Patriarch of Antioch and of All the East,
Of Alexandria and of Jerusalem
For the Melkite Greek Catholics

Patriarchal Paschal Message, 2006
The Feast of the Glorious Resurrection – Charity and Resurrection

Gregorios, by the grace and mercy of God,
Patriarch of Antioch and of All the East, of Alexandria and of Jerusalem:
May divine grace and apostolic blessing fill
our brother bishops, members of the Holy Synod,
and all faithful clergy and laity of our Melkite Greek Catholic Church.

Damascus, Christmas, 25 December 2005
Translated from the French by V. Chamberlain

Patriarchal Christmas Message, 2004
Emmanuel – God with us