Chaldean
Abp: a Mideast without Christians?
(Vatican Radio) A Middle East without its Christians would be
like a garden without flowers: that’s what Chaldean Catholic Archbishop Thomas
Meram of Urmyā, Deputy President of the Iranian Bishops Conference, says about
the persecution of Christians in the region. Jihadi militants like
Islamic State (also known as ISIS or Daesh) in recent months have violently
purged cities in Iraq and Syria of their Christians and other minorities.
Archbishop Meram accompanied Patriarch Louis Sako to Jordan last
week. The Chaldean Patriarch was one of six Orthodox and Catholic eastern rite
Church leaders from neighboring countries to attend a meeting with King
Abdullah and Prince Ghazi, King Abdullah’s personal envoy and adviser for
religious and cultural affairs.
In an interview with Vatican Radio, Archbishop Meram observes,
“The king was very open and accepting of Syrian and Iraqi refugees.” The
Hashemite kingdom is hosting 1.5 million Syrian and Iraqi refugees – only half
of whom are officially registered.
Jordanian King committed to protecting
Christian identity and existence
The King expressed his solidarity with the region’s Christians,
saying that said that the hatred, terrorism and fanaticism spread by extremist
groups have nothing to do with the values the three monotheistic religions
promote. He stressed the role of Christians in building Arab-Islamic identity
throughout history and underlined Jordan's commitment to protecting the
identity and existence of Arab Christians.
The Jordanian monarch has spearheaded numerous initiatives such
as the “Amman Message" and "Common Word," highlighting
moderate and tolerant Islam. In September last year, he hosted another
conference in Amman regarding the challenges facing Arab Christians.
During last week’s visit, Patriarch Sako appealed to Prince
Ghazi to encourage peaceful and tolerant speeches in mosques.
Rethinking language and education
It is not helpful that Christians have been described as “kaafir” or
infidels for the last fourteen hundred years, says Archbishop Meram. “That’s
not good.” Speaking of many in the Arab world, he adds “you have to
change your teaching in the schools regarding the minorities, Christian or
non-Christian – to respect the human being.” He underscores that state
must also be separate from religion. “And it’s very hard I think. They
cannot do it.”
Many young men are leaving their countries to fight with
organizations like Islamic State or Al Nusra or Al Qaeda-linked
organizations. Where does the role of education come into play in this
phenomenon?
“I think this is brain washing. Or money. Or as they
say, for sexual relations in heaven: you will get 40 virgin women. I
can’t understand it. How can they (do this)? Or they are an
instrument in the hands of others using them.”
The misery of refugees
Archbishop Meram says he visited Christian refugees in three camps
in Jordan hosting some forty to fifty families in each camp. Other
families he says, have rented places to stay but their money won’t last
forever. “It’s miserable. There is no human dignity – it’s lost
now. It is very miserable.”
He fans his arms out across the small conference room where we
are speaking – it would be barely big enough to accommodate two double beds. In
Jordan, parents and five or six children are sharing the same tiny space, with
a sheet drawn across the room for some semblance of privacy, he says.
Still, Jordan is doing what it can, he notes. “Since the Iraqi-Iranian
war, Jordan (has been) like this: welcoming all the refugees.”
Airstrikes are not enough against militants
Archbishop Meram dismisses the international coalition’s airstrikes
against Islamic State in Syria and Iraq as fruitless: “I think there is no use
for that. Because (the militants such as) Daesh or Isis or Al Nusra - when
there are strikes- they will dress like other people, like civilians. You
(won’t) recognize them.”
He admits he does not know what the solution to the region’s
ills will be: “I don’t know what’s going on; I’m not a politician but I
pray for peace. Like our Chaldean Church in Mosul for two thousand years
– there were Christians (there). We have a history there. But now it’s
completely (wiped out) – no history. Everything is destroyed.”
A place for Christians in the Middle East of
tomorrow?
At their 2010 Synod, the Bishops of the Middle East reached out
to Arab leaders, stressing that Christians want to be an integral part of their
societies, contributing to their development and future. To do so, they
wish to be respected as full citizens with equal rights and with the freedom to
practice their faith without prejudice or restrictions. Since then, the
region has erupted with the tumultuous uprisings of the Arab Spring and the
rise of a new kind of ferocious Islamic extremism. We asked Archbishop
Meram if the bishops hold out hope for an equitable and just Middle East?
“It’s hard to answer this question. I don’t think the Arab
Spring – I would say Arab Winter – there’s no Spring. Everything is fire,
killing, bombarding, from Libya to Syria to Iraq to Yemen, to Saudi Arabia,
Bahrain… it’s not a spring. It’s going back one thousand four hundred
years ago (to the origins of Islam).”
“We would like to be a part of these countries. Because we
(too) are the owners of the land over there,” says the Archbishop, recalling
that the Christians were native to the land thousands of years even before Jesus
Christ appeared. Christians want to stay in their homes and in their land, “but
if by force or by fire they will kick us out, what can you do? Just save
your life and go out. Save your life. But we still have hope.
We are still in the country; we will never leave the country. But if
anybody would like to leave the country, we cannot oblige him to stay. So
he can choose to stay or leave. But the Church will be over there I hope
till the end of the world.”
A Middle East without its Christians, reflects Archbishop Meram,
would be like “a garden without flowers. “
(Tracey McClure)
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