On the occasion of the publication of the 2 new books:
I Cristiani In Medio Oriente – Tra Furuto, Tradizione E Islam
Un Destino Comune – Christiani E Musulmani In Medio Oriente
Which were produced by the community of St Egidio, I may speak on 3 main issues.
First:
The Christian Muslim dialogue in the Middle East:
This is one of the vital and important issues concerning the Christian presence and how it could be strong; especially that a dramatic change has occurred in the number of Christians everywhere.
In some places, Christian Muslim dialogue is not possible because one of the partners does not exist; namely: the Christians.
In other places, Christianity is directly being threatened by the Muslims, as it is the case in Iraq and Mosul in particular; where a Bishop, clergy, deacons with many lay were assassinated for one reason which is their faith.
This episode brought back the memory of the massacres of 1895 and 1915, besides the consequences of other terrible situations here and there in the Middle East.
There are also places where Christian Muslim Dialogue us taking place in a fraternal atmosphere, producing qualified people who are ready to fulfill the desire of those people who are willing to live together, even in a time of crisis because they belong to the family of God.
Therefore, strengthening the relations between Muslims and Christians through dialogue is a MUST, because pluralism in religions, denominations, cultures, as well as ethnicity is strength for the whole humanity, and for my case it is strength for the whole Middle East area.
In this situation I have to sadly mention that the only instrument which was minimizing tensions and bringing Christians and Muslims together; namely the Middle East Council of Churches, has failed in its mission. This was a disaster, because the Middle East Council of Churches in the past was a good space to play a great role not only to call for a better encounter between different churches but also to emphasize that Christians and Muslims should live together because they have many things in common. First of all, they are citizens of their countries and nobody claims that one group is a new comer. Hence the Christian presence in the Middle East after the First World War became one of the priorities on the agenda of the concerns of Church leaders.
I have to mention, here, that the Islamic Christian National Dialogue Committee plays a good role only in Lebanon and Egypt, and not in the whole region.
Secondly, right now we are attending a Special Assembly for the Middle East of the Synod of Bishops. The main topic is: The Catholic Church in the Middle East; Communion and Witness. The participants should remind themselves with the word of Acts: “Now the company of those who believed were of one heart and soul“.
I, as a representative of my church, feel very grateful to the convocation of this Synod of Bishops. I am convinced that the work recently done by all churches in the Middle East through the participation of the non-Catholic Churches and Muslims is a good background for this Synod. At the same time, the churches in the Middle East should be aware of the good will and intensive programs produced by the Community of St. Egidio.
I would like to mention here that in the past 25 years, Prof. Andrea Riccardi, the founder of the community of St. Egidio, and his collaborators did an excellent job through the meetings as follow ups for the Assisi event in 1986. In Assisi, the Holy Spirit led the late Pope John Paul II to invite all leaders and representatives of the main different religions in the world to come together and pray for peace. As one of the participants, I still remember that occasion.
The main success of that meeting was the respect of all rivals, warriors and fighters towards the call of His Holiness to the truce. It was a great moment in the contemporary history where humanity realized that there is always a possibility of accepting the call for truce.
I come from the Middle East and I still remember that it was a joyful moment for all rival parties, especially the Israelis and Palestinians, who accepted to stop the war, at least for one day. This was a big gesture, which should be recorded in the contemporary history of humanity. The community of St. Egidio wanted to follow the steps of late Pope John Paul II.
I believe, and everybody who knows the community also believes with me, that a successful job has been done.
The third point is that the community of St. Egidio produced 2 books of a high level:
I Cristiani In Medio Oriente – Tra Furuto, Tradizione E Islam
Un Destino Comune – Christiani E Musulmani In Medio Oriente
Both books have to do with the Christian presence in the Middle East.
The first one: I Cristiani In Medio Oriente – Tra Furuto, Tradizione E Islam
tackles the issue of Christians in the Middle East between Future, Tradition and Islam.
Our dear friend Fr Vittorio Ianari in his Introduction indicates that the Middle East, at this stage, lives a period of significant changes. Therefore, the issues presented during this round table are very important:
- The significance of the minority to be a Christian in the Middle East between tradition and politics.
- The Iraqi Christians from Saddam Hussein until today.
- The Christians in Syria.
- The most great Christian minority in the Arab World.
- The Christians in the Holy Land. And
- The Christians of the Middle East: a new role and decline.
From these titles of papers, we notice what the concerns of Church leaders are today in relation to Christians in the Middle East.
The second book: Un Destino Comune – Christiani E Musulmani In Medio Oriente has 3 dimensions; the richness of spirituality, culture, solidarity and education, and finally a window at the world.
The developments between the first and the second gatherings called by St. Egidio is that some Muslim scholars and journalists join the Christians to speak on the common destiny.
I am very much impressed with the words of Prof. Andrea Riccardi, who wrote that the Christians of the West interrogate themselves for what to do to stop the decline of their oriental brothers.
These 2 books might be of great help for those who want to deepen their views on the Christian Presence from one side and on the Christian Muslim Dialogue on the other side.
My last observation would be: what about the future: is there any possibility to establish a new agenda to protect the Christians of the Middle East today? We are at 2 different topics:
1. The protection of Christians in the Middle East; across the history, there were different efforts to convince the Christians that they are protected by the majority. In reality, the declined number of Christians is an indication that those efforts did not convince all the Christians to feel that they are really protected. One example is the consequences of the different wars in the area, the massacres of the Christians from the midst of the 19th century until recent years like in Iraq.
I do not believe that protection should come from any place except from the region itself. But, the question is how to lead and convince the fanatic groups and individuals who are creating troubles for themselves, as well as for their Christian brothers.
2. How much can the West help both parties; Christians and Muslims to live together?
The attempts and endeavours of the St. Egidio community, and now the Acts of the Special Assembly for the Middle East of the Synod of Bishops are creating awareness everywhere. They are also building bridges for the continuation of the mission of fraternity and friendship between Christians and Muslims the Middle East.
Any other attempt comes from other willing partners is for building and the continuation of witness and presence of Christians in the Middle East.