During the Fourteenth General Congregation held on Friday 22th October 2010, the Synod
Fathers approved the Nuntius, the Message to the People of God, at the conclusion
of the Special Assembly for the Middle East of the Synod of Bishops.
The full
text of the English version is published below:
“Now the company of those
who believed were of one heart and soul” (Acts 4:32)
To our brother priests,
deacons, monks, nuns, consecrated persons, our dear lay faithful and all people of
good will.
Introduction
1.May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the
love of God the Father and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you.
The
Synod of Bishops for the Middle East was for us a new Pentecost. “Pentecost is the
original event but also a permanent dynamism, and the Synod of Bishops is a privileged
moment in which the grace of Pentecost may be renewed in the Church’s journey” (Pope
Benedict XVI, Homily at the Opening Liturgy, 10 October 2010).
We have come
to Rome, We the Patriarchs and Bishops of the Catholic Churches in the Middle East
with all our spiritual, liturgical, cultural and canonical patrimonies, carrying in
our hearts the concerns of our people.
For the very first time, we have come
together in a Synod, gathered around His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, with both cardinals
and archbishops, who are heads of the various offices in the Roman Curia, presidents
of episcopal conferences around the world, who are concerned with the issues of the
Middle East, representatives from the Orthodox Churches and ecclesial communi¬ties
and Jewish and Muslim guests.
We express our gratitude to His Holiness, Pope
Benedict XVI for his care and for his teachings, which guide the journey of the Church
in general and that of our Eastern Churches in particular, especially in the areas
of justice and peace. We thank the episcopal conferences for their solidarity, their
presence in our midst during their pilgrimages to the holy sites and their visits
to our communities. We thank them for guiding our Churches in the various aspects
of our life. We thank the different ecclesial organisations for their effective assistance.
Guided
by the Holy Scriptures and the living Tradition, we have reflected together on the
present and the future of Christians and all peoples of the Middle East. We have meditated
on the issues of this region of the world which God willed, in the mystery of his
love, to be the birthplace of his universal plan of salvation. From there, Abraham’s
vocation was initiated. There, the Word of God, Jesus Christ, took flesh in the womb
of the Virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit. There, Jesus proclaimed the Gospel
of life and the kingdom. There, he died to redeem humanity and free us from sin. There,
he rose from the dead to give new life to all. There, the Church was formed and went
forth to proclaim the Gospel of Christ to the world.
The primary aim of the
Synod is pastoral. Thus, we have carried in our hearts the life, the pains and the
hopes of our people as well as the challenges they need to confront each day “because
God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given
to us” (Rm 5:5). Dear sisters and brothers, we therefore address this message to you.
We wish it to be an appeal to safeguard the faith, based on the Word of God, to collaboration
in unity and to communion in the witness of love in every aspect of life.
I.
The Church in the Middle East: Communion and Witness throughout History The Journey
of Faith in the Middle East
2. In the Middle East, the first Christian community
was born. From there, the apostles after Pentecost went evangelising the whole world.
There, the early Christian community lived amid tensions and persecutions, “they devoted
themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and
the prayers” (Acts 2:42), and no one of them was in need. There, the first martyrs,
with their blood, fortified the foundations of the nascent Church. After them, the
hermits filled the deserts with the perfume of their holiness and their faith. There,
the Fathers of the Eastern Church lived and continued to nourish the Church in both
the East and West through their teachings. In the early centuries and later, missionaries
from our Churches departed for the Far East and the West, bringing with them the light
of Christ. We are the heirs of that heritage. We need to continue to transmit their
message to future generations.
In the past, Our Churches provided saints, priests
and consecrated persons; they still do in the present. Our Churches have also sponsored
many institutions which contributed - and still do - to the well being of our societies
and countries, sacrificing self for the sake of the human person, who is created to
the image of God and is the bearer of his likeness. Some of our Churches continue
to send out missionaries who carry the Word of God to many places in the world. The
pastoral, apostolic and missionary needs mandate us to put together a pastoral master-plan
to promote vocations to the priesthood and religious life in order to ensure the Church
of tomorrow.
We are now at a turning point in our history: The God who has
given us the faith in our Eastern lands 2000 years ago, calls us today to persevere
with courage, strength and steadfastness in bearing the message of Christ and witnessing
to his Gospel, the Gospel of love and peace.
Challenges and Aspirations
3.1.
Today, we face many challenges. The first comes from within ourselves and our Churches.
We are asked by Christ to accept our faith and to apply it to all situations in our
lives. What he asks from our Churches is to strengthen the communion within every
Church sui iuris and that of the Catholic Churches of various traditions, and to exert
every effort in prayer and charitable acts in order to attain the full unity of all
Christians so as to fulfil the prayer of Christ: “that they may all be one; even as
you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world
may believe that you have sent me” (Jn 17:21).
3.2. The second challenge comes
from the outside, namely, political conditions, security in our countries and religious
pluralism.
We have evaluated the social situation and the public security in
all our countries in the Middle East. We have taken account of the impact of the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict on the whole region, especially on the Palestinians who are suffering the
consequences of the Israeli occupation: the lack of freedom of movement, the wall
of separation and the military checkpoints, the political prisoners, the demolition
of homes, the disturbance of socio-economic life and the thousands of refugees. We
have reflected on the suffering and insecurity in which Israelis live. We have meditated
on the situation of the holy city of Jerusalem. We are anxious about the unilateral
initiatives that threaten its composition and risk to change its demographic balance.
With all this in mind, we see that a just and lasting peace is the only salvation
for everyone and for the good of the region and its peoples.
3.3. We have reflected
in our meetings and in our prayers the keen sufferings of the Iraqi people. We have
recalled the Christians assassinated in Iraq, the continued suffering of the Church
in Iraq and her sons who have been displaced and dispersed throughout the world, bringing
with them the concerns for their land and their fatherland. The synod fathers have
expressed their solidarity with the people and the Churches in Iraq and have expressed
their desire that the emigrants, forced to leave their country, might find in the
welcoming countries the necessary support to be able to return to their homeland and
live in security.
3.4. We have extensively treated relations between Christians
and Muslims. All of us share a common citizenship in our countries. Here we want to
affirm, according to our Christian vision, a fundamental principle which ought to
govern our relations, namely, God wants us to be Christians in and for our Middle
Eastern societies. This is God’s plan for us. This is our mission and vocation - to
live as Christians and Muslims together. Our actions in this area will be guided by
the commandment of love and by the power of the Spirit within us.
The second
principle which governs our relations is the fact that we are an integral part of
our societies. Our mission, based on our faith and our duty to our home countries,
obliges us to contribute to the construction of our countries as fellow-citizens,
Muslims, Jews and Christians alike.
II. Communion and Witness Within the Catholic
Churches of the Middle East To the Faithful of Our Churches
4.1. Jesus says
to us: “You are the salt of the earth, the light of the world” (Mt 5:13.14). Your
mission in our societies, beloved faithful, through faith, hope and love, is to be
like “salt” which gives savour and meaning to life; to be like “light” by proclaiming
the truth which scatters the darkness; and to be like the “leaven” which transforms
hearts and minds. The first Christians of Jerusalem were few in number, yet they were
able to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth because of the grace of “the Lord
who acted with them and confirmed their Word by signs” (Mk 16:20).
4.2. We
want to greet you, Christians of the Middle East, and we thank you for all you have
achieved in your families and societies, in your Churches and nations. We commend
you for your perseverance in times of adversity, suffering and anguish.
4.3.
Dear priests, our co-workers in the mission of catechesis, liturgy and pastoral work,
we renew our friendship and our trust in you. Continue to transmit to your faithful
with zeal and perseverance the Gospel of life and Church’s tradition through your
preaching, catechesis, spiritual direction and the good example of your lives. Build
up the faith of the People of God to make of it a civilisation of love. Provide the
sacraments to the People of God so that this People might aspire to be renewed. Gather
them together in the union of love by the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Dear consecrated
men and women in the world, we express to you our gratitude and with you we thank
God for the gift of the evangelical counsels – of consecrated chastity, of poverty
and obedience – through which you have made the gift of yourselves as you follow Christ,
the special love to whom you long to witness. It is thanks to your diverse apostolic
initiatives that you are the true treasure and wealth of our Churches and a spiritual
oasis in our parishes, dioceses and missions.
We unite ourselves spiritually
to hermits, to monks and nuns who have dedicated their lives to prayer in contemplative
monasteries, sanctifying the hours of day and night, carrying the Church’s concerns
and needs to God in their prayers. You offer the world a sign of hope through the
witness of your life.
4.4. We express to you, faithful lay people, our esteem
and our friendship. We appreciate everything you do for your families and societies,
your Churches and home countries. Remain steadfast amidst trials and difficulties.
We are filled with gratitude to the Lord for the charisms and talents which he has
showered you and which equip you to participate, through the power of your baptism
and chrismations, in the Church’s mission and her apostolic work to permeate the temporal
world with the spirit and values of the Gospel. We invite you to give the witness
of an authentic Christian life, of a conscientious religious practice and of good
morals. Have the courage objectively to proclaim the truth.
Those of you who
suffer in body, in soul and spirit, the oppressed, those forced from your homes, the
persecuted, prisoners and detainees, we carry you all in our prayers. Unite your suffering
to that of Christ the Redeemer and seek in his cross patience and strength. By the
merit of your sufferings, you gain God’s merciful love.
We greet each of our
Christian families and we look upon your vocation and mission with esteem as a living
cell of society and a natural school of virtue and ethical and human values, the “domestic
Church” which transmits the practices of prayer and of faith from one generation to
the next. We thank parents and grandparents for the education of their children and
grandchil¬dren, who, like Jesus grow “in wisdom, in stature and grace in the sight
of God and men” (Lk 2:52). We commit ourselves to the defence of the family through
our pastoral programmes on its behalf, through marriage preparation courses and centres,
open to all but mainly to couples in difficulty, where they can be welcomed and obtain
counseling, and by defending the fundamental rights of the family.
We now wish
to speak to the women of our Churches in a special way. We express to you our appreciation
for what you are in the various states of life: girls, mothers, educators, consecrated
women and those who engaged in public life. We revere you, because you harbour human
life within you from its very beginnings, giving it care and tenderness. God has given
you a special sensitivity for everything that pertains to education, humanitarian
work and the apostolic life. We give thanks to God for your activities and we hope
that you will be able to exercise greater responsibility in public life.
Young
women and men, we look to you with the same love which Christ had for the young man
in the Gospel (cf. Mk 10:21). You are the potential and renewing force for the future
of our Churches, our communities and our countries. Plan your life under the loving
gaze of Christ. Be responsible citizens and sincere believers. The Church joins you
in your desire to find work commensurate with your talents, work which will help to
stimulate your creativity, providing for your future and making possible the formation
of a family of believers. Overcome the temptation of materialism and consumerism.
Be strong in your Christian values.
We greet the heads of Catholic institutions
of education. Pursue excellence and the Christian spirit in your teaching and education.
Aim at the consolidation of a culture of harmonious living and concern for the poor
and disabled. In spite of the challenges which confront your institutions, we invite
you to maintain them, so as to further the Church’s educative mission and to promote
the development and common good of our societies.
We address with great esteem
those who work in the social sector. In your institutions you are at the service of
charity. We encourage and support you in this mission of development, guided by the
rich social teaching of the Church. Through your work, you strengthen the bonds of
fellowship between people and serve the poor, the marginalised, the sick, refugees
and prisoners without discrimination. You are guided by the words of the Lord Jesus:
“Everything you do to one of these little ones, you do it to me!” (Mt 25:40).
We
look with hope to prayer groups and apostolic movements. They are schools where our
faith can mature and we can be given the strength to live that faith in family and
society. We appreciate their activities in parishes and dioceses and their support
for pastors, in accordance with the Church’s directives. We thank God for these groups
and movements which are active cells in the parish and seed-beds for vocations to
both the priesthood and the consecrated life.
We appreciate the role of the
means of social communication, both printed and audio-visual. We thank you journalists
for your collaboration with the Church in broadcasting her teachings and activities
and, over the course of these days, for having given global news coverage to the Special
Assembly for the Middle East of the Synod.
We are pleased with the contribution
of the media, both international and Catholic. With regard to the Middle East, Télé
Lumiere-Noursat merits a special mention. We hope it will be able to continue its
service of providing information and forming the faith, of working on behalf of Christian
unity, of consolidating the Christian presence in the Middle East, of strengthening
interreligious dialogue and the communion of all peoples of Middle Eastern origin,
presently in every part of the globe.
To Our Faithful in the Diaspora
5.
Emigration has become a generalised phenomenon by Christians, Muslims and Jews alike.
All emigrate for reasons arising from political and economic instability. However,
Christians also emigrate from a sense of insecurity, in varying degrees, in many Middle
Eastern countries. May Christians have trust in the future and continue to live in
their dear countries.
We send our greetings to you, members of our Churches
in the various countries of the Diaspora. We ask you to keep alive in your hearts
and concerns the memory of your countries and your Churches. You can contribute to
their development and their growth by your prayers, your thoughts, your visits and
by various other means, despite the fact that you are far from the Middle East.
Look
at your goods and your properties in your home country; do not abandon and sell them
too quickly. Keep them as your patrimony and as a piece of the homeland to which you
remain attached, a homeland which you love and support. The land is part of a person's
identity and his mission. It is a vital aspect of the lives of those who remain there
and for those who one day will return there. The land is a public good, a good of
the community and a common patrimony. It should not be reduced to a question of individual
interests on the part of those who own it and who alone decide, according to their
desires, to keep or abandon it.
We accompany you with our prayers, you the
children of our Churches and of our countries, forced to emigrate. Bear with you your
faith, your culture and your patrimony, so as to enrich your new countries which provide
you with peace, freedom and work. Look towards the future with confidence and joy.
Hold fast to your spiritual values, to your cultural traditions and to your national
patrimony, in order to offer to the countries which welcome you the best of yourselves
and the best of that which you have. We thank the Churches of the countries of the
Diaspora which have received our faithful and unceasingly collaborate with us to ensure
the necessary pastoral services for them.
To the Migrants in Our Countries
and Our Churches
6. We send our greetings to all immigrants of varying nationalities,
who have come to our countries seeking employment.
We welcome you, beloved
faithful, and we see your faith as a source of enrichment and a support for the faithful
of our Churches. We joyously provide you with every spiritual assistance you might
need.
We ask our Churches to pay special attention to these brothers and sisters
and their difficulties, whatever may be their religion, especially when their rights
and dignity are subject to abuse. They come to us not simply to seek the means for
living but offer the services which our countries need. Their dignity comes from God.
Like every human person, they have rights which must be respected. No one should violate
those rights. That is why we call upon the various governments which receive them
to respect and defend their rights.
Communion and Witness Together with the
Orthodox and Protestant Communities in the Middle East
7. We send our greetings
to the Orthodox and Protestant Communities in our countries. Together we work for
the good of all Christians, that they may remain, grow and prosper. We share the
same journey. Our challenges are the same and our future is the same. We wish to bear
witness together as disciples of Christ. Only through our unity can we accomplish
the mission that God has entrusted to us, despite the differences among our Churches.
The prayer of Christ is our support; the commandment of love unites us, even if the
road towards full communion is still distant for us.
We have walked together
in the Middle East Council of Churches and we wish, with God’s grace, to continue
on this path and to promote its activity, having as an ultimate goal a common testimony
to our faith, the service of our faithful and of all our countries. We acknowledge
and encourage all initiatives for ecumenical dialogue in each of our countries.
We
express our gratitude to the World Council of Churches and to the different ecumenical
organisations which work for the unity of the Churches and for their support.
IV.
Cooperation and Dialogue with Our Fellow-Citizens, the Jews
8. The same Scriptures
unite us; the Old Testament, the Word of God is for both you and us. We believe all
that God revealed there, since he called Abraham, our common father in the faith,
Father of Jews, of Christians and of Muslims. We believe in the promises of God and
his covenant given to Abraham and to you. We believe that the Word of God is eternal.
The
Second Vatican Council published the document Nostra aetate which treats interreligious
dialogue with Judaism, Islam and the other religions. Other documents have subsequently
clarified and developed the relationship with Judaism. On-going dialogue is taking
place between the Church and the representatives of Judaism. We hope that this dialogue
can bring us to work together to press those in authority to put and end to the political
conflict which results in separating us and disrupting everyday life in our countries.
It is time for us to commit ourselves together to a sincere, just and permanent
peace. Both Christians and Jews are called to this task by the Word of God. In his
Word, we are invited us to listen to the voice of God “who speaks of peace”: “Let
me hear what God the Lord will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his
holy ones” (Ps 85:9). Recourse to theological and biblical positions which use the
Word of God to wrongly justify injustices is not acceptable. On the contrary, recourse
to religion must lead every person to see the face of God in others and to treat
them according to their God-given prerogatives and God’s commandments, namely, according
to God's bountiful goodness, mercy, justice and love for us.
V. Cooperation
and Dialogue with Our Fellow-Citizens, the Muslims
9. We are united by the
faith in one God and by the commandment that says: do good and avoid evil. The words
of the Second Vatican Council on the relations with other religions offer the basis
for the relationship between the Catholic Church and the Muslims: “The Church regards
with esteem also the Muslims. They adore the one God, living and subsisting in Himself;
merciful and all- powerful, the Creator of heaven and earth, who has spoken to men”
(Nostra aetate 3).
We say to our Muslim fellow-citizens: we are brothers and
sisters; God wishes us to be together, united by one faith in God and by the dual
commandment of love of God and neighbour. Together we will construct our civil societies
on the basis of citizenship, religious freedom and freedom of conscience. Together
we will work for the promotion of justice, peace, the rights of persons and the values
of life and of the family. The construction of our countries is our common responsibility.
We wish to offer to the East and to the West a model of coexistence between different
religions and of positive collaboration between different civilisations for the good
of our countries and that of all humanity.
Since the appearance of Islam in
the seventh century and to the present, we have lived together and we have collaborated
in the creation of our common civilisation. As in the past and still existent today,
some imbalances are present in our relations. Through dialogue we must avoid all imbalances
and misunderstandings. Pope Benedict XVI tells us that our dialogue must not be a
passing reality. It is rather a vital necessity on which our future depends (Pope
Benedict XVI, Meeting with Representatives from the Muslim Communities, Cologne, 20
August 2005). Our duty then is to educate believers concerning interreligious dialogue,
the acceptance of pluralism and mutual esteem.
VI. Our Participation in Public
Life: An Appeal to the Governments and to the Political Leadership in Our Countries
10.
We appreciate the efforts which have been expended for the common good and the service
to our societies. You are in our prayers and we ask God to guide your steps. We address
you regarding the importance of equality among all citizens. Christians are original
and authentic citizens who are loyal to their fatherland and assume their duties towards
their country. It is natural that they should enjoy all the rights of citizenship,
freedom of conscience, freedom of worship and freedom in education, teaching and the
use of the mass media.
We appeal to you to redouble your efforts to establish
a just and lasting peace throughout the region and to stop the arms race, which will
lead to security and economic prosperity and stop the hemorrhage of emigration which
empties our countries of its vital forces. Peace is a precious gift entrusted by God
to human family, whose members are to be “peacemakers who will be called children
of God” (Mt 5:9).
VII. Appeal to the International Community
11. The
citizens of the countries of the Middle East call upon the international community,
particularly the United Nations conscientiously to work to find a peaceful, just and
definitive solution in the region, through the application of the Security Council’s
resolutions and taking the necessary legal steps to put an end to the occupation
of the different Arab territories.
The Palestinian people will thus have an
independent and sovereign homeland where they can live with dignity and security.
The State of Israel will be able to enjoy peace and security within their internationally
recognized borders. The Holy City of Jerusalem will be able to acquire its proper
status, which respects its particular character, its holiness and the religious patrimony
of the three religions: Jewish, Christian and Muslim. We hope that the two-State-solution
might become a reality and not a dream only.
Iraq will be able to put an end
to the consequences of its deadly war and re-establish a secure way of life which
will protect all its citizens with all their social structures, both religious and
national. Lebanon will be able to enjoy sovereignty over its entire territory,
strengthen its national unity and carry on in its vocation to be the model of coexistence
between Christians and Muslims, of dialogue between different cultures and religions,
and of the promotion of basic public freedoms.
We condemn violence and terrorism
from wherever it may proceed as well as all religious extremism. We condemn all forms
of racism, anti-Semitism, anti-Christianism and Islamophobia and we call upon the
religions to assume their responsibility to promote dialogue between cultures and
civilisations in our region and in the entire world.
Conclusion: Continue to
Bear Witness to the Divine Path That Has Been Shown to Us in the Person of Jesus
12.
Brothers and sisters, in closing, we say with the St. John the Apostle: “What was
from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we looked
upon and touched with our hands concerns the Word of life for the life was made visible;
we have seen it and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life that was with
the Father and was made visible to us what we have seen and heard we proclaim now
to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; for our fellowship is with the
Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.”(1 Jn 1:1-3).
This Divine Life which
has appeared to the apostles over 2000 years ago in the Person of our Lord Jesus Christ
and to which the Church has witnessed throughout the course of her history will always
remain the life of our Churches in the Middle East and the object of our witness,
sustained by the promise of the Lord:“Behold, I am with you always, until the end
of the time” (Mt 28:20). Together we proceed on our journey with hope,“and hope does
not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through
the holy Spirit that has been given to us” (Rm 5:5).
We confess that, until
now, we have not done what is possible to better live communion in our communities.
We have not done enough to better live communion among our communities. We have not
done everything possible to confirm you in your faith and to give you the spiritual
nourishment you need in your difficulties. The Lord invites us to a conversion as
individuals and communities.
Today we return to you full of hope, strength
and resolution, bearing with us the message of the Synod and its recommendations in
order to study them together and to put them into practice in our Churches, each one
according to the Church’s states of life. We hope also that this new effort might
be ecumenical.
We make a humble and sincere appeal to you, that together we
might embark on the road of conversion, allowing ourselves to be renewed through the
grace of the Holy Spirit and again draw close to God.
To the Most Holy Virgin
Mary, Mother of the Church and Queen of Peace, under whose protection we have accomplished
our Synodal task, we entrust our journey towards new, Christian horizons in the faith
of Christ and through the power of his word: “Behold, I make all things new” (Rev
21:5).