The dangerous life of the Apostolic Nuncio in Iraq: Msgr. Giorgio Lingua

By Baghdadhope*

Being an Apostolic Nuncio, practically a Vatican’s ambassador, is not an easy task. It means being the voice of papal diplomacy but also the bearer of Catholic religious values and in this double role, therefore, being particularly careful in operating in different cultural, political and economic environments.
This is true especially in case of "difficult" countries, in war with others or where the civil war rages on, dominated by dictatorial regimes or mired in poverty, plagued by recurrent disasters or where Christianity,  Catholic or not, is a minority, as in the case of Iraq, "freed" by a tyrant but not yet "free" and above all still far from any semblance of normalcy.
In such a difficult environment the Apostolic Nuncio has to double the prudence that his diplomatic role already imposes on him and that is what Archbishop Giorgio Lingua, Apostolic Nuncio in Iraq and Jordan, does since his arrival in the small building of the Nunciature in Sha' ra Saadoun, in Baghdad.
Always ready to listen and to give voice to all parties, in the interviews he granted up to now he showed wisdom and prudence to disappoint no one of them, and it could not be otherwise.
But what do we know, in practical terms, of the life of the Apostolic Nuncio in one of the most dangerous countries in the world? We can imagine him, or even see him while meeting heads of state, ministers, ambassadors and other representatives of all religions, but how is his typical day?
Baghdadhope asked it to him:

Your Excellence, you live between Amman and  Baghdad, can you describe your daily life in the Nunciature of the Iraqi capital city?
"I would say that is a very retired life although as Papal Nuncio I have many institutional meetings in the Nunciature or in the Green Zone, the large and heavily guarded area established by the Americans where are the seats of the Iraqi government institutions.
"Institutional meetings, however, are not the only opportunities you have to leave the Nunciature I guess ..
"No. There are the meetings with the religious leaders, Muslims, Christians or of the other two minorities, the Yazidis and the Mandaeans, the religious ceremonies such as ordinations, consecrations of new churches and the celebrations of the liturgical calendar, and there are the national holiday parties that are held in the about fifty embassies in the city.According  to your description it does not seem a very retired life. What did you refer to describing it as such?
"Well, I referred to the fact that although I arrived in Baghdad almost three years ago I still don’t know the city very well because I can’t decide to go out for a walk and breathe its true air, the one I could appreciate only by getting lost in its streets following a smell, a sound, a man walking in front of me. Yet I'd like to do it. Baghdad is like a woman wearing a burka who shows her beauties only to the one who loves her and for the little I saw from behind the car window it is a city that would be worth knowing but where, unfortunately, safety is an unknown good: days of illusory calm are followed by days in which the echo of the explosion of the car bombs and the sound of sirens can be heard in large areas of the city."
What about your security? Most of us can’t imagine what does it means to live under escort like you.
"The security of the building of the Nunciature is entrusted to armed guards and until a few months ago to a dog that unfortunately passed away, I fear for the terrible heat of July. As for me when I go out I have to inform the head of the guards who organizes the 7 policemen armed to the teeth who escort, in front and behind, the armored car of the Nunciature on two pickups. By order of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs I can’t go out without the body guards who, in case of meetings in other cities, are doubled and alerted at least 72 hours in advance.
In three years I was allowed to go out by feet on very few occasions, for example to visit the tombs of the priests killed in the Syriac Catholic Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help that is just 400 meters from the Nunciature. To obtain the permission to go there I have to point out to the authorities every year that such a pilgrimage, made on All Souls’ Day, is a requirement of my religion and then they do not oppose it. The first time, however, I was escorted by five guards in uniform, helmet and Kalashnikovs and who saw me leaving the Nunciature said that I looked like someone arrested and taken to prison. Since then I  requested, and the authorities sensibly accepted, to be escorted by guards in civilian clothes.
Sometimes the issue of security has also surreal implications: one day I went out to buy an ornamental plant and I found a nice one, but it was too big to fit into our car. I asked to load it on the pickup of the police escorting us and the agents kindly agreed to help me: one of them travelled for about 5 km across Baghdad holding with one hand his Kalashikov and with the other my plant !
Leaving Baghdad is not easy too. The authorization to the company in charge of security at the airport must be requested at least 24 hours before the departure. Once you have the authorization number you must show it to the first checkpoint located about 4 km from the airport where, if you who don’t have a special pass, you must leave your car and take a taxi. There is where the body guards leave me. After about 500 meters the explosive sniffer dogs inspect the car and after another 2.5 km there is the last checkpoint operated by a security company different from the one in charge of the first one and after which you  finally arrive at the airport.
Do you think these security measures are sufficient?
"I find them a bit excessive since they reduce the freedom of movement. It must be said, however, that they are good for health: a regular and almost monastic life is surely healthy.
"But in this way you never make exercise, there is not a gym in the Nunciature and the lack of movement is not good for health..
"Technology helps me. In the afternoon, if there are no meetings in the Nunciature or somewhere else,  I run for about 40 minutes on the treadmill but, as to run indoors is rather monotonous, I do it while watching on TV football or tennis matches imaging to run on those fields. I do what I can!" Meetings, work and sport. What else? At what time does your working day begin?
"At 6 o'clock when my smartphone tells me the time, informs me on the outside temperature, reminds me of the commitments of the day and above all the reason I wake up for that day: living to love Jesus and to try to be another Mary. The miracles of technology! A small device, if properly set up, can do many things and my smartphone is useful also when, especially in winter, the generators are still off and in the absence of electricity I use it as a breviary at 6:30
After waking up and before the prayers there is a special moment. Shacking the laziness of the early morning hours off I drag myself out of bed; many times I am already sweaty by that hour since in the hot months there are already 30 degrees in the room. Then I go to the bathroom where the previous evening I filled the tub of water to give it the time to "cool down" during the night: with an outside temperature that sometimes exceeds 50 degrees and the water tanks on the terrace the water would still be too hot in the morning. 
After reading the breviary I go to the small chapel of the Nunciature where I pray the Office and where I meditate until 7.30 when I celebrate Mass with the Lauds with the Secretary of the Nunciature, Msgr. George Panamthundhil. Usually present to the Mass are also two Chaldean nuns of the order of the Daughters of Mary Immaculate: Sister Hanan and Sister Clara.
You, the Secretary and two nuns. Does anyone else live in the Nunciature?
"A good lady named Shamiran who is responsible for the cleaning and a gardener with whom I communicate with gestures and who, although well understanding the reproaches, has the habit to do only what he wants. It’s a losing battle! On the back of the Nunciature there is a small garden under his care in which, after the breakfast with Msgr. George, I take a walk to check the plants and possibly to collect some flowers to welcome the guests; if I am lucky I collect some fresh eggs from the chicken coop set up near a small vegetable garden that I would not describe as flourishing and if I have time I encourage the papayas in their growth and I look with commiseration the tomatoes that do not want to sprout. At 9:00 the actual working day starts with the Secretary and the Iraqi nun who, speaking a fluent Italian, has to work very hard. Twice a week an Iraqi priest comes to help us with the translations.
The first tasks are to check the e-mail and the agenda to distribute the assignments depending on the urgency and everyone’s skills but before that, to remember that the most important thing is to put into practice the Word of Scripture, we read the Arabic/Italian sign that we change every month and that we hung in the Chapel. As Pope Francis said we are not an NGO or an embassy like the others: we are consecrated and it must be a priority for us to live the Word that gives meaning to our activities, our work and our meetings.. 
After this organizational meeting I usually surf the web for national and international news and I check what I have to do: drafts to be corrected, answers to be given, budgets to be controlled, letters to be signed, speeches to be prepared, information to be communicated, phone calls to be made and dossiers to be studied: the normal administration of a Nunciature.
On Monday, when the diplomatic courier usually arrives from Rome the Secretary immediately opens it - I don’t know if for authentic zeal or curiosity - to record the official correspondence, organize it and take it to me.
Around eleven Shamiran "breaks" my activities with some tea and some biscuit and, if scheduled, after this break I meet someone, but only until 12:00 because at that time my secretary, Indian but punctual like a Swiss, rings the bell that calls us to the Chapel where we recite the Angelus and pray for the peace in the world, especially for the countries at war.
After an hour I have lunch with the Secretary eating what the good nuns prepare for us and we use those moments to take stock of the work flow. At approximately 14:00 I retire to my office where I turn on the TV to watch the news from Italy or on Al Jazeera even if, due to digestion and the heat, after three or four news I doze off to wake up when I feel the remote control slipping from my legs to the floor. At about 15:00 I go to the Chapel for the prayers of the Ninth Hour and after them, with great effort of will, I try to do some exercise in Arabic to be ready for the Monday nights Skype conversations with my teacher, Ahmed.
After the homework I work again until 19:30 when I have dinner with the Secretary and the nuns. Since I can’t  go out I take a walk in the garden and say good night to the guards who watch over us. Another visit to the Chapel for the Vespers and the evening ends with a table tennis match on the WII between me and Msgr. George.  Neither of us wants to lose because the stakes are high: a chocolate candy, but do not ask me who usually wins, I won’t reveal it!"
A long day...
"That does not end with the table tennis. There is some good reading, internet and contacts with friends around the world, there is the personal correspondence to check. Usually my day ends on the terrace where I go to pray the Holy Rosary and from where I contemplate, behind the guards’ back as they would not allow it, all that I can see of Baghdad. In those moments I commend the city, its inhabitants and the whole country to the protection of Holy Mary and look at the great cross of the Syriac Catholic Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help that is only 400 meters far from the Nunciature. With the recitation of Compline on the terrace or in the Chapel I say good night to Jesus too, asking for forgiveness for the shortcomings of the day that, despite my good intentions, I feel to be more than the good deeds I wanted to do. At that point there is still one thing to do: hang up the smartphone charger that on the morning after will wake me up saying that "It's six o clock!" and that another day is about to begin for me in Baghdad ."

* The pictures by Baghdadhope were taken in 2002 and show the Apostolic Nunciature still bearing the symbols of its status: the plaque on the outside of the building now hidden by the protective barrier, the Vatican flag barely visible on the roof and above all the coat of arms of John Paul II, Pope in that year, on the facade. Symbols that now, as it is clear from the photo taken by Mr. Zaia, are hidden or disappeared. In the other photo Msgr. Giorgio Lingua and one of the armed guards of the Nunciature.

Iraq: esplosione a Baghdad.

By Radiovaticana

È di 30 morti e 55 feriti il bilancio dell’esplosione avvenuta questa mattina nella parte nord di Baghdad. L'agenzia di stampa Xinhua, citando una fonte del ministero dell'Interno iracheno, parla di un attacco kamikaze avvenuto vicino alla moschea di al-Temimi, frequentata dalla comunità sciita della capitale irachena.
“La sicurezza in Iraq è un bene sconosciuto”, a lanciare un nuovo allarme è il nunzio apostolico in Iraq e Giordania, mons. Giorgio Lingua, che in un’intervista a Baghdadhope ha affermato: “Nonostante sia arrivato a Baghdad da quasi tre anni non conosco ancora molto bene la città, quando devo uscire devo avvertire il capo delle guardie che organizza la scorta composta in genere da 7 poliziotti armati fino ai denti che scortano, davanti e dietro, la macchina blindata della nunziatura su due fuoristrada pick-up. Per disposizione del ministero degli Esteri - aggiunge il nunzio - non posso uscire senza questa scorta che in caso di visite fuori città viene più che raddoppiata ed organizzata con almeno 72 ore di anticipo”. Neanche lasciare Baghdad è facile. “L’autorizzazione alla Compagnia incaricata della sicurezza all’aeroporto deve essere richiesta almeno 24 ore prima della partenza”.

La vita "blindata" del Nunzio Apostolico in Iraq: Monsignor Giorgio Lingua

By Baghdadhope *

Essere Nunzio Apostolico, praticamente Ambasciatore del Vaticano, non è facile. Vuol dire essere voce della diplomazia papale ma anche portatore dei valori religiosi cattolici, ed in questa doppia veste, di conseguenza, essere particolarmente attenti nel muoversi nei diversi ambienti culturali, politici ed economici.
Specialmente se si tratta di paesi “difficili”, in conflitto con altri o in cui imperversa la guerra civile, dominati da regimi dittatoriali o sprofondati nella povertà, piagati da ricorrenti sciagure o in cui la religione cristiana, cattolica o no, è minoritaria, come nel caso dell’Iraq, “liberato” da un tiranno ma non ancora “libero” e soprattutto ancora lontano da qualsiasi parvenza di normalità.
In un ambiente così difficile il Nunzio Apostolico deve raddoppiare la prudenza che il suo ruolo diplomatico già gli impone ed è quello che Monsignor Giorgio Lingua, Nunzio in Iraq ed in Giordania, fa dal giorno del suo arrivo a Baghdad nel piccolo edificio della Nunziatura di Sha’ra Saadoun. Sempre attento a dare ascolto e voce a tutte le parti, nelle interviste fino ad ora concesse ha dimostrato saggezza e prudenza per non urtarne nessuna, e non potrebbe essere altrimenti.

Ma cosa sappiamo noi, in fondo, della vita del Nunzio Apostolico in uno dei paesi più pericolosi del mondo? Possiamo immaginarlo, o addirittura vederlo, mentre incontra capi di stato, ministri, altri ambasciatori o rappresentanti di tutte le religioni ma com’è una sua giornata tipo?
Baghdadhope ha voluto chiederglielo.

Monsignore, Lei vive nel centro di Baghdad alternando la sua presenza lì con quella in Giordania, può descriverci la vita nella Nunziatura?
“Direi che è una vita molto ritirata anche se, per il ruolo che ricopro, gli incontri istituzionali sono sempre molti. Sono incontri che si svolgono in Nunziatura o nella Zona Verde, la vasta zona blindata istituita dagli americani dove si trovano le sedi delle istituzioni governative irachene.”
Gli incontri istituzionali non sono però l’unica occasione per lasciare la Nunziatura immagino..
“No. Ci sono gli incontri con i capi religiosi, musulmani, cristiani o delle altre due minoranze, quella yazida e quella mandea, le cerimonie religiose cui partecipo, ad esempio le ordinazioni, le consacrazioni di nuove chiese e le celebrazioni del calendario liturgico, e ci sono poi i ricevimenti per le feste nazionali che si tengono nelle circa cinquanta sedi diplomatiche presenti in città.”
A descriverla così però non sembra una vita molto ritirata. A cosa alludeva definendola come tale?
“Al fatto che nonostante sia arrivato a Baghdad da quasi tre anni non conosco ancora molto bene la città visto che mi è impossibile decidere di uscire a fare una passeggiata e respirarne la vera aria, quella che si può apprezzare solo perdendosi tra le sue strade e facendosi guidare da un odore, un rumore, un uomo che cammina davanti a te. Eppure mi piacerebbe farlo. Baghdad è come una donna con il burka che lascia vedere le proprie bellezze solo a chi la ama e per quel poco che ho visto da dietro i vetri dell’auto è una città che varrebbe le pena scoprire ma dove purtroppo la sicurezza è un bene sconosciuto: a giorni di apparente calma seguono giorni in cui l’eco delle esplosioni delle autobomba ed il suono delle sirene sono udibili in vaste aree della città.”
E la Sua, di sicurezza, da chi e cosa è garantita? La maggior parte di noi fa fatica ad immaginare cosa voglia dire vivere blindati.
“Per quanto riguarda la sicurezza dell’edificio della Nunziatura essa è affidata a guardie armate e fino a pochi mesi fa ad un cane che purtroppo è deceduto, temo per l’atroce caldo di luglio. Per quanto riguarda me quando devo uscire devo avvertire il capo delle guardie che organizza la scorta composta in genere da 7 poliziotti armati fino ai denti che scortano, davanti e dietro, la macchina blindata della Nunziatura su due fuoristrada pick-up. Per disposizione del Ministero degli Esteri non posso uscire senza questa scorta che in caso di visite fuori città viene più raddoppiata ed organizzata con almeno 72 ore di anticipo.
In tre anni mi è stato consentito di uscire a piedi soltanto in pochissime occasioni, ad esempio per la visita alle tombe dei sacerdoti uccisi nella cattedrale siro-cattolica di Nostra Signora del Perpetuo Soccorso che si trova a soli 400 metri dalla Nunziatura. Per ottenere il permesso di farlo ogni anno faccio presente alle autorità che tale pellegrinaggio, compiuto nel giorno dei defunti, è un obbligo della mia religione ed allora esse non si oppongono. La prima volta, però, fui accompagnato da 5 guardie in divisa, elmetto e kalashnikov e chi mi vide lasciare la nunziatura così scortato disse che sembravo un arrestato condotto in prigione. Da allora ho richiesto, e le autorità hanno sensatamente accettato, di essere accompagnato da guardie in borghese.
A volte la questione della sicurezza ha anche dei risvolti surreali: un giorno sono andato a comprare una pianta ornamentale e ne ho trovata una bella ma troppo grande per entrare nella nostra macchina. Ho chiesto così di caricarla sul pick-up della polizia che ci scortava e gli agenti hanno gentilmente accettato di aiutarmi: uno di essi ha così fatto tutto il viaggio in piedi (circa 5 km attraverso Baghdad!) reggendo con una mano il kalashikov e con l'altra la mia pianta!
Neanche lasciare Baghdad è facile. L’autorizzazione alla compagnia incaricata della sicurezza all’aeroporto  deve essere richiesta almeno 24 ore prima della partenza. Una volta ottenuto il numero di autorizzazione lo si deve esibire al primo check-point che si trova a circa 4 km dall’aeroporto dove chi non ha un pass speciale deve lasciare il veicolo su cui ha viaggiato e prendere un taxi. Quello è il punto in cui la scorta mi lascia. Dopo circa 500 metri i cani anti esplosivo ispezionano l’auto  e dopo altri 2,5 km si trova l’ultimo check point che è gestito da una compagnia di sicurezza diversa da quella che controlla il primo punto di controllo e passato il quale si arriva finalmente allo scalo.
Ritiene che queste misure di sicurezza siano sufficienti?
“Le ritengo un po’ eccessive dato che riducono al minimo i movimenti e la libertà di spostamento. C’è però da dire che tutto ciò è vantaggioso per la salute: una vita regolare, quasi monastica, fa senz’altro bene.”
Ma così non si muove mai, in Nunziatura non c’è una palestra e la mancanza di movimento non fa bene..“
In questo mi aiuta la tecnologia. Al pomeriggio se non ci sono visite in Nunziatura o uscite in programma mi dedico allo sport con una corsetta di circa 40 minuti sul tapis roulant. Certo correre al chiuso è piuttosto monotono e così lo faccio guardando in TV qualche partita di calcio o tennis ed illudendomi di star correndo su quei campi. Si fa quel che si può!”
Allora: visite, uscite e sport. Che altro? A che ora comincia la giornata?
“Alle 6 in punto quando il mio smartphone mi annuncia l’ora, mi informa sulla temperatura esterna, mi ricorda gli impegni della giornata e soprattutto il motivo per cui anche quel giorno mi sveglio: vivere per amare Gesù e cercare di essere un’altra Maria. I miracoli della tecnica! Un piccolo aggeggio, se programmato a dovere, può fare molte cose ed il mio smartphone serve anche quando, soprattutto d’inverno, i  generatori sono ancora spenti e manca la luce elettrica, ed io lo uso come breviario alle 6.30.
Tra il momento della sveglia e quello delle preghiere c’è però un momento speciale. Scrollandomi di dosso la pigrizia tipica delle ore mattutine mi trascino giù dal letto molte volte già tutto sudato, visto che nei mesi caldi a quell’ora nella stanza ci sono già 30 gradi, e vado in bagno dove la sera precedente ho provveduto a riempire la vasca di acqua così da darle il tempo di “raffreddarsi” durante la notte visto che con una temperatura esterna che a volte supera i 50 gradi e le cisterne sul terrazzo l’acqua al mattino sarebbe ancora troppo calda.
Dopo la lettura del breviario mi reco nella piccola cappella della Nunziatura dove recito l’Ufficio e dove mi raccolgo in meditazione fino alle 7.30 quando con il Segretario della Nunziatura, Mons. George Panamthundhil, celebriamo la Santa Messa con le Lodi mattutine alla quale assistono anche due suore caldee dell’ordine delle Figlie di Maria Immacolata: Suor Hanan e Suor Clara .                     
Lei, il Segretario e due suore. Chi altri vive in Nunziatura?
“Una brava signora di nome Shamiran che si occupa delle pulizie ed un giardiniere con il quale comunico a gesti e che sebbene capisca bene i rimproveri ha l’abitudine, comunque, di fare di testa sua. Una partita persa. Sul retro della Nunziatura c’è un piccolo giardino affidato alle sue cure in cui, dopo la colazione che consumo con Mons. George, faccio una passeggiata per controllare lo stato delle piante ed eventualmente raccogliere qualche fiore per dare il benvenuto agli ospiti; se ho fortuna raccolgo anche qualche uovo fresco dal piccolo pollaio allestito vicino ad un orticello che non definirei proprio florido e se ho tempo incoraggio le papaie nella crescita e guardo con commiserazione i pomodori che non vogliono saperne di spuntare. Alle 9.00 inizia la vera e propria giornata lavorativa con il Segretario e la suora irachena che, visto che parla perfettamente anche l’italiano è costretta a fare di tutto. Due volte alla settimana un sacerdote iracheno viene ad aiutarci con le traduzioni.
I primi impegni sono quelli di controllare la posta elettronica e l’agenda per distribuire le incombenze a seconda delle urgenze e delle competenze ma prima di ciò, per ricordare che la cosa più importante è mettere in pratica la Parola della Scrittura, leggiamo il cartello che la riporta in arabo ed in italiano che abbiamo affisso in cappella e che cambiamo ogni mese. Come ha detto Papa Francesco noi non siamo una ONG e neanche un’ambasciata come le altre: siamo consacrati e deve essere prioritario per noi vivere la Parola che dà senso a tutte le nostre attività, al nostro lavoro ed ai nostri incontri.

Dopo questo incontro organizzativo in genere mi affido ad internet per controllare le notizie nazionali ed internazionali e metto mano alle pratiche che mi aspettano: bozze da correggere, risposte da dare, bilanci da controllare, lettere da firmare, discorsi da preparare, informazioni da comunicare, telefonate da fare e dossier da studiare: la normale amministrazione di una Nunziatura. Al lunedì, quando in genere arriva il corriere diplomatico da Roma, il Segretario si affretta ad aprirlo – non so se per autentico zelo o pura curiosità – per registrare la corrispondenza ufficiale, ordinarla e portarmela. Verso le 11.00 Shamiran “spezza” le mie attività con del thé e qualche biscotto e, se previsto, dopo questa pausa incontro qualcuno, ma solo fino a 12.00 perché a quell’ora il mio Segretario, indiano ma puntuale come uno svizzero, suona la campanellina che ci richiama in Cappella dove recitiamo l’Angelus e preghiamo per la pace nel mondo, specialmente per i paesi in guerra.

Dopo un’ora pranzo con il Segretario con ciò che le brave suore ci preparano ed approfittiamo di quei momenti per fare il punto sull’andamento delle attività. Alle 14.00 circa mi ritiro nel mio studio dove accendo la Tv per seguire le notizie dall’Italia o su Al Jazeera anche se, complice la digestione ed il caldo, al terzo o quarto servizio in genere mi appisolo per risvegliarmi quando sento il telecomando scivolare a terra dalle mie gambe. Verso le 15.00 mi reco in Cappella per la recita dell’ora nona e dopo, devo dire con estremo sforzo di volontà, provo a fare qualche esercizio di arabo per non farmi trovare impreparato quando, al lunedì sera, mi collego tramite Skype com Ahmed, il mio insegnante.

Dopo l’arabo riprendo il lavoro che termina alle 19.30 per la cena che condivido con il Segretario e le suore. Visto che non posso uscire mi concedo una passeggiata in  giardino approfittando così per dare la buona notte alle guardie che vegliano su di noi. Un altro incontro in Cappella per i Vespri e la serata termina con un’accanita sfida tra me e Mons. George a ping-pong simulato dalla Wii. Nessuno di noi due vuole perdere perché la posta in gioco è alta: un cioccolatino, ma non mi chieda chi vince di solito, per rispetto del mio avversario non lo rivelerò!”
Una giornata lunga…
“Che non finisce però con il ping-pong. C’è qualche buona lettura, c’è internet ed i contatti con gli amici sparsi nel mondo, c’è la corrispondenza personale da evadere. Di solito concludo la giornata in terrazzo dove salgo per recitare il Santo Rosario e da dove, di nascosto dalle guardie che non lo permetterebbero, contemplo quel poco di Baghdad che posso vedere. In quei momenti affido la città, i suoi abitanti e tutto il Paese alla protezione della Madonna e guardo, a soli 400 metri, la grande croce della cattedrale siro-cattolica di Nostra Signora del Perpetuo Soccorso. Con la recita della compieta, in terrazzo o in Cappella, do la buona notte anche a Gesù chiedendo perdono per le mancanze della giornata che, nonostante i buoni propositi, ho l’impressione siano sempre più numerose delle buone azioni che avevo intenzione di compiere. A quel punto c’è ancora un’unica cosa da fare: riagganciare al caricatore lo smartphone che l’indomani mattina mi sveglierà annunciando implacabilmente che “Sono le sei e zero minuti” e che un’altra giornata sta per iniziare per me a Baghdad.”

* Le foto di Baghdadhope sono state scattate nel 2002 e mostrano la Nunziatura Apostolica recante ancora i simboli del suo status: la targa sull'esterno dell'edificio che ora è nascosta dal muro di protezione, la bandiera vaticana che si intravvede sul tetto e soprattutto lo stemma di Papa Giovanni Paolo II, pontefice in quell'anno, sulla facciata. Simboli che ora, come è chiaro dalla foto scattata da Mr. Zaia, sono nascosti o scomparsi. Nell'altra foto Monsignor Giorgio Lingua ed uno dei soldati di guardia alla Nunziatura.  

Christians will be massacred: If Syrian army leaves Aleppo, faithful will be killed, Chaldean Catholic leader warns

By Catholic Online

The United States ostensibly backs the rebel factions in war-torn Syria, but as one Christian leader that has ministered to the faithful in the Middle East warns, government forces are the ones protecting the Christian minority there. "The Syrian Army is protecting the Christian community [in Aleppo]," Reverend Raymond Moussalli says. "But if [the Army] leaves, they will be massacred."
According to Moussalli, roughly 200,000 Christians still reside in the war-torn streets of Aleppo. He warns that if the Syrian Army retreats due to attacks by Islamist rebels, the Christians "will be massacred."
Moussalli is the patriarchal vicar of the Chaldean Catholic Church in Jordan, which borders Syria on the south. He has spent many years attending to the spiritual needs to Christians who have fled from Iraq (along the western border) into Amman, Jordan.
Father Moussalli was among more than 50 regional Christian leaders who joined with Muslim scholars, who met at a conference in Amman against Western military intervention into the region.
Not surprisingly, very few - if any of the scholars gathered there saw much use in military intervention. Father Moussalli harshly criticized the West for supporting the Islamist rebels in Syria. "If we [the West] are bombing Syria now, where are all the Christians going? There are two million," he told the BBC.
Currently, there are about 2.5 million Christians in all of Syria, and an estimated 220,000 in Aleppo, of which about 10 percent have fled because of the rebel attacks, Moussalli says.
Ignatius Joseph Younan, patriarch of Antioch for the Syrian Catholic Church, added at the conference that "We stress that we reject foreign interference in Syria."
Overall, there was high condemnation for the war drums being pounded upon by the West against Syria - and elsewhere. "We don't accept any intervention by foreign powers . to protect minorities," Pope Anba Tawadros II, head of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, in Egypt said. "It [intervention] is basically a pretext . to advance their countries' interest in the Middle East."
There are an estimated 500,000 members of the Chaldean Catholic Church in the Middle East, which is in complete unity with the Holy See in Rome under the leadership of Pope Francis. The Chaldean Catholic Church traces its origins back to Thomas the Apostle and its liturgical languages are Syriac and Aramaic, the latter the language that Jesus Christ Himself primarily spoke.
Of the estimated 2.5 million Christians in Syria, most are Eastern Orthodox followed by Eastern Catholics, which includes the Assyrian Church of the East and the Chaldean Catholic Church.

After more than 10 years of hardship, Iraqi Christian calls it quits on Iraq

By Christian Science Monitor
by Christa Case Bryant

Fatin Yousef endured the US-led invasion of Iraq  in 2003, the outbreak of fierce Sunni-Shiite fighting in 2006, and an uptick in militant attacks after US troops withdrew in December 2011.

As a Christian, she faced even more persecution than the average Iraqi. But while roughly half of Iraq’s estimated 1 million Christians fled the country, she stayed put for a decade – until this summer.

Three weeks ago, Ms. Yousef finally left her country for good, taking refuge in Amman with her teenage daughter and elderly mother. Among her extended family of about 60 relatives, only one remains in Iraq.

Her story could not be independently verified by the Monitor but it is consistent with the accounts of other Iraqi Christian refugees, illustrating the persistent threat faced by one of the world’s oldest Christian communities, distinct but not disconnected from the widespread suffering of Iraqis of all backgrounds.

Yousef says her uncle was kidnapped and then killed after three days, targeted because he was a Christian. The perpetrators called her family to collect his body, then began threatening her.

“Within 24 hours, you will leave your job, leave your house. If you don’t leave in 24 hours we’re going to blow up your house,” Yousef recalls them telling her over the phone. So she quit her job as a stewardess with Iraqi Air, her employer for 13 years, left her house, and moved in with an aunt. 

She finally resolved to leave Iraq, but the day of her departure her sister called from Syria, where more than 300,000 Iraqi Christians have taken refuge. She told Yousef that her husband had traveled back to Iraq and was kidnapped on arrival; her sister begged her to stay and seek his release.

She stayed, but they never heard from him.

Yousef’s daughter, Lorita, found herself the only Christian in her class of 40 at school. She was required to sit through Islamic religious instruction that denigrated Christianity.

They couldn't find comfort in church because they were too scared to attend after the Al Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq killed at least 58 worshippers at Our Lady of Salvation church in  Baghdad in 2010.

“We don’t go to church in Baghdad, of course not,” says Yousef. “Then they will kill us in the church.”

But despite not being able to attend church, she has maintained a strong faith and credits God with helping her get Lorita out of Iraq safely.

“The most important thing is that God helped me with was to save my daughter,” says Yousef, who hopes they will be able to join her sister in Australia. “She’s the most important thing in my life.”

The Situation of Christians in the Middle East - A Declaration of Concern

By Huffington Post

by Wolfgang Danspeckgruber *

The Metropolitans of Aleppo in Syria, Mar Gregorios Youhanna Ibrahim and Boulos (Paul) Yazigi were abducted April 22nd, 2013 by 'unknown persons' and their fate is still in question.

This repulsive event is just one of many serious examples of the increasing persecution that Christians are now experiencing in the Middle East.
Over the past year I have been working with Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, Archbishop of Vienna, and "Pro Oriente" in Vienna, Austria. Today Cardinal Christoph Schönborn in his capacity as chairman of the "Pro Oriente" Foundation's board of trustees together with the Patriarchs Youhanna X (Antiochan Orthodox), Ignatius Zakka I Iwas (Syriac Orthodox), Gregorios III Laham (Melkite greek Catholic), Louis Raphael I Sako (Chaldean Catholic), Mar Dinkha IV (Assyrian), Nerses Bedros XIX (Armenian Catholic) published a joint declaration on the situation of Christians in the Middle East.
The unprecedented nature of this collective statement of Patriarchs and Cardinal is testimony to the extreme situations in which Christians in the Middle East now find themselves.
The precise wording of the declaration is as follows:

In deep concern regarding the situation of the Christians - and of all the people in the Middle Eastern countries where Christianity originated - we turn to the governments of those countries, to the leaders of religious communities, to international and regional organisations, and to representatives of civil society, that they may undertake everything in their power :
~ to obtain the immediate release of the kidnapped Metropolitans of Aleppo - and beyond this of all those who have been kidnapped in Syria,
~ to refuse the logic of violence and adopt the logic of dialogue,
~ to respect the sovereignty and unity of the States and to reject any illegal external military intervention,
~ to make it possible to return for all those who have been driven out of their homes or have had to flee,
~ to bring the suffering of the peoples and the conflict in Syria - which is also endangering the security and stability of the neighboring countries - to an end as quickly as possible through negotiations between all those involved,
~ to establish a political order in the Middle East which guarantees full respect of all human rights and thereby also religious liberty and freedom of conscience, but also full civil rights and equality for all the inhabitants of these countries.
The Christians in the Middle East are an essential and indispensable element of society. We are certain that in the future, too, they will contribute to building up a society characterised by peace, mutual respect and respect of human rights together with their fellow citizens who belong to other religious communities or have different political alignments.
With this in mind, we are united in prayer and in our efforts for a humane and dignified future with all Christians and people of good will.

*Founding Director of the Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination at Princeton University

Il nuovo Visitatore Apostolico caldeo incontra ad Istanbul i sacerdoti che vivono in Europa

By Baghdadhope *
Inizierà domani ad Istanbul la riunione dei sacerdoti caldei operanti in Europa che avranno così modo di incontrare l'Arcivescovo di Tehran, Mons. Ramzi Garmou, nominato dal sinodo riunitosi lo scorso giugno nuovo Visitatore Apostolico per il vecchio continente.
A guidare l'incontro sarà il Patriarca della chiesa caldea, Sua Beatitudine Mar Louis Raphael I Sako, arrivato oggi da Amman dove ha partecipato al summit sulla condizione dei cristiani in Medio Oriente e che ha approfittato della visita in Turchia per visitare la tomba del fratello, Zakaria Raphael Sako, morto ad Istanbul nel 2003 e quella di Monsignor Paul Karatash, vescovo caldeo della Turchia deceduto nel 2005.
Mar Sako ha incontrato, tra gli altri, Monsignor Francois Yakan, attuale amministratore patriarcale in Turchia, secondo il quale nel paese vivono 106 famiglie turche di fede caldea e più di 9.000 immigrati dall'Iraq che la diocesi sostiene.

Christians In the Levant Grow Fearful Over US Syria Strike

By Al Monitor, September 6, 2013
by Jean Aziz

Voices were loud and tones were clear in the closed conference held Monday, Sept. 2, in a Christian monastery in Mount Lebanon, about 20 kilometers [12 miles] from Beirut. The participants included representatives of the 11 Christian churches in Lebanon, along with a number of Lebanese Christian intellectuals and politicians, including Al-Monitor's correspondent.
The hottest topic was about the fate of Syria and Lebanon's Christians in light of a potential US strike against Damascus. One of the participating bishops addressed his fellow bishops and others with a sharp tone, saying, "Hear my words and take notes; the US strike on Syria has no guaranteed results whatsoever, neither on the military level nor on the political level or any other. The only certain and inevitable result is that the launch of the first rocket on Syria by NATO will be the end of Christians in this country. They will either be slaughtered or displaced."
The following series of positions expressed by the bishops were in favor of their colleague, opposed to US policy in particular and the West's policy toward Syria in general. "It is the Iraqi experience all over again," said another participating bishop. He explained: "Americans entered Iraq under the pretext of overthrowing Saddam Hussein and establishing democracy. Yet, their intervention led to absolute chaos, the emergence of the Islamic State of Iraq [group], endless Sunni-Shiite massacres, and most important, an almost total displacement of the Christians of Iraq." The bishop, eagerly encouraging a peaceful solution in Syria, stated, "A few weeks ago, and in coordination with concerned Vatican circles, I headed to Europe with a delegation of Syrian and Lebanese Christians. We met with officials from the EU and the NATO leadership."
The bishop said, trying to hide the agony in his voice, "We explained our situation and the inevitable dangers that lie ahead. Yet, we did not receive any response, not even any understanding of our tragedy. But we will never despair. We decided to convene all of the European churches to a conference in order to discuss our cause. Before the recent deterioration of the situation, in light of talks about the possibility of a US strike on Syria, we had set our mind to hold a conference in Cyprus in October 2013, with the participation of more than 200 representatives of European churches. Now, things have become even more complicated, more dangerous and more urgent."
A third bishop participating in the same closed-door conference went further in his criticism of Western policies on Syria and its Christians. He said he now believes that the West indeed wants to displace the Christians of the East. He explained that whenever he talks about the tragedy of Syrian Christians facing the threats of jihadists, takfiris, al-Qaeda and Jabhat al-Nusra, as well as other Sunni radical forces supported by the West in Syria, the Western answer addresses the outcomes rather than the causes.
"A number of European officials have told us that the recent German experience is encouraging. Berlin has opened the door for around 5,000 displaced Syrian Christians," the bishop revealed. He added, "The experience will be followed by other similar steps on the part of Austria, Denmark and other European countries."
"What does this mean?" asked the bishop. "It means the displacement of a sect that includes more than 2 million people," he answered.
Only 48 hours after the Christian conference, the tragic news came from Maaloula, the oldest Christian village in Syria, 50 kilometers [31 miles] northwest of Damascus: Sunni jihadists were attacking the village and one of the oldest Christian monasteries in the East was being sabotaged.
This was not received as normal details of the Syrian war. After the news of the attack on Maaloula emerged on the evening of Wednesday, Sept. 4, all of the church officials Al-Monitor's correspondent met with expressed anger as they tried to contain their tears.
The place is a veritable sanctuary for the Christians of Syria, Lebanon and the East. It is unique, for it is home to the last population in the world that still speaks the original language of Jesus of Nazareth, and they still teach this language to their children. The ancient Aramaic language is the treasure of Maaloula and its neighbor Saidnaya, another Syrian village threatened by Sunni jihadists.
When Al-Monitor's correspondent visited Maaloula in 2008, one of the residents insisted on giving him the full names and addresses of his relatives who had emigrated to the United States, to confirm how Mel Gibson had asked them to correct the original language of Jesus in his famous movie The Passion of the Christ.
The Christian outcry regarding the potential US strike on Syria is growing louder and louder. On Friday, Sept. 6, a news conference was called in Beirut for all the Christian associations in Lebanon, in condemnation of what happened in Maaloula. On Saturday evening, worshippers from all the Christian churches will meet in the Basilica of Our Lady of Lebanon in Harissa in the center of Mount Lebanon to say a communal prayer for peace in Syria. The prayers will be led by the Maronite patriarch in participation of the apostolic nuncio, in observance of the appeal of Pope Francis I, who called upon all the faithful to join in a day of prayer and fasting on Sept. 7 for peace in Syria.
In addition, one of the Catholic bishops at the conference quoted an official in the Vatican as saying that Rome would not only call for this day and send a papal message to the G-20 summit, but would also have a stronger position calling for avoiding war in Syria.
"We will not accept dying or being killed in silence," the bishop concluded, as he tightly held the cross hanging around his neck.

As Syria's war rages, region's Christians hold their breath

By The Christian Science Monitor

Syrian rebels linked with Al Qaeda have reportedly taken over the historic Christian town of Maaloula, deepening concerns that without the protection of President Bashar al-Assad, Syria’s Christians, roughly 10 percent of the population, could be left vulnerable to mass emigration or persecution.
“I want [Mr. Assad] to stay in power because he was very good to Christians,” said Athraa, a young Syrian mother who recently fled from her village on the Syria-Iraq border to Jordan with her husband and two sons.

“There was religious freedom for Christians with Bashar…. We were not missing anything,” she said, speaking several days before Maaloula fell in her simple Amman apartment, with suitcases teetering atop a rundown armoire. “We are expecting what has happened in Iraq to happen in Syria as well.”

Indeed, from Egypt to Lebanon to Syria, many Christians are worried that the rise of political Islam and heightened militancy could have a disproportionate impact on already beleaguered Christian minorities – just as in Iraq over the past decade. Roughly half of Iraq’s 1 million Christians left the country, constituting at times 20 percent of Iraqi refugees though they made up only 5 percent of the overall population.

At a conference on challenges facing Arab Christians hosted by Jordan last week, more than 50 prominent Christian leaders as well as a handful of top Islamic scholars pushed for interfaith dialog to help quell rising sectarianism. They emphasized the key role Christians have played in Arab societies for 2,000 years, including well before the advent of Islam, and the danger not only to Christian individuals but to the societies as a whole if Christians were to be pushed out altogether.

“This [Christian] presence throughout these ages is [now] aced with so many challenges that shake the pillars and the foundation of Arab culture and the Christian component within it – especially with the rise in emigration, which negatively affects Arab Christians,” said Armenian Patriarch Nurhan Mannougian of Jerusalem.

Jordan’s King Abdullah, who invited the conference participants to lunch in the Royal Court, said in a short address beforehand that Jordan stands as a model of coexistence and fraternity between Muslims and Christians – not out of benevolence, but necessity.

“We also believe that the protection of the rights of Christians is a duty rather than a favor,” said the king. “Christians have always played a key role in building our societies and defending our nations.”

Iraq's diaspora

In a hilly neighborhood of Amman, a final hymn wafts out of the softly lit windows of the Jesuit Fathers church as the evening breeze picks up.  After the service, dozens of Iraqi refugees file out between the simple blue chairs, touching or kissing the cross on their way out.

Among them is Mofed, who owned a photo shop in Baghdad. One day, he says, some men came to his shop and gave him three options: become Muslim; pay $70,000 as a tax levied on non-Muslims, known as jizya; or be killed along with his family.

So nine months ago he and his wife fled to Jordan, and have found refugee in this church, run by Father Raymound Moussalli of the Chaldean Catholic church.

Androus from Mosul, Iraq, and another member of Father Raymond’s congregation, says he received a similar demand via telephone.

“Because you are infidels, you have to pay jizya,” he recalled being told over the phone. “Either you pay jizya, or we will kill you or your son.”

Mofed and Androus, together with their families, are awaiting visas, hoping to start a new life in the West.

And Syria's

In the nearby neighborhood of Germana, Ridda and Shafiqa are also waiting – to go home to Syria. They sit on a few thin mattresses and plastic chairs. A small calendar on the bare walls proclaims, “I the Lord do not change.”

Anas, their son, says he got threatening messages back in Syria: “Your money is for us to take, your wife is for us to sleep with, and your children are for killing. This is all halal,” or permissible under Islamic law. He escaped with his wife and children to Jordan, but not before his liquor store had been burned down.

Ridda, the husband, was kidnapped by rebels for a week until the Syrian Army got close, prompting the rebels to flee. He went home to Damascus to pack his bags and discovered that during his captivity, his house had been hit in a rocket attack. He packed his bags for Amman, where his family was already waiting.

They’ve been here for a year now, but are hoping to return as soon as there is security – no matter who is in power. But they are clearly concerned by the examples of other countries, where Islamist forces gained power after the secular regime was toppled.

“We see the countries in front of us – Iraq, Libya, Egypt – the Brotherhood took charge and look what happened in one year,” says Ridda. Egypt’s Copts, which comprise roughly 10 percent of Egypt’s 90 million citizens, have faced escalated kidnappings, killings, and church burnings since the 2011 uprising that ousted President Hosni Mubarak.

“If the Brotherhood took over in Syria, it would not be the same,” adds Ridda. “We would be like Lebanon, living in cantons – every sect with its own area.”

Equal rights

Indeed, one of the most pressing questions is where Christians would fit in a state that draws more heavily on Islamic law. Arab Christian leaders at last week’s conference repeatedly emphasized the need for equal citizenship rights and fear some Islamist interpretations of the concept of the ummah – a global nation of Muslims across political borders – would preclude that. “Ummah would cancel the concept of a home country and the pluralistic nature of a country,” said Gregorios III Laham, Melkite Greek Patriarch of Antioch, in a panel on Syria.

Bishop Munib Younan of the evangelical Lutheran church in Jordan and the Holy Land encouraged his fellow Christians to “battle with political Islam and not to be afraid of it,” emphasizing the need for engagement with all Muslims not just for religious understanding but to discuss the “proper relation of religion and state.”

As both Muslims and Christians grapple with the tremendous upheaval in the region, Sheikh Ali Gomma, grand mufti emeritus of Egypt and one of four senior Muslim scholars who attended last week’s conference, condemned the attacks, church burnings, and humiliation of Christians in Egypt.

“This is a huge violation not only on the humanitarian level but on the Islamic level as well,” he said, contrasting the heightened bitterness with the calmer days of his youth, when he would play soccer with Christian boys and share food with their families. “It is incumbent upon us to eliminate this bitterness and tension which is victimizing our brethren in Egypt.”

He said Friday sermons pose a key challenge for Islamic leaders espousing better relations between Muslims and Christians. “Sometimes our Islamic colleagues would curse Christians and that would be transmitted to Christian neighbors,” he said. “Muslims need to change their Islamic discourse.”

Amid all the upheaval, the same faith that has made Christians something of a target has also provided comfort for some.

“I believe in Christ. … The peace of Jesus is in my heart,” says Athraa, the young mother of two, wearing pink Crocs and hot-pink nail polish. “Always the Bible is open. What else will give me power? The Word of God gives me power.”

Dall'Iraq l'nvito al digiuno per la pace in Siria e in tutto il Medio Oriente

By Baghdadhope*

Con queste parole, comunicate a Baghdadhope da Padre Albert Zarazeer, responsabile delle comunicazioni del patriarcato Caldeo, anche la maggior comunità cattolica dell'Iraq aderisce all'invito di Papa Francesco per la giornata di preghiera e digiuno dedicata alla pace in Siria, in Medio Oriente e nel mondo:

In solidarietà con il desiderio di Sua Santità Francesco e con il suo invito a  pregare e digiunare sabato prossimo, 7 di settembre, per la pace e la stabilità in Siria, in Medio Oriente ed in tutto il mondo chiediamo a tutti i vescovi cattolici di invitare i loro fedeli, figli e figlie, a digiunare insieme a tutte le persone di buona volontà nel mondo perché finisca la sofferenza di milioni di uomini e cessino le distruzioni causate dalla violenza.

Louis Raphael Sako
presidente e segretario generale del Consiglio dei vescovi 

Christian, Muslim leaders examine challenges of Arab Christians

By Catholic News Service
by Dale Gavlak

For decades, Arab Christians have been fleeing the Holy Land and the rest of the Middle East in droves, mainly because of violence.
Within the past two-and-a-half years, some 450,000 Christians are believed to be among the 2 million people who have fled the civil war in Syria, an ancient land of historic churches, the country where St. Paul encountered Christ on the road to Damascus.
Some 70 high-ranking Arab church leaders, together with their Western counterparts, and Muslim clerics gathered in Amman for a Sept. 3-4 meeting aimed at tackling "the challenges of Arab Christians."
The Christian and Muslims leaders aimed to find a way to end the sectarian strife threatening their people and countries.
"We must confront extremist trends," Archbishop Fouad Twal, Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, told the gathering. He said it was the duty of religious leaders and their communities to work jointly "to get the new generation to accept 'the other,'" in order to "isolate these trends."
Sheik Aref Nayed, a Libyan Muslim theologian, challenged participants to consider what factors help create extremist groups in the first place and whether religious leaders may have also failed to protect their people against government-sanctioned violence.
"Did Sunni clerics support the Syrian people in their initial peaceful protests?" he asked.
He questioned whether Arab church and mosque leaders failed to stand up against regimes and rebels while their congregations were massacred.
Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, retired archbishop of Washington, drew attention to how American religious moderates have "got the back" of Muslims in the United States.
"When (American) Christian fundamentalists attack Muslims, we immediately say this is not the response of Christians. We want to see moderate Muslims do the same thing for Christians in the Middle East," Cardinal McCarrick told the assembly, which included distinguished clergy from Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant churches in the Middle East.
"I would hope that the moderate voices of Islam would be raised right away," he said.
"By Muslims, there should be an immediate voice of great concern by the moderate leaders saying this is not true Islam," Cardinal McCarrick said, pointing to the milestone document, The Amman Message, developed in 2004 in part by Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad bin Talal, Jordanian King Abdullah II's chief adviser for religious and cultural affairs and personal envoy.
But Cardinal McCarrick also challenged Christians in the Middle East to try to hold fast to their ancient homelands, maintain their historic presence, and not flee to the West.
"They have to be brave enough to say: 'You are driving us out. If this continues, you will make it impossible.'"
Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, led a minute of silent prayer for Christians who had died and for their families. He also paid tribute to Muslims who "denounce the acts committed by some of their mistaken co-religionists against Christians." He urged Arab Christians to continue to live "not alongside each other, but with each other."
Iraq is again facing some of the deadliest sectarian violence in five years; things had somewhat calmed in the aftermath of the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled dictator Saddam Hussein. But in July, more than 1,000 Iraqis were killed and more than 2,300 were wounded.
Archbishop Jean Sleiman, the Latin-rite bishop of Baghdad, said most of the deadly attacks now taking place in Iraq involved Sunni and Shiite Muslims against each other.
Church officials say Christians numbered about 1.5 million before the 2003 war, representing just over 5 percent of the population of Iraq. Some now say Christians remaining in the country are half that figure.
Following the invasion, violence against Christians rose, with reports of kidnappings, torture, church bombings and killings. Some were pressured to convert to Islam under threat of death or expulsion, and women were ordered to wear Islamic dress.
Syrian Christians fear sharing a similar fate.
Archbishop Sleiman comes from Lebanon, which was torn apart by a 15-year civil war that killed 120,000 people.
Archbishop Sleiman said that, humanly speaking, Iraqi Christians and others in the region are in a "very deep despair." They fear Muslim fundamentalism and the push to turn the Arab countries into Islamic states, with Shariah or Islamic law as the main base of justice. "The fear is pushing Christians to go abroad," he added.
Chaldean Catholic Patriarch Louis Sako of Baghdad agreed that emigration has grown.
Christians "don't trust the future and think they are marginalized. They are looking for a better future outside the country," the patriarch added. He said he believes that 600,000 Christians have left Iraq over the past decade.
On a recent visit to northern Iraq, Patriarch Sako encouraged the Catholic faithful in 40 villages to remain and not leave.
"But they need help from the church, Christian politicians, and abroad," he said, citing projects to build schools and health clinics.
"The situations in Syria, Egypt and Lebanon are also getting worse. Christians are feeling threatened," Patriarch Sako added, saying many feel they are "second-class citizens."
Franciscan Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa, custos of the Holy Land, said problems faced by Christians in the Middle East were "not new." He urged Christians to bolster dialogue with moderate Muslims.
"The church is able and has to do this. We have to avoid risks to be nostalgic of the past or to ask for protection. We, as Christians, are part of this society, and we also have to be part of the changes in the society."
He said Christians in the Middle East were seeking human rights, equal citizenship, freedom of worship and freedom of conscience. Christians are struggling for their place in Arab society and before government authorities.
"It's not always a war of religion, but that of power," he said.
Father Pizzaballa said it was important for Christians to work alongside Muslims to determine the future shape of their societies and countries in the midst seismic political change rocking the region.
"We have to build, little by little, a new model of societies in the Middle East. The changes are very dramatic, very fast, and we have to there," he said.

Ai fedeli di Iraq, Giordania ed Egitto: La fede è una forza potente capace di rendere il mondo più giusto e più bello

By Vatican Information Service

Nei saluti nelle diverse lingue, il Papa si è rivolto ai fedeli di lingua araba, in particolare ai fedeli provenienti dall'Iraq, dalla Giordania e dall'Egitto, con queste parole: "Unitevi sempre a Cristo edificando il suo Regno con la fraternità, la condivisione e le opere di misericordia. La fede è una forza potente capace di rendere il mondo più giusto e più bello! Siate una presenza della misericordia di Dio e testimoniate al mondo che le tribolazioni, le prove, le difficoltà, la violenza o il male non potranno mai sconfiggere Colui che ha sconfitto la morte: Gesù Cristo".

High level conference on challenges for Middle East’s Christians wraps up in Jordan

By Vatican Radio

A two day conference on the challenges facing the Middle East’s Christians wraps up today in Amman, Jordan. The conference, called by Jordan’s King Abdullah and organized by his chief advisor for religious and cultural affairs, Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad, brought together representatives at the highest levels of the Christian churches in the Middle East.
The conference was organized amid a rise in attacks against churches, kidnappings and killings of Christians in countries across the region. The uprisings in Egypt and the conflict in Syria in particular have led more and more Christians to leave.
King Abdullah, who spoke to Pope Francis of the initiative in a private audience last Thursday, told conference participants that the current climate of “intra-religious, sectarian and ideological” violence in the Middle East “requires all of us to focus on education, and the way we bring up our children to protect the generations to come. This is the responsibility of families and other educational institutions, as well as mosques and churches.”
Pope Francis recently offered a similar reflection on the importance of education in building mutual respect between Christians and Muslims in his personal message to the world’s Muslims for the end of Ramadan.
King Abdullah said “We support every effort to preserve the historical Arab Christian identity, and safeguard the right to worship freely, based on a rule in both the Christian and Islamic faiths that underlines love of God and love of neighbor, as embodied in the “A Common Word” initiative.”
The Amman conference opened Tuesday with a welcome speech by Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad who said Arab Christians in parts of the region have become targets for intolerance:
According to the Jordan Times, the Prince said “Arab Christians are suffering not only because of the blind and deaf sedition that everyone has suffered from in certain Arab countries since the beginning of what is incorrectly called the Arab Spring, but also merely because they are Christians.”
Prince Ghazi rejected “categorically and completely” all forms of intolerance, recalling how Arab Muslims and Christians have lived side by side and together forged one society over the last 1,300 years. Arab Christians from all spheres of society, he noted, have played a vital role in the building of Arab and Muslim countries.
On Tuesday, participants heard from Patriarchs from Catholic, Orthodox and other Christian churches in Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Lebanon while the Patriarchs and bishops of the churches in Jordan and Jerusalem spoke of issues of concern in their respective communities on Wednesday.
Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue represented the Vatican at that session while the Apostolic Nuncio in Amman, Archbishop Giorgio Lingua addressed participants as the Holy See’s diplomatic representative to Jordan and Iraq.

Vatican diplomat shares insights into conference
Speaking to Vatican Radio’s Tracey McClure, Archbishop Lingua praised King Abdullah’s initiative:
“As you know the situation for Christians in the Middle East is very tense in this moment and I think the King is good willed and wanted to try everything he can to help them to stay in this region and to live with their Muslim brothers as best as they can. And I think this conference, in this sense shows that he is aware that Christians are a little scared and they are thinking to leave. And so he realizes that something must be done and so this is the first time that such a conference was organized in a Muslim country with the leaders of a country, in this case King Abdullah who has called a conference for Christian leaders of the region.”
Archbishop Lingua said Christian leaders at the conference “were worried of course about military intervention in Syria and so this is why many of them were asking to the foreign countries not to interfere in the political affairs of the countries of this region. They are calling for a dialogue and if the international community can do something, it is to promote dialogue and reconciliation instead of military intervention.”
Archbishop Lingua notes that Muslim participants at the Amman conference and many others he has encountered “are insisting that Muslims and Christians are Arabs. This is the concept that is becoming more (stressed) – that Christians are not guests or second class citizens. The concept of citizenship is a concept which is stressed because all of them are citizens of this country so they are not guests or foreigners. And so, more than tolerance, we must stress citizenship.”
The idea that Arab Muslims and Christians are citizens of their respective countries but are not always respected as partners in and contributors to society was a repeated grievance expressed at the 2010 Synod of Bishops for the Church of the Middle East. During his 2012 pastoral visit to Lebanon to deliver the Post Synodal Apostolic Exhortation to the region's bishops, Benedict XVI said the Mideast's 6 million strong Christian community must enjoy “full citizenship” and not be treated as "second-class citizens or believers.And full citizenship according to Benedict XVI meant the right to full religious freedom. Saying it was time to move beyond the concept of “tolerance” to true “religious freedom," Benedict demanded that all people be permitted to freely choose their own religion, and to practice it publicly, "without endangering one's life."
Archbishop Lingua says he hopes initiatives such as the Amman conference will lead to peace and security in the near future: “this is the priority because with the violence, there are too many weapons circulating in this region. So if security is restored, everything can be done and promoted. And also, the resolution of the Palestinian Israeli conflict which many say is the root of all the Middle East’s problems.”

The challenges facing the Arab Christians: Address of H.E. Msgr. Giorgio Lingua, Apostolic Nuncio to Jordan and Iraq

By Baghdadhope*

Baghdadhope publishes the Address of H.E. Msgr. Giorgio Lingua, Apostolic Nuncio to Jordan and Iraq, at the conference "The challenges facing the Arab Christians" held in Amman (Jordan) on September 2/3

Your Royal Highness, Your Eminences, Beatitudes, Excellences, Distinguished Guests,

I sincerely thank His Highness Crown Prince Ghazi for having the courage to organize this high level conference and to do it in such a short time. The outcome of this Assembly is proof of how wisely His Majesty King Abdullah II ibn Hussein acted to entrust this task to Your Highness and to what extent the Christian leaders of the region are sensitive to this topic.

I have been Apostolic Nuncio in Jordan and in Iraq for about 3 years. During this period, I realized how much the Christians expect not only from the religious authorities but also, and perhaps more so, from the political authorities so that these institutions make specific efforts to prevent that Christians are forced, against their will, to leave their homes.

The roar of the guns in neighbouring Syria certainly does not make them feel more relaxed and optimistic about the future. With a heavy heart, with tears in their eyes, with feet that do not want to leave, but with their mind already elsewhere, many turn their backs to this land where they were born and lived for 2,000 years.

“Enough! Enough! Enough!” shouted a three year old child, before being gunned down, to the terrorists in the Church of Sayddnat al-Najat in Baghdad during the terrible attack on 31 October 2010 that caused more than 50 casualties, including two priests who were officiating the Sunday service to the faithful.

“Enough blood! Enough violence! Enough hatred! Enough meddling of the foreign countries which under the pretext of help or of exporting democracy try to advance their interests which are not always noble!” shout today also the Christians in the Middle East. Too many weapons are entering in this region and we do not know in whose hands they are ending. Enough weapons!

The Christians of these countries, together with their Muslim brothers, are urgently asking for peace and security.

Let me quote from a touching letter written by four Trappist nuns in Syria on August 30, last. It is not referred to the Christians only, but it certainly expresses their sentiments: “The problem is that it has become too easy to smuggle lies as noble sentiments, the most unscrupulous interests as a quest for justice, the need of leadership and power as "a moral responsibility to not close your eyes" ... And in spite of all our globalizations and sources of information, it seems that nothing is verifiable, that a minimum of objective truth does not exist ... That is, someone does not want it to exist. Instead there is a truth indeed, and honest men could find it, really looking for it together, if it wouldn’t  be prevented them from those who have other interests”.

So being said, regarding now, more particularly, the Christian situation, we can admit that in the hearts of each one of them there is certainly the desire of sharing, with everybody, the treasure they encountered, the way to salvation shown to them by Jesus, but they do not seek to impose their faith on others and they ask for reciprocity, in every field: as believers, as human beings, as citizens.

As believers, the Christians share with their Islamic brothers that “there is no compulsion in religion”; as human beings, they believe they have the same dignity as children of Adam; as citizens, they are asking for the elimination of all inequalities:

•    in the school

•    in the workplace

•    in the judicial system and law enforcement, for both men and women.

The contribution that the Arab Christians have given, both in the political scene and at the humanitarian level, to the development of these Countries, it is well known. They wish to continue to do so, also today, but many times they feel powerless and, in some cases, they perceived to be considered as guests. The Jordanian Constitution, just an example among others, thank God is an example to imitate, but more can be done to implement it, particularly in the field of education in order to create a tolerant mindset since often, in spite of the existing laws, the practice deviates from the codified ideal. Christians expect from their governments the respect of the rule of law and the complete separation of powers. Otherwise, complete justice will never be done, particularly towards the weakest of the society.

Of course, when one feels being a minority asks for tolerance and respect, while if belongs to a majority, he/she is likely to forget it. But Christians are not rising their voice as a minority group which asks not be trampled on or forgotten, they are asking this as Jordanians, as Iraqis, as Egyptians, as Syrians, as Palestinians, as Lebanese, as Arabs who demand their blood brothers, though not of faith, not to look at their creed but at their humanity.

50 years and a few days ago Martin Luther King uttered a speech that became history: I have a dream. We recently commemorated this event and yet today, after so many years, we are still moved when listening to those words. That dream continues to encourage the younger generations to see each other as brothers and sisters, on the way towards the full realization of that equality which all people enjoy before God. Without that dream, millions of Americans today wouldn’t have the opportunities they have, many would still be excluded and discriminated against, and someone, perhaps, would not even become President!

The Arab Christians today, in 2013, share the same dream and they wish to receive support to make the dream come real. They want to shake hands with their Islamic brothers and look into their eyes. They dream about their children telling their grandchildren how fortunate they are to be born in the country of Abraham, living in the mountains of Elijah, to walk the streets traveled by Moses, to stride in the land of Jesus and to deliver it to their descendants better than they found it.

They continue to dream that the swords are transformed into ploughshares and spears into pruning hooks, cannons into schools, bombs into houses, in a world where discrimination becomes respect, hatred leaves room for love.

Your Royal Highness, is it only a dream? A mere utopia? We are here to work together towards making that dream a reality. The world of tomorrow will be a world of peace, or the humanity will be doomed to disappear.

Thanks to You and to His Majesty for the contribution that you are bountifully giving. This conference, after all, is already a little dream that has come true.  

Msgr. Giorgio Lingua
Apostolic Nuncio to Jordan and Iraq 

La diplomazia vaticana in campo

By La Stampa - Vatican Insider
by Giacomo Galeazzi

Il Papa in campo per la Siria. Attraverso le nunziature in Medio Oriente arriva a Roma il grido d’allarme dei cristiani e la Santa Sede avverte: un attacco straniero rischia di far scoppiare una guerra mondiale. «La soluzione dei problemi non può essere l’intervento armato - afferma a Radio Vaticana il vescovo Mario Toso, numero due del dicastero Giustizia e Pace -. La situazione di violenza non ne sarebbe diminuita, c’è, anzi, il rischio che deflagri e si estenda ad altri Paesi».
Dunque «il conflitto in Siria contiene tutti gli ingredienti per esplodere in una guerra di dimensioni mondiali e nessuno uscirebbe indenne da un’esperienza di violenza». Mentre il Papa ripete su Twitter il suo grido per la pace («Mai più la guerra!») il Vaticano lancia l’allarme per una deflagrazione dello scontro a livello globale. Intanto l’appello papale contro un’escalation in Siria ottiene una pioggia di adesioni, sia tra i cristiani, sia dalle altre religioni (incluso il gran muftì siriano) e anche dal mondo politico. La giornata di preghiera e digiuno di sabato a San Pietro si preannuncia un evento di massiccia mobilitazione popolare e di pressione sui potenti della Terra.
No all’attacco armato contro Damasco, decisione su cui gli Usa e gli altri governi occidentali si interrogano. Anche il ministro degli Esteri Emma Bonino parteciperà al digiuno ma non alla preghiera. Ieri Francesco ha twittato «vogliamo un mondo di pace, vogliamo essere uomini e donne di pace» e «quanta sofferenza, quanta devastazione, quanto dolore ha portato e porta l’uso delle armi». Insomma «i leader mondiali devono fare tutto per evitare la guerra», esorta Bergoglio ricevendo il «World Jewish Congress». Assistenza umanitaria, secondo il Papa, va garantita a chi è colpito dal conflitto, aiuti agli sfollati e ai profughi, possibilità di agire agli operatori impegnati «per alleviare le sofferenze della popolazione».
Cosa si può fare per la pace? Bergoglio torna a Roncalli e alla sua «Pacem in terris» del 1963: «A tutti spetta il compito di ricomporre i rapporti di convivenza nella giustizia e nell’amore».
Da qui, il richiamo all’intera umanità ad unirsi in «una catena di impegno per la pace». Una visione grandiosa, quella di Francesco, per sottolineare che «la pace è un bene che supera ogni barriera, perché è un bene di tutta l’umanità». E «non è la cultura dello scontro e del conflitto quella che costruisce la convivenza nei popoli e tra i popoli, ma la cultura dell’incontro e del dialogo: questa è l’unica strada per la pace». Quindi, «tutti depongano le armi».
Contro un attacco militare delle forze armate occidentali in Siria e «per la pace e per il rifiuto di ogni violenza» pregano anche i monaci e le monache del monastero di Deir Mar Musa (San Mosè l’etiope), a Nord di Damasco, rifondato da padre Paolo Dall’Oglio, il gesuita sequestrato un mese fa nell’area di Raqqa e di cui si sono perse le tracce. Nella diplomazia pontificia assicurano: «Francesco ci ha chiesto di tentare ogni strada per fermare il bagno di sangue».
Per la Chiesa caldea «un intervento in Siria sarebbe una sciagura, come far scoppiare un vulcano con un’esplosione destinata a travolgere l’Iraq, il Libano, la Palestina». Perciò «non si ripeta la drammatica storia dell’Iraq, dieci anni fa invaso dagli Usa per abbattere Saddam: il Paese è ancora martoriato dalle bombe, dai problemi di sicurezza, dall’instabilità».

Iniziato il Summit sulla condizione dei cristiani in Medio Oriente

By Fides

Avendo come sfondo la tragedia siriana, è iniziato ad Amman il summit internazionale convocato dalla Monarchia Hascemita sulle sfide affrontate dai cristiani arabi in Medio Oriente. Come appreso da Fides, l'incontro - che vede la partecipazione di più di 70 tra Patriarchi, vescovi, delegati patriarcali, sacerdoti, religiosi e laici in rappresentanza di tutte le Chiese e comunità ecclesiali radicate in Medio Oriente – intende delineare le prospettive future della presenza cristiana nell'area mediorientale, davanti alle tante emergenze e difficoltà - guerre, rapimenti, attentati, profanazioni - che spingono soprattutto i giovani cristiani a lasciare le proprie terre d'origine e a emigrare in Occidente.
Re Abdallah II di Giordania aveva accennato al summit nel suo recente colloquio avuto in Vaticano con Papa Francesco, lo scorso 29 agosto. La singolarità dell'iniziativa consiste proprio nel fatto che a convocare un incontro sulla condizione dei cristiani in Medio Oriente sia stata la Monarchia discendente dalla famiglia del Profeta Muhammad, che rivendica la propria funzione di dinastia protettrice dei Luoghi Santi dell'Islam.
Il principale sponsor dell'incontro è il Principe Ghazi ben Muhammad, consigliere del Re per le questioni religiose e culturali. “Il Medio Oriente è la culla del cristianesimo” si legge nel testo di presentazione del convegno “ma i rivolgimenti recenti hanno posto le comunità cristiane della regione davanti a sfide gravi”.
L'intento del summit è quello di studiare nel dettaglio i problemi e suggerire soluzioni che aiutino a uscire da questa fase di emergenza, così da “garantire. Se Dio vuole, la sicurezza e la prosperità in Medio Oriente del cristianesimo, riconosciuto come una parte indelebile e essenziale del ricco mosaico mediorientale”. I partecipanti all'incontro sono chiamati a confrontarsi per due giorni in diverse sessioni di studio dedicate ai recenti sviluppi della situazione in Egitto, Siria, Iraq, Giordania e Palestina. Al summit sono presenti, tra gli altri, il Patriarca greco-ortodosso di Damasco Yohanna X al-Yazigi e tre Patriarchi di Gerusalemme (quello latino Fouad Twal, quello greco-ortodosso Teophilos III e quello armeno ortodosso Nourhanne Maniougan). Prendono parte ai lavori anche il cardinale Jean-Louis Tauran, Presidente del Pontificio Consiglio per il dialogo inter-religioso, e il cardinale statunitense Theodore Edgar McCarrick. 

* Al summit parteciperanno anche il Patriarca di Babilonia dei Caldei, Sua Beatitudine Louis Raphael I Sako, e il Vescovo Armeno Ortodosso dell'Iraq, Mons. Avak Asadourian arrivati ieri ad Amman da Baghdad.
Nota di Baghdadhope

Quello in Siria è un conflitto confessionale per un nuovo Medio Oriente

By Aleteia

Quando nel 2003 gli Stati Uniti guidarono la coalizione di alleati contro il regime di Saddam Hussein, l'attuale cardinale Louis Raphaël I Sako, oggi guida della Chiesa cattolica caldea dell'Iraq, era parroco a Mosul. Da allora il porporato ha sempre conservato negli occhi le immagini di distruzione e le lacrime che la guerra trascina dietro di sé.
Per questo nel leggere le notizie che si rincorrono da alcuni giorni sulla Siria, non riesce a trattenere il suo risentimento verso chi nasconde dietro la bandiera della democrazia e della libertà ben altri interessi economici. In questa intervista ad Aleteia il patriarca caldeo si dice inoltre convinto che un intervento militare in quella regione innescherebbe una miccia tale da far esplodere un conflitto confessionale ancora più dirompente finalizzato a creare un nuovo Medio Oriente diviso in piccoli Stati.
Eminenza, avete ripetuto a più riprese che un intervento militare in Siria sarebbe un disastro dalle conseguenze enormi su tutta la regione, e quindi avete fatto appello al dialogo. A quale tipo di dialogo pensate?
Penso che sia sempre possibile un dialogo coraggioso che cerca il bene comune e coinvolge tutti nella politica. La soluzione deve essere politica e non militare. La guerra è sempre male, complica la situazione e non risolve niente. Penso che un Paese neutro o un gruppo di politici o capi religiosi possano organizzare tale incontro perché sono disinteressati. Un intervento militare da parte degli USA ucciderà tanti innocenti e rovinerà le infrastrutture e case (si pensi al caso dell'Iraq). E non si conoscono le sue conseguenze non solo sulla Siria ma anche sui Paesi vicini. La situazione è molto tesa e critica. Poi con quale diritto? Prima vendono armi alla Siria e all'Iraq e poi li attaccano?
C'è qualcosa che rimproverate all’Occidente? Cosa vi aspettate esattamente?
Non capiamo la politica occidentale. Non ci sono valori! Guardate la situazione in Egitto, Libia,Tunisia, Iraq, Yemen e ora in Siria, non capiamo perché vogliono cambiare un regime dittatoriale in favore d'un altro peggiore! In Egitto Mubarak è andato via ed è arrivato Morsi. E che  cambiamento abbiamo avuto? Ora ci sono conflitti, corruzione e maggiore povertà. La stessa cosa in Libia, Yemen... Dove sono la democrazia e la libertà? Cosa fa l'Occidente per applicare la democrazia. Sono solo slogan e scuse per fare la guerra! Dieci anni dopo l'invasione americana in Iraq non abbiamo la democrazia. Ogni giorno ci sono esplosioni, morti e danni.. Se l'Occidente vuole veramente la democrazia deve educare la gente alla democrazia e aiutarli a realizzare la democrazia e non creare tensioni e conflitti. L'Occidente non vede che i suoi interessi economici! Che morale! Le riforme si fanno col dialogo e ci vuole tempo e buona volontà e non delle bombe!
Qual è la lezione che l’Occidente deve imparare da ciò che è successo in Iraq? Cos’è che rende la situazione siriana così complicata?Purtroppo al giorno d'oggi né l'Occidente né l'Oriente hanno imparato la lezione. Cosa hanno imparato gli americani dalla guerra in Iraq? Cosa hanno imparato i regimi della regione per fare delle riforme? Ciò che rende la situazione siriana così complicata è l'intervento dei governi degli altri Paesi negli affari interni della Siria. Ci sono paesi musulmani come Arabia Saudita, Qatar e Turchia che sostengono l'opposizione sunnita insieme ad alcuni Paesi occidentali mentre l'Iran, Hezbollah e la Russia sono a favore del regime. È un conflitto confessionale che mira a un nuovo Medio Oriente diviso in piccoli Stati!
Nella situazione siriana ci sono almeno tre attori: il governo di Assad, i ribelli della Syrian Free Army e le truppe qaediste, ciascuno con i propri referenti internazionali. Come si possono sedere al tavolo della mediazione se le loro rivendicazioni sono così diverse? E come far cessare le violenze senza l'impegno armato di terzi?
Ci vuole un consenso. Quando i grandi poteri non sostengono la violenza ma anzi spingono per il dialogo, le cose cambiano. C'è l'esempio di Ghandi in India e di Mandela in Sudafrica. La lotta fra tutti è per il potere e non per la democrazia e le riforme. Dunque non bisogna vendere armi!
Che cosa si può fare concretamente per porre fine al conflitto siriano?
Fare manifestazioni e marce in tutti i Paesi per fermare l'impegno armato: mobilitare l'opinione pubblica mondiale per giungere a una soluzione civile e pacifica!
Temete per i cristiani del Medio Oriente nel caso in cui i ribelli dovessere salire al potere?
Poveri cristiani. Sono una minoranza senza importanza che vuol vivere in pace e nella stabilità. I cristiani hanno imparato che la Primavera araba ha portato guai e non riforme. I fondamentalisti approfittano della situazione per applicare la legge musulmana, la sharia. Per loro un dittatore è meglio d'un regime religioso chiuso che non accetta gli altri. L'Occidente non capisce il discorso religioso dominante! I musulmani pensano che dietro la loro sfortuna (creazione d'Israele) ci sono l'Occidente e i cristiani e dunque la soluzione è un stato religioso e non laico!
A cosa porterebbe un intervento militare occidentale?
Un intervento militare impoverirebbe tutti e porterebbe confusione e miseria. Basta dare uno sguardo attorno e vedere qual è la situazione in Libia, Tunisia, Iraq, Egitto....

Summit dei capi delle Chiese mediorientali sponsorizzato dalla Monarchia hascemita

By Fides

Inizia martedì 3 settembre a Amman un summit dei capi delle Chiese e delle comunità cristiane del Medio Oriente per mettere a fuoco i tanti problemi e le sfide che toccano da vicino le vite di tutti i battezzati nelle convulsioni che scuotono l'intera area mediorientale.
Una settantina tra Patriarchi, delegati patriarcali, vescovi e sacerdoti di tutte le Chiese cristiane radicate nella regione discuteranno e si confronteranno per due giorni nelle diverse sessioni di studio dedicate, tra l'altro, ai recenti sviluppi della situazione in Egitto, Siria, Libano, Iraq, Palestina e Giordania. Parteciperà ai lavori anche il cardinale Jean-Louis Tauran, Presidente del Pontificio Consiglio per il dialogo interreligioso.
L'iniziativa, convocata dalla Monarchia hashemita, ha come principale patrocinatore il principe Ghazi bin Mohammad, consigliere del Re per gli affari culturali. “Mi sembra rilevante il fatto che l'incontro sia stato voluto da Re Abdallah II, reduce da un importante incontro con Papa Francesco” spiega all'Agenzia Fides l'Arcivescovo Maroun Lahham, Vicario patriarcale per la Giordania del Patriarcato di Gerusalemme dei Latini. “La Famiglia reale della Giordania” aggiunge mons. Lahham “vuole raccogliere opinioni e informazioni perchè vuole offrire un contributo concreto alla soluzione dei problemi che affliggono la condizione di tante comunità cristiane autoctone del Medio Oriente”.
Tra i Patriarchi che hanno annunciato la loro partecipazione, oltre al Patriarca latino di Gerusalemme Fouad Twal, c'è anche il Patriarca greco-ortodosso di Antiochia Yohanna X al-Yazigi, residente a Damasco e fratello del Metropolita di Aleppo Boulos al-Yazigi, rapito lo scorso aprile da sequestratori rimasti finora ignoti insieme al Metropolita siro-ortodosso di Aleppo Mar Gregorios Yohanna Ibrahim.