Francis meets the Syriac Antiochian community which gathered in Rome for their latest Synod. The Patriarch denounced jihadists, “the fratricidal war” in Syria and last century’s genocide
Many Christians in the Middle East “have fled to seek shelter from an inhumanity that throws entire populations out into the streets, leaving them without any means of survival,” Pope Francis told faithful of the Syriac-Antiochian community led by Patriarch Ignace Youssif III Younan. The community held their Synod - which ran from 8 to 10 December - in Rome this year.
“Through you I can pass on my greetings to your communities around the world and express my encouragement, particularly to the Iraqi and Syrian communities which are going through great suffering and fear in the face of all the violence,” Francis said. “The difficult situation in the Middle East - the Pope said - provoked and continues to provoke in your Church the displacement of faithful to eparchies in the diaspora, and places you before new pastoral demands. "It is a challenge: on the one hand, being faithful to one's origins; on the other, inserting yourselves into different cultural contexts at the service of the salus animarum and of the common good. This movement towards countries considered to be safer impoverishes the Christian presence in the Middle East, land of the prophets, of the first preachers of the Gospel, of the martyrs and of many saints, cradle of the hermits and of monasticism.”
“This obliges you to reflect on the situation in your eparchies, which need zealous pastors, as well as courageous faithful, capable of witnessing to the Gospel when in discussions, sometimes not easy, with people of different religions and ethnicities. Many have fled to seek shelter from an inhumanity that throws entire populations out into the streets, leaving them without any means of survival," he said. "With the other Churches, seek to coordinate your efforts to respond to the humanitarian needs, whether of those who remain in their homelands or of those who have sought refuge in other countries," Francis concluded.
The Pope also recalled the “reform of the divine liturgy”, a process currently underway in the Eastern Church. Addressing the community’s 350 representatives, he added: “You asked me if you could celebrate a Synod outside of your Patriarchal territory. I gladly agreed, in order to facilitate your meeting aimed at recognizing the pressing needs of your Church and to answer the spiritual expectations of the faithful.”
The Patriarch of Antioch and of the Syriac Catholic Church introduced the meeting with a brief speech in Italian, underlining that “sadly this Holy Christmas will not bring” to his community “the joy Christians experience during this blessed time of Advent, not to mention the children!” Over the past months, “everyone in the diocese of Mosul and the Nineveh Plain (Iraq, Ed.) has been chased from their homes, churches and monasteries by the so-called jihadist terrorists. In Syria, fratricidal wars have been causing destruction, bloodshed and tears for the past four years, while the innocent are seen as mere numbers by the world’s opportunist great powers.” Ignace Youssif III Younan also recalled the genocide of his Syriac-Antiochian predecessors in Asia Minor. This year marks the centenary of the genocide.
