Fr. Rafiq Khoury, one of the priests of the Latin Patriarchate in Jerusalem, has issued his second book of the new series which can be added to more than 15 books he had authored. He is also the responsible editor of the magazine "Al-Liqa'' published in Bethlehem by "Al-Liqa Center" which he himself founded alongside Dr. Jiryes Khoury for more than a quarter of a century.
This magazine is still being published despite the political storms that undermine a lot of intellectual and cultural projects.
The new published series is titled: "For the Sake of Open Borders between Time and Eternity". The first issued part was titled, "Towards Theological Incarnation in the Soil of our Country". Whoever reads this title nowadays will heave a sigh of sorrow: On what existence we still talk about at a time where the "existence itself'' is threatened.
Furthermore, talking about the ''past'' existence is tempting. The author calls it ''migration in history'' whereby he refers to such and such… so that we forget what the Christians of the Orient are experiencing nowadays.
Actually, despite the experience of going back to the past and despite the bitterness of the present--where brutal terrorism is being practised against the Christian in Syria and Iraq, and at time when we have in Jordan more than 8,000 displaced Iraqis who fled their homes because of their doctrine and faith--the mere reference to the future serves as a declaration of the end of the era of persecution and an assertion of the perpetual Christian presence. This presence fulfills the sublime civilized cultural testimony of pluralism which decorated the East, or rather the Orient as mentioned in the book, and decorated Palestine--where dear Fr. Rafiq was born and from its Jerusalem where he writes--as well as Jordan, the Levant and all the Arab countries.
Whoever talks about the end of the Christian presence, and its confinement to a collection of archaeological stones here and there, would be supporting the terrorist groups that are void of pluralism and of respect for others. In his address at the United Nations in September 2014, His Majesty King Abdullah said: "Arab Christians are an integral part of my region’s past, present, and future. And we are proud of this.'' This idea is accentuated by Fr. Rafiq Khoury, who does not miss any opportunity in any page of his 570-page book without instilling hope and promise, as well as resisting experiences of despair regardless of them being justified at this time.
The book introduction was written by renowned researcher Dr. Bernard Sabella, while Patriarch Michel Sabbah wrote an "inspirational editorial'' titled, ''A Call to Faith and the Awakening of Conscience'' where he summarized what is going on in the region in three points, namely a Christian issue with the Christians being the victim ;and an Islamic issue with Islam and the Muslims are the victim. It is also a humanitarian issue: where human beings are the victim. He says that path for extrication from this imbroglio can be summarized in greater faith and confidence in the power of the Almighty God, and in serving humanbeings by transcending the sectarian barriers.
Among the most important pages of the book is Fr. Khoury's tackling of the impact of the Arab ''revolutions'' on the Christian presence in the Orient. He says: ''God wanted us to be together in this part of the world, thus we will never accept to abandon anyone. We will stand by Him and work with Him. The Lord Jesus Christ is not a barrier between us and the components of our society. He is rather the bridge that guides us to these components and guides them to us so as to work together for the benefit of human being of our region.''
It is difficult to talk about the book in a few lines. You have to read it.
