Interventions on day 5 at Middle East Synod of Bishops
(October 15, 20101) The two week Special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops for the
Middle East that began on Sunday in the Vatican, on Thursday heard from several participants
on issues affecting the life of Christians in the region. The Oct. 10-24 synod is
on the theme, “The Catholic Church in the Middle East: Communion and Witness.” Among
the speakers on day 4 was Bishop Camillo Ballin, Apostolic Vicar Of Kuwait, who spoke
about the 3 million Catholics in the Gulf region, mostly from Asia and other regions,
whose existence, he explained, is incompatible with Muslim tradition according to
which no other religion should exist in the land sacred to the Prophet of Islam, Mohammed.
He said that assistance to the faithful cannot be limited to just Sunday celebration
or even daily Mass and homilies. “We must recover the missionary aspect of the Church,”
he said stressing how vitally important it is to welcome the charisms, the new ecclesial
realities recognised by the Holy See. Bishop Ballin called for a truly Catholic and
universal spirit, breaking the shackles of provincialism (even religious provincialism),
of (ethnocentric) nationalism and (latent) racism. He ask fellow Muslims to give Christians
the space to be able to pray properly. Another participant, Italian Bishop Ruggero
Franceschini, president of the Turkish Bishops Conference and apostolic administrator
of the Vicariate of Anatolia, Turkey, said that the pastoral and administrative situation
of his vicariate was very appalling. His predecessor Bishop Luigi Padovese, was brutally
murdered by his driver on June 3, in a country where Christians have been attacked
and killed earlier. Bishop Franceshini said that besides divisions within his tiny
fragile Christian community, the Vicariate of Anatolia also lacks personnel and finance.
He urged the universal church to help them out saying, “our people and those who have
shed their blood do deserve special attention.” Card. Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson,
president of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, called for a
United Nations resolution on religious freedom as an alternative to the resolution
condemning defamation of religion. “We should reaffirm that an authentic religious
freedom includes the freedom to preach and proselytise,” the cardinal told the synod
assembly. “Religious freedom,” he pointed out, “is about the privilege of a believer
to form, live and proclaim, without constraints by the state, his or her religious
experience, thus contributing to the social order”. Thus, “minority religions and
Churches in the Middle East should not suffer from discrimination, violence, defamatory
campaigns, the prohibition of building worship places or holding public celebrations.”
The promotion of UN Resolutions condemning defamation of religions, should not be
limited only to Islam in the Western world, Cardinal Turkson said. It should also
include Christianity in the Muslim world”. Hence he proposed to “promote the adoption
of a UN resolution on Religious Freedom as an alternative to the resolution on defamation
of religions”. Lebanese Patriarch Ignace Youssif III Younan of Antioch of the Syrians
said that the salvation of Middle East Christians lies in the courageous adherence
to the Saviour’s message and in fearless proclamation of ‘Truth’ in authentic charity.
He noted that Jesus defended the ‘Truth’, synonym of the unalienable right of a person
to freedom, while proclaiming His salvation to all, even to those who opposed His
message of ineffable and universal love. Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli, president
of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council For Social Communications spoke of the impact
of the media on daily life, especially through television, radio, cinema, websites
and social networks. He thus called for training in this line of not only pastoral
workers, lay people and journalists, but also seminarians. Without priests and without
bishops who understand modern culture, the communication gap will persist, hampering
the transmission of the faith to the young, he said. Obviously, he added, this does
not mean ignoring personal encounter and physical community life.