Pope addresses first working session of Middle East Synod

(October 11, 2010) The first working session of the Special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops for the Middle East began on Monday morning in the Vatican’s Synod hall in the presence of Pope Benedict XVI. In an impromptu reflection prior to the working session, the Pope called on all to combat the false Gods that are threatening our world today. “We are thinking of the great powers of today that enslave, torment and even massacre men,” he said. He described drugs as a voracious beast that lays its hand on the earth and destroys it. Another idol he cited was that of living according to public opinion which give no value to chastity or marriage. Referring to the times of the first Christians, when the blood of martyrs weakened the false gods, including the emperor, Pope Benedict said that even today the blood of martyrs and the pains of the Mother Church are needed to transform the world so that it does fall a prey to false idols. The Pope warned that today terrorist ideologies claiming to act in the name of God are strong. He said they are false gods that need to be unmasked.
Later, the General Secretary of the Synod of Bishops, Archbishop Nicola Eterovic gave an overall view of the current synod, including its history, preparation as well as statistics, proceedings and issues for discussion. The Oct. 10-24 synod that Pope Benedict inaugurated on Sunday with a Mass has as its theme: "The Catholic Church in the Middle East: Communion and Witness – ‘Now the company of those who believed were of one heart and soul' (Acts 4:32)." Calling all bishops “bishops of the Bible”, because the history of salvation began in the Holy Land where the Church was born, Archbishop Eterovic noted that the synod involves participants not only from the Middle East but also from the universal Church, other Christian Churches as well as Jewish and Muslim communities of the region. Apart from the participation of 185 synod fathers, the two-week meeting will also be addressed by fraternal delegates from 13 Churches and ecclesial communities, a Jewish Rabbi, a Sunnni Muslim and a Shitte Muslim. The Middle East region under discussion comprises 16 nations stretching from Yemen to Turkey and Cyprus. Though a minority community, Middle East Christians run an impressive number of educational and social service programmes with support from the universal Church.
Following Archbishop Eterovic’s introduction, Coptic Catholic Patriarch Antonios Naguib of Alexandria, Egypt, addressed the synod calling attention to the current situation of Christians in the region. He denounced the advance of what he termed as ‘political Islam’ that affects the situation of Christians, especially in the Arab world. He said it was a threat to all, and that all needed to combat these extremist trends. Patriarch Naguib drew attention to the daily difficulties Christians face in the region, as if they were aliens in Muslim lands, because Muslims often don’t distinguish between religion and politics. More than just being tolerated, he said, what Middle East Christians need are justice and equality based on citizenship, freedom of religion and human rights. Religious freedom should not be understood merely as freedom of worship, but also as freedom to choose and to convert, he added.