Opening speech of the First International
Congress in Syria:
Muslim-Christian Brotherhood
The Synod for the Middle East and Arab countries
Umayyad Palace, Damascus
15/12/2010
“Blessed be the God ... who
hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according
as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before him in love ...unto the praise of his glory...
For we are his workmanship, created ... unto good works, which God hath before
ordained that we should walk in them.” (cf. Ephesians 1: 3-4, 2:
10)
“For he ... hath broken down the middle wall of partition between
us; having abolished in his flesh the enmity, ... for to make in himself of
twain one new man, so making peace; ... and came and preached peace to you
which were afar off, and to them that were nigh... Now therefore ye are no more
strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household
of God; and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets...” (Ephesians 2: 14-15, 17-20a)
The Lord Jesus said, “...Where two or three are gathered together in my name,
there am I in the midst of them.” (Matthew 18: 20)
This
verse: “And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one
soul.” (Acts 4: 32) explains the harmony and
unity of the faithful, and was the inspirational idea for the acts of the Synod
for the Middle East. This spirit characterised the first Christian community at
Antioch in Syria.
And
the Qur’an says, “Say, People of the Book! Come now to a common word between us
and you.” (Aal ‘Imran 3: 64)
In this ambiance full of faith and spirit, we are meeting, dear brothers
and sisters, Your Beatitudes, the Patriarchs, metropolitans, bishops, muftis,
ministers of cults, ulemas, imams and dear fellow-citizens.
We are meeting with the blessing of Almighty God, guided by his Holy
Spirit, and under the patronage of the leader, defender and president of this
country, H. E. Dr. Bashar al-Assad, President of the Syrian Arab Republic. We
thank him for his patronage and presence amongst us, not in the flesh, but
through his vision and mind. Without him, this congress, the first of its kind,
could not have taken place.
This noble leader gave Syria one of its finest epithets during the visit
of Pope John Paul II in May 2001, “Syria, cradle of Christianity, origin and
crossroads of religions and cultures.” Syria was the first to welcome
Christianity. It is the melting-pot of Aramean, Syriac, Greek and their
respective patrimonies, besides Arabic. It is the country of Churches and rites...There
they were born, grew up and prospered and thence they spread out into the whole
world, bringing the good news contained in Holy Scripture, the Torah, the
Gospel and the Qur’an...Holy Books! Humane, global faith values!
Our dear President epitomises Syria and Syria reflects its President. He
is its messenger to the world and Syria
is completely devoted to the Arab world’s causes. He is a young, cultivated,
open, vigilant, smiling, compassionate president, attentive to the problems and
worries of his people.
He is a clear-thinking leader, determined, astute and tenacious, a
skilled politician, who is faithful to Syria’s values, vocation, history,
present and future.
As Patriarch of an ancient Syrian Church, I thank him most warmly, as do
all the Churches of this country and of the Arab East, represented by the
hierarchs and faithful assembled here. I should like to thanks His Excellency
the President in the name of the universal Church represented by the Vatican
delegation sent by Pope Benedict XVI, a great man of peace, dialogue and faith;
the Apostolic Nuncio; the Congregation for Oriental Churches; the Pontifical
Council for Interreligious Dialogue, and the Synod of Bishops; and the
representatives of the Orthodox Churches in the world.
So, after having gained the attention of the Catholic Church during the
Synod for the Middle East, the Eastern Churches now hold that of the Arab world
through Syria.
A big thank-you to the Honourable Minister of Cults, Muhammad Abd
as-Sattar as-Sayyed! He it is who, from the beginning, adopted the idea of this
congress with great enthusiasm, and organised it with great professionalism,
but also with conviction, faith and spirituality.
Holding such a congress, with all its national, social, Arab, religious
and international dimensions, is evidence of the values that animate Syria, and
particularly, of the respect that its citizens enjoy, whatever their religious
beliefs may be.
We ask the Lord to bless our country and our Arab countries with all
their wealth of heritage and dialogue initiatives. We hope that this kind of
initiative will continue to grow, so that we can give to our future generations
living models of faith, hope, charity, mutual respect, living together,
tolerance, collaboration and progress.
“Come now to a common word.” A common word between Islam and
Christianity has great power and will help us to love each other and not merely
to tolerate one another. It will help us collaborate to build together a
society of love and a genuinely humane culture. If we Christians and Muslims
love one another, love will conquer the world. On the other hand, if we live in
mutual hostility, that spreads into all the world. And if we hate each other,
we shall sink into the hell of hatred. And if we refuse to accept one another,
the world will certainly be ravaged by war. That is what Fairuz sang after the
fall of Jerusalem, city of love, faith and resurrection, saying, “When the Holy
City fell, the flame of love was extinguished and in men’s hearts, war took up
its abode.” So our world will be a world at war and cease being a world of
peace and love.
We need a common word if we are not to disappoint the ambitions and
hopes of our young Arab generation, that represents sixty per cent of our
nations.
A common word is a genuine word of faith that will help us Christians
and Muslims protect our Arab world from fundamentalism, terrorism, violence,
hatred and hostility.
A common word is the best warranty for Christians and Muslims.
Christianity and Islam are called to agree upon a common word, and not to make
war on each other and kill one another. We have the best faith values. They are
an inexhaustible wealth for all humanity.
So, let us agree upon a common word, in order to safeguard it and live
by its precepts.
Thank you to you all. Long live our Arab countries! Long live Syria!
Long live our President!
As we prepare for the Feast of the Nativity of Christ, the apostle of
love and peace, let us take up the hymn of the Angels of Bethlehem, “Glory to
God in the highest, and peace on earth, goodwill towards men.”
Gregorios III
Patriarch of Antioch and All the East,
Of Alexandria and of Jerusalem
Damascus 15/12/2010
Translation from the French: V. Chamberlain
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