VATICAN CITY (CNS): Concern, and even alarm, over the real threat of the disappearance of Christians from the Middle East was a recurrent theme at the Synod of Bishops focusing on the region.
Christians, who were present in the region long before Islam, “are presently facing a deadly dilemma: to choose between disappearance and isolation, which would bring an end to their historical role and their mission”, secretary general of Lebanon’s National Committee for Islamic-Christian Dialogue Hares Chehab said.
Mr Chehab, a papally appointed observer at the synod, addressed the gathering on October 12 and echoed concerns voiced by a variety of bishops who spoke before him.
The region was gradually emptying itself of Christians, “who had contributed so much to the elaboration of its civilisation, and were always the pioneers in the battle for its freedom, its ascent to modernity”, he said.
The emigration of Christians cannot be attributed only to economic difficulties, “otherwise the whole region would have been depopulated”, Mr Chehab said.
He pointed instead to “discrimination, persecution in certain areas, fear in others, the lack of freedom (and) inequality of rights” as the leading motives for leaving.
A key to addressing the problem was to strengthen Christian-Muslim dialogue, he said. But while dialogue was taking place in many countries throughout the region, too often it never got beyond the common belief in one God and values like the importance of family, which Christians and Muslims shared, he said.
The standard dialogue style “should give way from now on to another form where the language of complaisance would be banned, to focus especially on truth, no matter how hard it is, but with love and sincerity”, Mr Chehab said.
Mr Chehab, like many of the synod members, pointed to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as the chief reason for the strained relations and sense of insecurity that push many Christians to flee the region.
Melkite Patriarch Gregoire III Laham of Damascus, Syria, told the synod that “among the most dangerous effects of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict” was the phenomenon of Christian emigration, “which will make Arab society a society with only one colour, a society uniquely Muslim”.
If the Middle East was seen as Muslim and the West seen as Christian, “any occasion would be propitious for a new clash of cultures, of civilisations and even of religions – a destructive clash between the Muslim Arab East and the Christian West”, the patriarch said.
Patriarch Laham also called for increased Christian-Muslim dialogue and for Christians to tell their Muslim brothers and sisters “what our fears are”, including concern about a lack of separation between religion and government, lack of equality and about a legal system that is based on Islamic law.
United States Cardinal John Foley, who is grand master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, told the synod that praying for peace in the Middle East was an obligation all Christians shared.
“I am convinced that the continued tension between the Israelis and the Palestinians has contributed greatly to the turmoil in all of the Middle East and also to the growth of Islamic fundamentalism,” he said.
“While many, including the Holy See, have suggested a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian crisis, the more time passes, the more difficult such a solution becomes, as the building of Israeli settlements and Israeli-controlled infrastructure in East Jerusalem and in other parts of the West Bank make increasingly difficult the development of a viable and integral Palestinian state,” the cardinal said.
