Fearful of the introduction of Sharia law and awaiting a new Constitution, Syria’s Christians wait with bated breath. The Maronite Patriarch and the bishops of the different Churches defend the idea of citizenship and equal rights. The self-criticism of the Maronite archbishop of Damascus who admits the “lack of courage” to “tell the truth” about the atrocities committed by the deposed regime.
Beirut () – The head of the Maronite Church, Patriarch Beshara Raï, has encouraged Syrian Christians – suspended between hope and fear for the future – and reduced today more than ever to a tiny minority (a population reduced by two-thirds since the start of the civil war in 2011) to remain in their country. An invitation accompanied by an exhortation to resolutely commit to the reconstruction of their homeland, basing this rebirth “on the principle of citizenship and equality, without discrimination for religious, confessional, ethnic or cultural reasons.”
The cardinal made the exhortation in the homily at Sunday Mass celebrated yesterday, in which he spoke about the situation of Christians in Syria after the fall of Bashar al Assad’s regime. The long-serving dictator was overthrown by a coalition of rebels and opponents led by the Islamic group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (Hts). “Syria is the cradle of Christianity in the region,” recalled the primate, whose Church was born in Antioch, one of the main cities of Syria in Roman times, and which bears the name of “Patriarch of Antioch and all the East.”
Commenting on the “reassuring” words of HTS leader Ahmed el-Chareh, alias Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, who encouraged Christians not to change their attitude, the Patriarch added: “Christians must live their natural and active presence in the within Syrian society, being a genuine and essential component of it. In this sense, Lebanese television broadcast yesterday afternoon the Christmas tree lighting ceremony in front of the Notre-Dame de Tartous cathedral, on the Syrian coast, in the presence of the local Maronite bishop, Antoine Chbeir.
According to Afp, in Aleppo, the Latin Church immediately recovered a property occupied by the Baath party, in power for more than sixty years, and hung the Vatican flag there. The patriarchal exhortation comes at a time when the truth is coming to light and rumors are spreading about the ruthless nature of the police regime established by President Hafez el-Assad, who came to power in 1971, and then by his son, who happened. The Assads, belonging to the Alawite minority, ruled Syria with an iron fist for 53 years, in the name of an “alliance of minorities” that demonized Sunni Islam, the majority in Syria, and which led, in particular, to the repression of a Muslim Brotherhood uprising in Hama (February 1982), during which tens of thousands of Syrians were massacred.
Self-criticism
In this regard, and for the first time in public, the Maronite Archbishop of Damascus, Monsignor Samir Nassar, self-critically criticized the behavior of the Churches in Syria. “We have not been brave enough to tell the truth,” he admitted. Hundreds of thousands of Syrians have been imprisoned in unspeakable conditions, killed or “disappeared” under this dictatorship. Speaking to Caroline Hayek, special correspondent for L’Orient-Le Jour (LOJ), the archbishop described a Syria in which everyone, including the clergy, was “under surveillance 24 hours a day” and in which he himself , when he was in office, he shared his ideas “quietly,” even outside Syria.
“The secret services, the ‘moukhabarat’, were everywhere,” underlines Bishop Nassar. They passed by the cook, the porter, the sacristan […]. There were fourteen intelligence services and daily reports […]. “Everyone controlled everyone else,” he continues, “and many priests were also involved in this system. One day they even found a microphone in a pen in my drawer. […]’. From now on, the prelate concludes, “we must not think as a community, but as citizens.”
“Revolution of the gaze”
These were the words of the Syrian Catholic Archbishop of Homs, Hama and Dabek, Monsignor Jacques Mourad, at a press conference organized in Damascus on December 13 by the French association L’Œuvre d’Orient, present in Syria for more than 150 years. years. Member of the Mar Musa communityfounded by the Jesuit Father Paolo Dall’Oglio, Missing in Syria since 2013, the archbishop, taken hostage by the Islamic State group in 2015, defended the idea of a “revolution of the gaze.” «There is work to do to free our gaze. We must heal our memory,” he insisted. ‘Let’s help this new State, even if it proclaims itself Muslim […]. “We are called to assume our responsibilities in the direction of this country.”
Monsignor Mourad, however, spoke out against the project of making Sharia (Islamic law) the source of institutions, as claimed by some of the new masters of Syria, including the Minister of Justice of the provisional government (in office until March 2025). “We have fought against injustice,” he said, “but not for Sharia to replace the Palace of Justice.” Finally, the prelate called for the lifting of US and international sanctions against Syria, stating that “these sanctions have not affected the ruling class, but have reduced the people to poverty.” “80% of Syrians live below the poverty line.”
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