On September 22, 2008, Baghdadhope gave the piece of news about the imminent start in Beirut of the Synod of the Syriac Catholic church which was to elect the new patriarch to replace Mar Ignace Pierre VIII Abdel-Ahad who, in January, had resigned from the office of Patriarch of the Church of Antioch for Syriac Catholics held since 2001.
In the nine following months the patriarchal vacant seat had been entrusted by Vatican to an Episcopal Committee formed by S.E. Theophilus George Kassab, Archbishop of Homs, Hama and Nabk of the Syriacs also in charge of the Patriarchal Eparchy, S.E. Archbishop Athanase Matti Shaba Matoka, Achbishop of Baghdad of the Syriacs and S.E. Bishop Gregorius Tabi Elias, Archbishop of Damascus of the Syriacs.
That synod in the end was held in the patriarchal Seminary of Charfé, in Lebanon, but the eleven participating prelates, including the three forming the Episcopal Committee appointed by Rome and two emeritus patriarchs, the above-mentioned Ignatius Pierre VIII Abdel-Ahad and Cardinal Ignatius I Musa Daoud who in 2001 had resigned the patriarchal office becoming the Prefect of the Congregation for Oriental Churches maintaining that position until 2007, failed to find an agreement on a name.
The patriarchal seat was then still vacant. A vacancy the days of which should be now numbered. Canon 72 § 2 of the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches establishes in the case of the election of a Patriarch that "If an election is not successful within fifteen days from the opening of the synod of bishops of the patriarchal Church, the matter devolves to the Roman Pontiff" and consequently on January 17-23 the Synod of the Syriac Catholic church will meet in Rome and will be this time presided over by Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, Prefect of the Congregation for Oriental Churches.
A synod that will be so overseen more closely by Rome as already happened in the past. In recent years, in fact, this is not the first time that a synod of an eastern church does not go through to find then a quick solution in Rome.
It had already happened in 2003 when, after the death in July of the Patriarch of the Chaldean Church, Mar Raphael I Bedaweed, the meeting of the synod of the bishops in Baghdad had not produced a white smoke, and the agreement on the new patriarch was found in Rome in December of the same year with the appointment of the head of the church, Cardinal Mar Emmanuel III Delly, chosen by the Synod by then presided over by the Syriac Catholic Mar Ignatius I Musa Daoud.
It had already happened in 2003 when, after the death in July of the Patriarch of the Chaldean Church, Mar Raphael I Bedaweed, the meeting of the synod of the bishops in Baghdad had not produced a white smoke, and the agreement on the new patriarch was found in Rome in December of the same year with the appointment of the head of the church, Cardinal Mar Emmanuel III Delly, chosen by the Synod by then presided over by the Syriac Catholic Mar Ignatius I Musa Daoud.
We have only to wait and see if also this time the Roman air will push the bishops of the Syriac Catholic Church, as already happened for the Chaldean ones, to take a decision by overcoming the particularisms, to review the alliances that an election always involves, and to give the faithful a new guide who can and want help them to overcome a difficult moment in their history.
