Confusing times, in which a future persecution of Christians in Syria is thwarted by the vetoes of Russia and the People's Republic of China; those two countries certainly had their own reasons for voting against the adoption of a draft resolution proposed by the United States and European members of the United Nations Security Council, but at least the wholesale persecution of Christians in Syria (as in neighboring Iraq and in Egypt) is postponed for the moment. Meanwhile, another Copt building (a church dedicated to Saint George) was burned down by Muslims yesterday in Aswan Province, Egypt.
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As we had asked before, in this time of upheaval and uncertainty, please, be mindful of Christians in Syria - the land that gave us so many conversions, saints, martyrs and confessors, since the earliest days of our Church, the land that gave us, through its ancient Petrine See of Antioch (now located in southern Turkey), some of the major rites of the East, including that of Constantinople.
"Remember in your prayers the Church in Syria, which now has God for its shepherd, instead of me."
(Saint Ignatius of Antioch, Epistle to the Romans)
14 comments:
The gentle faithful of the Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarchate of Antioch weekly who use for their rites a filial church of our parish told me regularly their qualified uneasiness about the west which virtually negates the well-considered voices of near esatern hierarchs regarding the legitimate self-defence of the régime of Dr. Assad against the islamist turmoils in Syria.
It seems a stretch, to say the least, New Catholic, to essentially equate efforts, however prudentially debatable, to end Syrian Ba'athist butchery of its people with an inevitable wholesale 'persecution' of Christians.
From what I know, the treatment of Christians in Iran's theocratic Islamic state appears, generally, to not be much worse than how Christians have fared in Syria and Jordan. And certainly better than Iraq, which has been under non-theocratic rule. Painting with an implicitly indiscrimately broad brush, if that's what it is, is not how we should be approaching such subject matter.
OK, then. When and if you have the chance, please ask Catholic and non-Catholic Christian leaders (that is, Bishops and Priests) in Syria what they think. They are obviously very, very careful with what they can say in private.
By the way, Iran was not even mentioned in the text, nor "theocratic" rule; Iraq was, on the other hand, and Egypt, and they are good indicators of what might happen.
Best regards,
NC
This is a sensitive topic for Americans, NC. They have a hard-time, in general, to see the harm that these foreign adventures cause to...other Catholics. Even traditional Catholics confuse love for their country with love for their government. 'My county, right or wrong' only serves the state well.
As a Russian citizen and a Catholic, I really don't see how the good of the Christians in the Middle East is made equal with the good of the terrorist dictatorships, of which that of Assad is a very bright example. Neither Gaddafi nor Assad is a secular leader; both are terrorists.
New Catholic,
There are certainly a lot of issues surrounding these types of debates and whether or not the West should intervene, but I don't see how the possible, but not certain, persecution of Christians, in the future is a justification for allowing a brutal dictator to murder his own people. Now if you want to argue that Assad isn't really bad, that's a different debate, but I don't think we should refrain from taking action merely because a future government "might" persecute or allow the persecution of Christians.
We must defend the innocent and stand up for what's right and let God take care of the rest.
Just my three cents,
Mr. Tony
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Just mentioning--the Icon you have placed does NOT depict St. Ignatius (who would be seen in episcopal garments), but St. John of Damascus.
Most holy Theotokos, save us.
Yes, Jack, I am quite aware of that, since I chose both the words and the icon of one of the many "saints, martyrs and confessors" who lived in or near the current territory of Syria. Thank you for another humorously condescending comment.
NC
Mr. Martynov,
This is not a political blog, and we certainly do not feel qualified to pass judgement on whether a certain political regime is a "terrorist regime" or not. Regarding Libya, we remained silent, because the number of Christians in that nation is negligible. The situation is different in Syria - and the plight of Christians in Lebanon, since its democracy was disturbed by a more militant Islam, in the 1970s (in which the situation of Christians, by the way, stabilized only after foreign intervention), as well as in Iraq, after the end of a similar regime as the one currently in power in Syria, and the clear worsening of the situation in Egypt - all that tends to counsel NOT the defense of any "regime", but PRUDENCE in regime-change. Certainly that is one lesson all may have learned from the consequences of Iraqi regime-change for Iraqi Christians... or not?
So, we do not "equate" anything to any other thing - we do believe that prudence, especially regarding the life and integrity of our Christian brothers and sisters, demands calmer views at the moment. This certainly seems to be the position of the Holy See regarding the matter.
We ask our readers to avoid political or rash judgments here - rashness is, in fact, precisely what should be avoided at the moment.
Please, pray for our Christian brothers and sisters in Syria.
NC
I shall pray for Syria and al muslim countries until they drop their heresy but more so for these ancient lands like Syria which gave us such riches of The Christian Faith. God Bless Syria.
I don’t regard this post as an endorsement of Assad but a statement of reality. (Neither is it a dig at Iran). I have a Syrian Christian friend and he believes the revolt against Assad is a New World Order contrivance.
Assad needs to reform and stop harming honest protestors; that is certain. But “protestors” who are fronting for bomb-throwing jihadists — that is another matter.
The picture of the icon is beautiful, and being fair to Russia is also notable. The Chinese Reds have their own ulterior motives, but Russia is more and more defying the international plutocrats and returning to its Dostoyevskian roots. Solzhenitsyn had a good opinion of Putin - but lest I ignite a separate controversy, I will stop here.
Best wishes,
Vincent Segni
Make no mistake if these so called 'free Syria' lot depose Assad there will be a bloodbath of Christians when they reveal their true Islamic fundamentalist credentials.
10-20% of Syria's population is Christian and forms the second largest population of Christians in the Middle East after Egypt. Pray that it remains so. We do not need another 'humanitarian intervention', a la Iraq, that will only result in the purging of the Syrian Christians
I add my weak voice to endorse the point that this is a religious blog, and not a judgment seat on secular rulers.
I am extremely grateful to God that New Catholic does not confine his interest to problems surrounding liturgical questions in the Roman Church, but shows care for the welfare of all Christians, especially those explicitly under threat in the Middle East.
I do hope that his appeal for prayer in his intention will not be drowned in squabbling over less deserving matters.
May God bless him, and his work for the good of us all.
It gives great comfort to me that our Christian friends and brothers in the East are at last being acknowledged. I thank you for that.
It always pains me to see good Catholics, and generally solid Catholic blogs, falling for the same old propaganda line force-fed to us daily from the Usual Sources. None of these folks will even deign to shed a tear for the Catholics who are being murdered and persecuted by the forces that were unleashed by misguided government policies and slavish obsequiosness to only one favored middle eastern regime.
Thank you for asking for prayers for these dear people.
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