ITALY Vicar of Anatolia: the Syriac tradition ‘third lung’ of Christianity

A book signed by Bishop Bizzeti and the prior of Bose, Sabino Chialà, describes the churches, monasteries and places of Christian Syriac tradition for pilgrims and cultured people. A “valuable” reality, from the texts to the monasteries, which has remained “more in touch with the Semitic culture”. A “spiritual” dimension capable of fascinating young people. Today a meeting will take place in Milan.

Milan () – After the Byzantine and Western Churches, the Syriac – born in Antioch – also has great value because, as it spread to the East, “it remained more in contact with the Semitic culture, with the world in which the Bible was born. That is why Bishop Paolo Bizzeti, Apostolic Vicar of Anatolia and President of Caritas Turkey, decided to write, together with Fr. Sabino Chialà, Prior of the Bose monastic community, a book entitled “Turkey. Churches and monasteries of the Syriac tradition”, whose original version in Italian will soon be translated into English and Turkish. The text offers a description of the main places of this tradition together with a gallery of images, information and maps, and will be the subject of the meeting organized for this afternoon in Milan by the San Fedele Foundation, in which both authors will also participate.

“In the Syriac liturgy – he tells – there is an approach to the mystery of salvation through images, poems and narratives that is different from the Byzantine and Latin ones, more linked to Hellenistic culture”. The vicar of Anatolia explains that it is a fascinating theological culture, rich in symbols and poetic inspiration, which today is once again the center of attention; metaphors and images “with an evocative and suggestive charge” that goes beyond the “cold definition”.

The Syriac tradition, an essential component of Christianity in Turkey, has left strong traces in the southeastern region, which is considered an “intermediate point” between East and West despite the persecution and forced exile of entire populations. It preserves a heritage of inestimable value, made up of architectural jewels and small communities that still endure. The development of local and international tourism -especially in Mardin and Midyat- and the few indications to trace these ancient architectural treasures and value their history, led Bishop Bizzeti and Brother Sabino Chialà to write this guide. It is a useful book for the educated pilgrim and traveler to learn about localities and religious sites, churches and monasteries that would otherwise be difficult to find.

The Syriacs, says Bishop Bizzeti, “have remained linked to this territory” with their monasteries and churches in northern Syria, Iraq and southeastern Turkey, and represent an “interesting way, not alternative but complementary” to the Western of conceiving places of worship. For example, great importance is given to the ambo, on which the word of God is placed, as the Second Vatican Council recalls when it underlines “the importance of the Bible and of the Word.” Lastly, there are elements of “architectural and artistic” interest thanks to the restoration work on buildings from the 4th, 5th and 6th centuries “perfectly preserved, in which the skilful use of stone and the integration between” the church proper and the place where the faithful could gather after the liturgies. They are splendid structures -he says- that have nothing to envy our monasteries”.

The work of Bishop Bizzeti and Bro. Sabino Chialà makes available to the public a great heritage that ranges from texts to “hard to find” places. In fact, one of the objectives is “to give precise indications to reach them and be able to appreciate them”. Then there is a symbolic journey through history and its origins, to “guide the pilgrim along the path of discovery and knowledge.” “In the Syriac tradition there is also a Catholic and an Orthodox branch, but both offer an interesting way of being Church -he underlines- due to the importance of the laity, the monasteries as centers of evangelization and a very rich liturgy. For example, there are about 90 sentences of Preface”. Finally, a “flourishing” spiritual reality is also discovered, and it is even more and more frequent to observe “young people who immediately fall in tune with these texts, which go beyond the dry definitions of our catechisms”.