Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Aleppo (Agenzia Fides) - "How to help the Christians in Syria and the Christians in the East? We are waiting for prophetic words from the post-synodal exhortation that Pope Benedict XVI will officially deliver in Lebanon next September", is what Fr. Jules Baghdassarian, National Director of the Pontifical Mission Societies in Syria explains in an appeal sent to Fides Agency. Fr. Baghdassarian, who intends to sensitize the National Directors of Pontifical Mission Societies in the world, says: "The Christians in the Middle East are hoping that the Pope's message has an impact both in the East and West, and that might open new avenues without breaking with the past". In fact, he notes, "it is time that the Church returns to breathe with both lungs", referring to John Paul II’s famous expression . The Christians of the East, he continues, "are citizens of countries where the majority profess Islam. Their fate is tied to the country and to the 'type' of Islam, which governs the country. Islam should recognize believers of high faiths their role and full citizenship, and not to support regimes where Christians are, as in medieval times, dhimmis, that is, with limited rights. "
"What we expect from our brothers in the West is not so much material help, but understanding, respect, sympathy, prayer," explains Fr. Baghdassarian, focusing on the situation of Christians living in Syria. "Here Christians have their dignity and are equal citizens with Muslim citizens, who are the majority. Syria, together with Lebanon, is the Arab country where Christians are treated better," he says, hoping for a peaceful future for the country.
With regards to the fate of the Syrian Christians, Fr. Baghdassarian is convinced that they will not abandon the country, despite conflicts and difficulties, present or future. Although some might be tempted to flee, if an Islamist government in Syria were to succeed, the solution to welcome them abroad, he explains, is unthinkable because "it would deprive the country of their historical presence and testimony of coexistence between Islam and Christianity. This solution would be the coup de grace for the Christians of the East, " he warns. Meanwhile today, he concludes, "economic sanctions and embargoes fall on innocent people", of every religion and ethnic group. (PA) (Agenzia Fides 25/5/2012)
