Lessons Written in Stone and Sand

by Thomas Colyandro - March 27, 2009

Reprinted with permission.

Despite the inevitable self-aggrandizement that comes at the beginning of a new administration, and the self-congratulations that come at the end, the world has yet to see the kind of long-lasting, U.S.-brokered political change in the Holy Land that will realistically assure either the Palestinians or the Israelis the security to live their lives and to worship God without fear. And while the internal socio-political and religious realities in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Iran are hardly much better, it's possible that the lives of the myriad Christians across the region are the worst of all.

Roman, Maronite, Melkite, and Chaldean Catholics – along with the Antiochian, Syriac, Armenian, and Greek Orthodox Churches – across the Middle East have, for decades, pleaded for the socioeconomic, political, and spiritual support to survive in a hostile region. Meanwhile, the ignorance of Catholics and Orthodox elsewhere in the world to this situation is exacerbating the forced migration of tens of thousands of Christians from their homes.

The Stone

In May of 2008, the Maronite patriarch, Nasrallah Peter Cardinal Sfeir, conducted pastoral and official visits to Qatar, South Africa, and the United States, where he met with President George W. Bush, Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon, and the permanent members of the UN Security Council. At the time, his most pressing concern was the ongoing acts of violence and the illegitimate use of force aimed at extending the stalemate over the selection and confirmation of a Lebanese president. In his meetings with government officials, the patriarch voiced the following issues and concerns:

1. That all of Lebanon's constitutional institutions need to continue to be active and effective, and that the election of a president is a top priority.
2. That Lebanon's neighbors not attack, invade, undermine, or compromise the sovereignty of the nation.
3. That the issue of the Shebaa Farms be resolved according to the Seven Point Plan of the Lebanese government, and that the demarcation of the Lebanon-Syria boundaries and the normalization of diplomatic relations between those two countries be established.
4. That international aid is given to assist with Palestinian refugees in Lebanon.
5. That the world assists in the implementation of all UN resolutions pertaining to Lebanon.
6. That the world recognize Christians, in large numbers, are leaving the lands where Jesus and His disciples walked and lived. "We need the help of all nations to safeguard and support their presence and status," the patriarch said during a press conference at Our Lady of Cedars Maronite Catholic Church in Houston in May.

The good news is that, since that time, not only has the world seen Michel Suleiman take office as president of Lebanon (putting an end to the immediacy of that particular crisis), but we have also witnessed the first ever Catholic-Muslim forum in Rome (titled "Love and Mercy in the Bible and in the Koran"). Further, we've heard about renewed conversations within the Bilateral Permanent Working Commission, which is formed by representatives of the Holy See and Israel, who basically discuss and draft agreements regarding taxes and Church property in Israel.

The willingness of both Muslims and Jews to enter into the present dialogues provides some sign of hope that progress can continue (even if slowly). Equally as important, though, the movement along these fault lines is a testament to the tenacity of a patriarch who is the world's most visible Christian figure in the region – as he put it himself during that same press conference, "A messenger of peace working and praying for a lasting peace as Christ has said: 'Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons and daughters of God (Mt 5:9).'" This movement is also a testament to the leadership of Pope Benedict XVI, who is remarkably adept at speaking the truth of Scripture and Tradition while showing serious diplomatic prowess.

Still, we cannot be lulled into assuming that these meetings will automatically lead to real reform in terms of a legitimate Palestinian state, a safe and secure Israel, a sovereign Lebanon, and a more reasonable Muslim influence in and from Syria, Iraq, and Iran. Case in point: With renewed conflict between Israelis and Palestinians (not to mention a certain SSPX bishop), the Holy Father's trip to the Holy Land was called into question.

So in considering this region, we must be reminded that it is not only our calling to help the stranger in need in these areas (i.e., the Jew and the Muslim), but also our supreme duty to assist our brother and sister Christians in their own fight for peace and security.

The Shifting Sands

The Catholic Church slogged its way through the turmoil of the Middle East for roughly 16 centuries until treaties between the European powers and the Ottoman Empire firmly established the rights of the Church in the area. Regarding the Holy Land in the 20th century specifically, these rights were codified first under British rule, then under the framework provided by UN Resolution 181, which established the state of Israel. Because the Holy See and Israel did not formally establish diplomatic relations until 1993, these provisions were not recognized until the Fundamental Agreement (of that same year) established that the resolution from 46 years earlier would rightly form the basis of the official relationship. The Legal Personality Agreement of 1997, which recognized the legal status of the Church and its related institutions (e.g., schools, personnel, etc.), was an important step, because Israel accepted that Catholic Churches in the area were not merely local churches, but a part of the body of the universal Church based in Rome. Presently, the Bilateral Permanent Working Commission is struggling through the very complicated issue of tax exemptions.

This is important because the Church, in addition to needing land and buildings to complete its ministry, has a rather poor population to serve, and needs all the financial help it can get.

"Diplomatic activity [in the Holy Land] has been focusing on keeping the conflict 'contained' as it currently is and on pointing to some unspecified future possibilities of resolution unaccompanied by any very precise plan to get from 'here' to 'there'," said Rev. David Maria Jaeger, O.F.M., an omnipresent figure in Israeli/Vatican discussions. "It is in the long-term interest of the West, as well as its moral obligation, to intervene decisively to bring the bloodletting in the Holy Land to an end and to induce the parties to sign the peace treaty that has been virtually ready for years," he told me in a 2004 issue of the Texas Catholic Herald.

A Call to Action

Details of treaty negotiations aside, during the 15 years since the Fundamental Agreement, Americans have provided robust support to just about every cultural sub-group in the region but Christians. The reason for this, in part, is that in America it is not politically correct to say we want to rescue a group of Christians. There seems to be an explicit fear that saying so means we do not want to help the Jews or Muslims. (Of course, Scripture and Tradition demand we help all in need.) We also know that if Westerners were more aware of who is being harmed, they might actually get more engaged, which would benefit everyone in the region.

With that in mind, parishes in the United States need a stronger catechesis on the historical foundations of the Church; a deeper commitment from U.S. bishops in the United States to encourage the faithful to support Middle Eastern Christians; more effective efforts from the Eastern Churches in explaining who they are and why they need American help; and a serious communications effort on the part of organizations like the Pontifical Mission, Catholic Near East Welfare Association, Catholic Relief Services, the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, and International Orthodox Christian Charities. The goal of all of these activities should be to help the faithful connect what they do at Mass every week with what is happening in our ancient religious homeland.

Political groups in Israel, Lebanon, and the Palestinian territories – as well as the terrorizing factions in Syria, Iraq, and Iran – continue to suppress the minority Christian population. The Christian exodus that has resulted may well be one of the worst in history. The difficulties of establishing a long-term, stable solution to the centuries-old conflicts in the Middle East are great, and overcoming them will require awareness, participation and pressure from Western Christians. A Holy Land without a Christian presence is simply no Holy Land at all.

Thomas Colyandro played an integral role in the University of St. Thomas's inaugural Archbishop Joseph A. Fiorenza Inter-religious Dialogue Symposium titled "The Roots of Dialogue and Peacemaking in Sacred Texts and Traditions: Contemporary Implications for Judaism, Christianity and Islam."