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  • Syria's Christian churches face political, religious challenges

    Catholic News Service
    Nov. 2, 2004

    Syria's Christian churches face political, religious challenges

    By John Thavis
    Catholic News Service

    DAMASCUS, Syria (CNS) -- The ancient Christian churches of Syria, small
    in numbers but vibrant in faith, are facing new challenges brought by
    political instability and religious extremism outside the country's
    borders.

    The war in Iraq has unleashed violence and terrorism by groups claiming
    to act in the name of Islam, sending tens of thousands of Iraqi
    Christians -- along with many Muslims -- fleeing into Syria.

    Although the Syrian government has steered a moderate course and
    clamped down on any form of fanaticism, the percolation of Islamic
    fundamentalism throughout the Middle East worries Christians in Syria.

    Internally, the churches also face a major demographic problem, as many
    of their younger members continue to emigrate to places of prosperity
    and security abroad. Syria's Christian community has shrunk in recent
    years to about 10 percent of the population.

    Despite these problems, most Syrian pastors and lay faithful speak
    hopefully about their churches' future in a country that has taken
    pains to protect their religious rights.

    "I think we can be optimistic. Christians have been here for many
    centuries and are generally well seen by our Muslim brothers. There can
    be no 'clash of cultures' because we share the same culture," Armenian
    Orthodox Bishop Shahan Sarkisian of Aleppo said in an interview in late
    October.

    Catholic leaders echoed that sentiment.

    "When you look at the fundamentalism outside of Syria, I wonder if this
    government could become a tool to help stop it. Perhaps Syria could
    become a model for other countries," said Melkite Archbishop
    Jean-Clement Jeanbart of Aleppo.

    Syrian Christians and Muslims categorically reject the accusation made
    by the Bush administration that Syria supports terrorism. The topic
    often provokes an animated response.

    "I read that Syria is on the list of countries supporting terrorism.
    Can you imagine such a thing? This is not true at all," said Melkite
    Patriarch Gregoire III Laham of Damascus.

    Most Syrians say the terrorism accusation is simply U.S. politics. They
    say Syria's ruling Baath Party, which maintains total political
    control, would never allow Islamic militancy to sprout here. And as one
    Christian in Aleppo put it, the Syrian government is "too smart" to get
    into a showdown with the United States.

    But the arrival of so many Iraqi refugees is a daily reminder of how
    quickly things can change. As in Syria, Iraq's Baath regime ruled over
    a secular state, and the Christian minority was well protected. Now,
    many of them are fleeing for their lives from religious persecution in
    Iraq.

    "The Americans came and now the whole country has been opened up to
    fighting. Every border is open, anyone can come in. Fundamentalist
    Muslims are flowing into the country," said one Iraqi Christian woman
    who arrived with her family in Aleppo in October.

    Syria's Muslim leaders are among the most vigilant against extremist
    manifestations of Islam.

    Sheik Salah Kuftaro, who runs a highly influential Islamic foundation
    and school in Damascus, said in an interview that Syrian society is
    currently "free from the seeds of terrorism and extremism," and he
    predicted it would remain that way. His father, the late Syrian Grand
    Mufti Ahmad Kuftaro, welcomed Pope John Paul II on his historic visit
    to the Umayyad mosque in 2001.

    The younger Kuftaro said one guarantee of continuing religious
    tolerance in Syria is that his father trained hundreds of Islamic
    teachers who will follow his example. One of them was recently named by
    the government to head the Ministry of Religious Affairs, he said.

    "So we have good hopes to be able to deal with any form of extremism
    that may arise," he said.

    Syria's bishops also make frequent speaking appearances at Islamic
    meetings to preach tolerance and dialogue. Melkite Archbishop Isidore
    Battikha of Damascus recently found himself cheered by a Muslim
    audience when he declared that Christians must never be labeled
    "infidels."

    "I see no serious clouds on our horizon. On the other hand, Syria is a
    nation of young people, and young people are easily influenced. My
    concern is that outside forces don't end up influencing our Muslim
    youth," Archbishop Battikha said.

    What appears to bother Syrian Christians much more than potential
    problems with Muslims is that they feel somewhat forgotten in the West.
    Media portrayals of Syria, they say, typically leave out the country's
    rich Christian heritage. Few Westerners would guess that Damascus is
    the Arab capital with the largest number of Christians in the Middle
    East, they say.

    Syria was the land of the apostles, where St. Paul had his conversion,
    where some of the first Christian writers and theologians lived and
    where important monastic, liturgical and theological traditions grew
    up.

    That tradition survives in the 11 main church groupings, including the
    Melkite, Syrian, Maronite, Chaldean, Armenian and Latin rites of the
    Catholic Church, that form the Christian community in Syria today.
    Church leaders and ordinary faithful cooperate ecumenically; two
    "shared" Catholic-Orthodox churches have been built in recent years,
    and it is not unusual for members of one church to attend Sunday
    services of a different rite.

    Weekly liturgical attendance in Syria is very high, according to all
    the churches. Many young people return during the week for catechism,
    charity clubs, Scouts or prayer meetings. One expert estimated that 60
    percent of Syria's Catholic youths belong to some kind of church
    movement or group.

    One is 25-year-old Nizar Matta in Damascus, a member of the Fraternity
    of Holy Mary in his Damascus parish. He and about 100 other young
    Catholics get together for activities that focus on prayer and service,
    like helping the handicapped or city cleanup campaigns. There is no
    strict agenda or regimen.

    "We are just trying to live as Jesus taught," Matta said.

    At the same time, the evolving Syrian culture -- complete with
    Internet, cell phones and satellite TV -- is changing the way young
    people relate to the church and traditional values, several sources
    said.

    "Materialism and globalization are confusing young people and creating
    a gap between faith and technology. More of their time is given to
    pursuing material goods, and this is new," said Ghassan Talab, an
    Orthodox Christian in Damascus who heads the Syrian branch of an
    international Catholic youth movement.

    In a first-of-its-kind meeting in Syria, Catholic young people in
    Aleppo organized a three-day Christian youth festival last summer. It
    attracted some 5,000 people and was considered a huge success.

    "I've had about 300 e-mails since then, thanking us and asking when the
    next one will be held," said Majd Maqdessi, a 24-year-old Catholic who
    helped organize the event.

    Emigration has taken away many young Christians, often the most
    educated, and that is likely to continue for the foreseeable future,
    church sources said. Most are seeking a better life in a more secure
    part of the world, they said.

    "If you ask young people, most of them would want to emigrate," said
    George Barnotty, a 30-year-old Christian agricultural engineer who is
    trying to decide whether to go abroad. Housing and jobs are the biggest
    problems in Syria, he said.

    In Aleppo, the Melkite church has taken preventive action, offering
    low-rent housing to some 300 Christian families. The archdiocese also
    operates a small institute that trains young people for jobs in the
    tourism industry, which some expect to grow rapidly if peace ever comes
    to the region.

    Increasingly, the churches of Syria are operating elementary and
    secondary schools, too. Catholic schools were confiscated by the
    government in 1967, but some exceptions have been granted in recent
    years.

    In an interview Oct. 27, Suleiman al-Khatib, a top official of the
    Syrian Ministry of Education, said a recent law opens the door to
    church-run schools, as long as they teach the government curriculum,
    which includes some general religious education.

    That news pleased Aleppo's Archbishop Jeanbart, who has embarked on
    major educational projects in his city. He is opening a new wing of the
    Catholic high school this fall; it is financed largely by Catholic
    donors living abroad.

    The Pontifical Mission for Palestine, the operating agency in the
    Middle East for the Catholic Near East Welfare Association, also helps
    fund Syrian church projects, such as the new Catholic-Orthodox
    "ecumenical church" in a suburb of Damascus.

    Archbishop Battikha said the Pontifical Mission also has provided
    significant funding in areas of catechetics, summer youth activities,
    residences for priests and a new theological institute in Damascus.

    In Aleppo, Archbishop Jeanbart said Catholic social and educational
    institutions offer needed services to Christians and Muslims alike. One
    unique example is the 65-bed St. Louis Hospital, where seven Sisters of
    St. Joseph do double duty as administrators and nurses. Most of the
    patients are Muslims.

    Archbishop Jeanbart said it was important to keep expanding church
    programs for two other reasons: They remind Muslims that the church is
    a global institution with big resources, and they show local Christians
    that the church is planning ahead.

    "Communicating confidence in the future is one of the greatest things
    we can do for our Christians here," he said.
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