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Last Updated: 19 February 2013

CWNews.com - Pope Benedict XVI formally closed the Synod of Bishops for the Middle East with a Mass in St. Peter’s basilica on Sunday, October 24. In his homily the Holy Father called for solidarity among the Christians in the Middle East and for continued drive for a lasting peace in the region.

“We must never resign ourselves to the absence of peace,” the Pope said. “Peace is possible. Peace is urgent.”

During the Mass—which he concelebrated with the 177 bishops and priests who had participated in the Synod—the Pope reflected on the day’s Scripture readings, with their exhortation to persistent prayer. “Today the Word of God offers us a light of consoling hope,” he said. When the troubled people of the Middle East pray, or when others pray for them, the Pontiff observed: “The cry of the poor and the oppressed finds an immediate echo in God, Who desires to intervene to create a way out, to restore a future of freedom, a horizon of hope.”

During the Synod, the Pope continued, the participants affirmed “the liturgical, spiritual and theological wealth of the Eastern Catholic churches, as well as of the Latin Church.” The Synod underlined the need for unity within these different churches, and unity among all the Catholic churches in the region. Unity within Catholicism, the Pope remarked, can only help the process of ecumenical work.

The Pope next spoke of the volatile political situation in the region, and the moral imperative of work toward peace. "Conflicts, wars, violence and terrorism have gone on for too long in the Middle East,” he said. “Peace, which is a gift of God, is also the result of the efforts of men of goodwill, of national and international institutions, in particular of the states most involved in the search for a solution to conflicts.”

A lasting peace will help curb the flow of Christian emigrants from the region, the Pope said. He also called for efforts to assure “authentic freedom of religion and conscience, one of the fundamental human rights that each state should always respect.” The subject of religious freedom, he said pointedly, should be “the subject of dialogue between Christians and Muslims.”

Source(s): these links will take you to other sites, in a new window.

• We Must Never Resign Ourselves to the Absence of Peace (VIS)
• Pope Benedict calls for peace in the Middle East (Vatican Radio)

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Last Updated: 19 February 2013

Melkite Greek Catholic PATRIARCHATE of Antioch and All the East of Alexandria and of Jerusalem

The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: brave peace

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the crucial conflict in the Middle East that has been feeding all rancour, revolution and extremism for more than sixty years! It is the mother-crisis of all the regional crises that feed on these revolts and disappointments engendered by abortive peace negotiations or rather still-born preliminaries.

Yet, if we only make the effort to shake off our prejudices and accept to listen to others in complete empathy with their wishes and non-negotiable demands, we quite simply discover that room can be found for negotiations and even room for possible, viable peace between these well-defined and in principle non-negotiable positions.

Palestinians and Israelis each have the right to have and to live in a sovereign State with secure borders. And no-one will dispute for either of them this inalienable right of peoples to arrange their own affairs.

Israelis cannot betray either their faith or their nationalism. According to the Bible, the State of Israel - the national territory of the Kingdom of Israel - is the whole of Palestine. From the perspective of faith Palestine is the Promised Land of the chosen people and the national Homeland of the nationalist dream of Judaism.

Hence we can understand that any Prime Minister, Member of Parliament or other Israeli leader who proposes a solution that fails to take into account those two requirements - of faith and nationalism - would be seen as a traitor to his faith and nation.

The decision to decree that Israel is a Jewish country originates in this duality that underlies the State of Israel, a duality that, obligatorily, leads into an impasse every attempt at negotiations even if they are not still-born. Anyway, as at Masada, this is Jewish suicide.

Each of the parties, Israelis and Palestinians, are facing the wall of certainties raised by the other side. Only the intervention of a third party can get them and us out of this impasse.

This intervention would be that of an international moral force. As the UN sponsored the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, let the international community, the influential countries, have the courage today rather than tomorrow to force Israel to accept the creation of two viable States with secure borders, living side by side as good neighbours.

This moral pressure must be considered as a support for the Jewish people. Indeed, strengthened by sincere friendship not devoid of respect for the identity of the Jewish people, this pressure should consist in persuading the Israeli political class to renounce the strict, literal application of the two foundations of Israel: that of religion and Jewish nationalism. Thus compelled by the international community, Israeli leaders will no longer then be considered as traitors to the party but "having yielded to overwhelming international pressure," including that of their closest, most unconditional allies.

This pressure has no link - and should especially not be linked - with the bilateral treaties of co-operation and development aid and the alliances that Israelis or Palestinians have with this or that other country. On the contrary, this pressure, and in particular the acceptance of this solution by the Israelis, must be accompanied by international co-operation and support multiplied for both States. True peace feeds on development and prosperity without forgetting that the peoples must see in reality the beneficial effects of peace on their daily lives so that they can believe in it and begin to look at the others differently. They will then begin another kind of relationship - that of good neighbourliness, even if that will need time.

The question of the status of Jerusalem must be dealt with differently. Let's be realistic. Modern Israel has already made Tel Aviv its economic and administrative capital and Ramallah is already the seat of the Palestinian Authority. Jerusalem is everyone's. Jerusalem is the holy city and must have a particular status so that everyone can come and live their faith there. We discussed at great length the question of the status of Jerusalem during our talk at the Sant' Egidio Meeting in Barcelona from 3 to 6 October 2010 [see appended document.]

So the international community, in all its institutions and through its influential members, must be that moral authority that fosters this project of two States living side by side in peace. Today, as in 1948, but this time in the service of peace!

Gregorios III

Patriarch

Translation from French: V. Chamberlain

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Last Updated: 19 February 2013

Melkite Greek Catholic PATRIARCHATE of Antioch and All the East of Alexandria and of Jerusalem

Speech of H. B. Patriarch Gregorios III

During the Synod of Bishops:

Special Assembly for the Middle East

Rome 10-24 October 2010

 

Ecclesiology and Ecumenism

 

The Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, promulgated by the Venerable Pope John Paul II, says very properly that the Patriarch is Pater et Caput of his Church. The title of Patriarch is a synodal title. We very much regretted the fact that the Pope renounced his title of Patriarch.

Cardinal and Patriarch

Consequently, we want to have a role in the decisions taken about our faithful. We want to be closer to the Pope, without however becoming part of the College of Cardinals. The title of Patriarch is different, from the perspectives of protocol, ecclesiology, pastorate and history, from that of Cardinal. The Patriarch is neither superior nor inferior to the Cardinal: there is a difference of category. The title of Cardinal, which for very special reasons, was conferred on my predecessor Patriarch Maximos IV and more recently on certain of my colleagues, Patriarchs and Major Archbishops here present, confronts us with an ecclesiological problem. So we prefer to remain satisfied with the great inheritance comprised in the title of Patriarch.

Patriarchal Council around the Pope

As a corollary of that, we repeat our previously formulated proposal, which has a pastoral, ecumenical, ecclesiological and even political significance: significance for our presence in the Muslim Arab world, and importance for the dual title of this Synodal Assembly, Communion and Witness.

The proposal is the following: we are keen to request firmly that we form a Patriarchal Council around the Pope to meet according to its own agenda.

We hope that this proposal will be adopted by this Synodal Assembly and accepted by His Holiness as primordial and important fruit of this Synodal Assembly and for a good outcome of its acts and results.

Eastern Catholic Churches

From the rostrum of this Special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, which is entitled, The Catholic Church in the Middle East: Communion and Witness, we ask for a clarification as far as we are concerned. We are Eastern Catholic Churches. Why are these attributes suppressed?

We do not wish in any way to hide these Eastern titles, because of the minority presence (except in the Apostolic Vicariates of Kuwait and Saudi Arabia) of the Latin Church in the East.

We ask to be treated as Eastern Catholic Patriarchal Churches. We are neither suffragans nor dependent dioceses of some dicastery or other, as is continually stated in some Roman news bulletins.

Synod and episcopal conference

Our Synods are very different from Latin Episcopal Conferences. It should be noted that the concept of an Episcopal Conference was set out at the Second Vatican Council by our predecessor of blessed memory, Patriarch Maximos IV.

But his idea was very different from what is today the Episcopal Conference of the Latin Church. He wanted it to be an embryo of the patriarchal system.

Retreat on the ecclesiological level

We wish to be taken seriously when we tell you that our tradition, in its fullness, is Eastern and Orthodox, not Latin and Western.

In the measure that you take us seriously as authentically Eastern Churches, to that same degree the Orthodox world will believe in the veracity of the ecumenical activity and dialogue of the Roman Church.

Unfortunately, the decrees of Vatican II Unitiatis Redintegratio and Orientalium Ecclesiarum have not been sufficiently incarnate in the life and ecclesial praxis of the Latin Church nor in that of several Roman Dicasteries, contrary to what was hoped.

The Dies Orientalis instituted by Pius XI practically disappeared after Vatican II.

Interest for the Eastern Churches in general (Catholic and Orthodox) has lessened in the West, both on the official level and on the level of the faithful.

Ecclesiology was more sensitive towards the East before the Council and during its celebration, but it did not progress after the Council.

Election of bishops in the Eastern tradition

For more than two centuries, our Church elected its bishops in the context of our synods, but since the Council, our elections have to be sanctioned by a Roman enquiry.

The late Metropolitan Neophytos Edelby, in his book The Eastern Churches (written in collaboration with Archimandrite Ignace Dick) wrote, "The Melkite Synod, presided over by the Patriarch, has always proceeded freely to the election of bishops, without being required to have any prior authorisation or confirmation from the Holy See."

From 1817 to 1954, the election of just twenty-three bishops of our Church was confirmed by the Apostolic See of Rome, and that at the express request of the Patriarch or of the bishop concerned.

Canons 251-255 of the Motu Proprio, Cleri Sanctitate of Pope Pius XII (2 June 1957) prescribe that the election of a bishop by the synod must be communicated by the Patriarch to the Roman Pontiff, who, if the elected does not figure in the list of "episcopable" priests previously drawn up (by vote) by the synod and confirmed by the Pope, either confirms or rejects the election. From 1959 to 1962, six hierarchs of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church were confirmed in that way by Rome after their election by the synod.

The Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches (1990), on the basis of the Vatican's decisions, keeps the list of episcopables and replaces the "confirmation" of the episcopal lists by what is called the "consent" of the Pope to the election.This issue has been the subject of several meetings of the Council of Eastern Catholic Patriarchs, which presented a collective paper on the matter to the Holy Father in October 2001, that was almost completely in agreement with the viewpoint set out on 21 January, 2000 in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith by the then Patriarch of Antioch of the Syrians, now Emeritus, His Most Eminent Beatitude Cardinal Ignatius Moussa Daoud.As we did already during the plenary session of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches in November, 2002, we propose a slight modification to canon 182 of the CCEC (CCEO), with a view to introducing a more collegial procedure for gathering information about candidates for the episcopate, without losing the spirit of the legislation.That means that the Pope and the synod will together exercise their prerogative and duty of vigilance in the choice of the Church's pastors.

Communion between Rome and the Eastern Catholic Churches: trust and co-ordination

There must be created an atmosphere of complete trust, real collaboration and co-ordination, and effectual communion between Rome and the Eastern sui iuris Churches. The former terms of confirmation, consent or assent should be avoided and replaced by that of joinder, in the sense that the Pope joins in the synodal collegiality and adopts as his the decision of the bishops with their Patriarch.

There remains however the Pope's right - ius vigilandi - not to join in an election but to reject it for special reasons which should be communicated confidentially to the Patriarch and eventually to the synod.

However this ius vigilandi of the Apostolic See of Rome, always exercised, from the perspective of Vatican II, in harmony with the Eastern Churches sui iuris, which themselves also enjoy this ius vigilandi, should not become the basis for regular interference.

East and West, even in the Catholic Church, must be in continual dialogue to bring about unity. The election of bishops is one of the most important issues in this regard, since it affects the East's autonomy and furthermore the Orthodox brethren with whom we long to resume communion.

We ask to be treated as real Easterners and even, to speak plainly, as Orthodox in communion with Rome and so Catholic.

We are an Eastern Church in communion with Rome

We are an Eastern Church in communion with Rome and faithfully so, yet which wants to remain faithful to the pure, Orthodox spiritual tradition. I make bold to say that we are an Orthodox Church with the little or big plus of communion with Rome, with the Pope and our Holy Father Benedict XVI who presides in primacy and charity. Treat us as a real Eastern Church, just as you would the Orthodox on the day when the much longed for union takes place!

It is not just a matter of simple terminology or etymology. The great theologian Joseph Ratzinger certainly understands the justification for this account.I am still referring to what the then Professor Ratzinger wrote in a book (in French) published in 1971, The New People of God: "Unitary ecclesial law, unitary liturgy, one and one and the same centralised model of bishops being nominated by Rome, all those do not necessarily form part of the primacy as such, as may be seen to be true only when both ministries [of Pope and Patriarch] become just one. So, in future, we shall have to distinguish more clearly the actual function of Peter's successor from the patriarchal function and if need be, create new Patriarchates detached from the Latin Church."[1]

These words form a very significant ecclesiological basis which has not yet been taken up and used by the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity, or in the dialogue and work of the Joint Commission for the Theological Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church.For all that, we urge that a place be given us on the Joint Commission.

Encouraging local dialogue: Orthodox-Catholic

On that basis, we wish then for more encouragement to develop local dialogue with our sister Orthodox Church and co-operation with her in the fields of pastoral care, catechesis, activities of confraternities, social involvement and matters relating to the personal statute.

It should be recalled that after our synodal initiative of 1996 with the aim of re-establishing communion with the Orthodox Church of Antioch, while remaining in communion with the Catholic Church, Rome, through the agency of Cardinals Joseph Ratzinger, Achille Silvestrini and Edward Idris Cassidy in a letter dated 11 June 1997, opposed no veto on that initiative, as many thought and said, but asked us to consult the Holy See for any decision in which doctrinal questions were involved.

Gregorios III

Patriarch of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church

Translation from the French: V. Chamberlain

 

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[1] Joseph Ratzinger  «Le nouveau peuple de Dieu. » Aubier-Montaigne, collection  «L'intelligence de la foi » (1971), p. 68

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Last Updated: 19 February 2013

Melkite Greek Catholic PATRIARCHATE of Antioch and All the East of Alexandria and of Jerusalem

Speech of H.B. Patriarch Gregorios III

during the  Special Assembly for the Middle East

of the Synod of Bishops, Rome, 10-24 October 2010

 

Presence and Witness

 

In most of our countries, the Antiochian Church, with all its five denominations (Greek Orthodox, Melkite Greek Catholic, Syriac Orthodox, Syrian Catholic and Maronite) is a privileged ecclesiastical place for living together with Islam and for Islam, in the Arab world and for the Arab world. It is a privileged place for bringing to fruition our Christian presence and putting it to work.

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Last Updated: 19 February 2013

Melkite Greek Catholic PATRIARCHATE of Antioch and All the East of Alexandria and of Jerusalem

Speech of H.B. Patriarch Gregorios III

during the Special Assembly for the Middle East

of the Synod of Bishops in Rome, 10-24 October 2010

 

Islamic-Christian Dialogue

From the early period of his pontificate, during his first apostolic visit to Germany and his meeting with young Muslims in Cologne, His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI has underlined the importance of Islamic-Christian dialogue, in the same way as did Vatican II.

The experience of our Churches shows us that this dialogue is necessary and vital, and of course that it is possible, contrary to what some are saying.

This dialogue is taking place on two very distinct levels. There is the properly doctrinal and intellectual level, that can be found for example in the regular meetings of the Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue and the University of Al Azharor in the teaching and publications of the Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies (PISAI) and other study centres in several of our countries. Then there is the existential level, that of the everyday life of our faithful living in Muslim majority countries.

The Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue is familiar with and encourages the centres, groups, institutions and initiatives of Christian inspiration which practise and favour this dialogue, in Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Jerusalem, Jordan and Iraq.

It is important to point out, since this fact is virtually unknown outside the Middle East, that there are also dialogue initiatives of Islamic inspiration, mainly in Jordan, but also in Lebanon, Syria, Qatar and Turkey.

This existential dialogue is that of everyday life in society, in its different aspects and various dimensions: exchanging good wishes for the major feasts of both religions, neighbourly relation in cities from which formerly completely Christian districts have by now vanished, professional relations and relations in schools and universities attended by Christians and Muslims. This dialogue is going on in all our countries, except Saudi Arabia, the only country in the region where Christianity is still outlawed.

The pursuit of this dialogue is therefore an element of great weight to slow the emigration of Christians. If they disappear from the region, what would become of this dialogue, equally important for preventing a conflict between a predominantly Muslim Middle East and a reputedly Christian West?

This Synodal Assembly ought therefore explicitly to encourage the pursuit of this dialogue, at all levels.

Gregorios III

Patriarch

19 September 2010

Translation from French: V. Chamberlain

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Last Updated: 19 February 2013

Melkite Greek Catholic PATRIARCHATE of Antioch and All the East of Alexandria and of Jerusalem

The Melkite Greek Catholic Church took the bold step of resuming full ecclesial communion with Rome, three hundred years ago. It was a difficult decision, which was the outcome of a gestation of fifty years! We experienced difficulties, both on the part of the Roman Catholic Church and on the part of our own Orthodox Church, whose tradition we keep.

Life in the ecclesial communion with Rome has caused us to lose part of our original authentic Eastern tradition, that we have not succeeded in keeping in its wholeness.

Despite that we feel happy in this communion. It has brought us much! We have also brought a great deal to the Latin Roman Catholic Church, especially during and through the Second Vatican Council!

We are above all more than ever convinced of the absolute and imperative necessity for Christian unity, the unity of the Church, which by its very nature must be one - that the world may believe!

We thank the Holy Father Benedict XVI, Pope of Rome, for the unique and gracious initiative of convoking this Special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops for the Middle East which bears the most significant and inspiring title The Catholic Church in the Middle East, Communion and Witness.

In that we find in sum the essence of our mission and the meaning of our presence in the Middle East, cradle of Christianity.

This synod is the mark of the Holy Father's respect for the Eastern Catholic Churches which have suffered a great deal and given a great deal to remain in communion with Rome. It is a call to these Churches for them to take charge of their mission, calling and vocation, whether that be in the family dialogue with Orthodox Churches or in the dialogue of fellow-citizens in the Muslim majority Arab world. It is also a sign of high regard for all the Eastern Churches.

On that basis we consider that our particular position of being Eastern Catholic Christian Arabs, open both to Arabism, Islam and Orthodoxy as well as to the Roman Catholic Church imposes on us a greater mission, that goes beyond mere dialogue! We feel that despite all the deficiencies of what is pejoratively called "Uniatism," the model does not have just negative aspects!

It is up to us to make our model a prophetic one. It has the power of a prophetic gesture, sign or call to more unity, as is the dream of all Christians.

Our model is, in its fragility, a model in which there is a certain measure - limited, indeed - of unity, but also of diversity. We are in full communion with Rome whilst making every effort to preserve our specific character as Easterners, meaning Orthodox! This model certainly requires complementary elements, especially in the living and dynamic conservation of the common tradition of the first millennium in the life of the Christian Church of East and West. We have succeeded in finding again part of that undivided tradition through renewed dialogue among our Eastern Catholic Churches and the Latin Catholic Church. We hope to recover still more as we go forward with this dialogue!

On the basis of that experience, we dare, on the occasion of the Synod for the Middle East, launch an appeal to our brethren in Churches not yet in full communion with Rome, to venture to move resolutely forward in the theological ecumenical dialogue at different levels. We ask them, whilst awaiting complete and perfect unity with Rome, to consider the pope as primus inter pares, as the symbol of Christian unity respectful of the identity of each Church and its tradition and particular and specific ecclesial governance.

So the pope would be the centre of Christian unity, whilst awaiting the ecclesial, hierarchical and perfect theological communion.

The Christian world needs this sign of hope, this courageous step. The Christian world, the Christian Church in all its denominations needs this step forward, this prophetic gesture, particularly in these times when many powers are raised against the Church and its values.

In confronting all that, the Church needs to be strong and coherent, full of its ideal, open and present, witnessing and serving, not recognizing an enemy, but witnessing to the Love of Christ before and in the presence of all. A Church that is not afraid, since it speaks of and seeks to bring to the world the Gospel, the Good News and love of mankind.

For all that, we need a pope who would be the link for this radiant communion!

That is the call of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church to the Christian world on the occasion of the Synod for the Middle East! We proclaim this in all humility, simplicity, friendship, respect and love! In union with the prayer of Jesus, "Father! That they all may be one... that the world may believe!" (John 17: 21)

The world needs a united Church capable of uniting in a common programme the values to which every human being - every believer and non-believer -  aspires: justice, peace, equality, brotherliness, freedom of religion, of conscience, human rights (including those of women, children and the disabled), development, solidarity, service, mutual esteem...a loving and serving Church, a Church which really fulfils the adjectives used in the Creed to describe it: one, holy, catholic and apostolic.

Thus the pope would be the symbol of unity, despite diversities present at all levels.

A dream? Utopia? Novelty? Childish wish? Perhaps! But it is worthwhile! It is the future of Christianity and of the Gospel! To be or not to be?

Yes, to Jesus! Yes, to the Gospel! Yes, to unity! Yes, to the pope!

Gregorios III

Patriarch

19 September 2010

Translation from French: V. Chamberlain