The fall of the Damascus regime has also brought reactions in the Orthodox patriarchate, heir to one of the most important sees of ancient Christianity, with a mysterious movement sympathetic to the new Islamist regime that – between accusations of collaborationism and old grudges – calls for the resignation of Ioann X. In the background are the relations with Moscow, with which this Church continues to be linked, although without having broken with Constantinople.
Moscow () – The fall of Bashar al Assad’s regime has caused tremors in the Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch, the easternmost of the “apostolic pentarchy” of the first centuries of Christianity, which today has its headquarters in Damascus. A “Movement for Antiochian Changes” has also been formed, made up of Christians favorable to the new Islamist regime, which would demand the resignation of the pro-Russian Patriarch Ioann .
It is not clear who the anti-patriarchal movement really represents, but the reaction of the Syrian press demonstrates its ability to influence the internal balances of the ecclesiastical and social world, also taking into account the difficulties of the patriarchy in establishing a dialogue with the new power of Damascus. The legitimacy of the role of Ioann years since his appointment, while Yazigi was a few months away.
The synod already modified the statute during the election, and the Assad government immediately confirmed these changes, emphatically celebrating the election of Ioann allowed Assad to interfere in the internal affairs of the Church, which would thus “lose its independence”, and the Syrian Orthodox “the confidence in their spiritual leaders.”
Ioann has just turned 69 and is originally from the northwestern province of Latakia, homeland of the Assad clan, where Russian military bases are also located. In 2013, the patriarch’s younger brother, the then Metropolitan of Aleppo Pavel (Yazigi), was kidnapped along with the Archbishop of the Syrian-Jacobite Church Mar Grigorios Ioann Ibrahim. Their fate remains unknown to this day, although the local press reported that they were murdered by Isis terrorists, opponents of Assad.
Four days after Assad fled to Moscow, where he was granted political asylum, Ioann is currently suffering. From the Patriarchate of Moscow came calls to militarily oppose the Islamist forces, when the capital Damascus had not yet been conquered, otherwise Russia would have “lost its status as Katekhon”, that is, as a universal embankment against evil, according to the expression of protodeacon Vladimir Vasilik, professor at the St. Petersburg Theological Academy. In his opinion, not defending the Assad regime would mean a “shameful defeat also in Ukraine, due to the refusal to defend Christians anywhere in the earthly sphere.”
Before the war – which has caused many to leave the country – Christians represented 5-6% of Syria’s more than 20 million inhabitants; Among them, the majority are Arab-speaking Orthodox from the Patriarchate of Antioch, nearly half a million faithful, led by hierarchs of Greek ethnicity. Under Assad, Christmas and Easter were celebrated as national holidays of the State, while this year, on Christmas Eve, Ioann Al-Jolani, who ensured “respect for the rights of Christians” in Syria.
The Patriarchate of Antioch remains in political and also ecclesiastical suspense, since it is the only Church that explicitly supports Moscow, without having broken relations with Constantinople, against the backdrop of the recognition of kyiv’s autocephaly. And if the country were to undergo decisive Islamization, it cannot be ruled out that the ancient Antiochian see would move in other directions, as has happened several times in history. Perhaps to Lebanon, if not even to Moscow, in the warm embrace of the Third Rome.
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