ASIA/SYRIA - Archbishop Hindo: who defines military operations against the jihadists as a "Holy War" is foolish

Hassaké (Agenzia Fides) - "I have heard that senior officials of the Patriarchate in Moscow have blessed the Russian military operations against jihadi militias operating in Syria as a 'Holy War': I want to clearly say that it is a foolish way to define what is going on in Syria, and that for us those words can have devastating consequences". This is what Syrian Archbishop Jacques Behnan Hindo, at the head of the Syrian Catholic archdiocese in Hassaké-Nisibis said during a conversation with Agenzia Fides and expressed a clear opinion on the formulas used by priests "who do not live in the Middle East, and that often apply political or ideological interpretations to the suffering of Christians in the Middle East".
According to the Syrian Catholic Archbishop, providing religious justification for military interventions against the Jihadists is wrong and misleading for several reasons: "Jihadists speak of 'Holy War' " - notes Mgr. Hindo. If we also use their own words, what is the difference between us and them? With similar expressions, we confirm their bloody ideology: if indeed there is an ongoing Holy War, they can better justify every wickedness also against the Christians here, labeling them as a fifth column of the enemy that attacks them. "Instead, according to the Syrian Catholic Archbishop, "it is necessary to reiterate that war is always a sin, and thus there can be no Holy War. One should always bare in mind that the jihadists are not just against Christians, but they are against everyone, starting from the Muslims who do not submit to their ideology and their domain".
The recourse to the category of "Holy War" is likely to provide confirmation to the jihadist stereotypes that define Westerners as "crusaders" with an identification that according to the Syrian Catholic Archbishop is also misleading: "It was the Western Orientalists" noted Mgr. Hindo "who invented the word "Crusade". Until two centuries ago, Western interventions in the Middle Ages in the Middle East were defined as 'Wars of the Franks' in Arab history books. (GV) (Agenzia Fides 13/10/2015)

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