VATICAN CITY, OCT. 12, 2010 thanks to Zenit.org
The synod began Monday with a meditation by Benedict XVI in which he spoke
about the mystery of Christ, who is the Lord of history and the Lord of the
world. This meditation injected us with a large portion of Christian hope.
Then we had two interventions — the first was the speech of the
secretary-general, Archbishop Nikola Eterović, in which he explained how the
idea of the synod was born after the Pope visited the Arab world, and saw what
he saw. Then he emphasized the synod’s theme that the Pope chose from the Acts
of the Apostles: “The Community of Believers was of One Heart.” This
is the theme of the synod, to be all one Christian believing community, which
lives in full communion to protect its testimony.
The second intervention was the speech of the general relator of the synod,
Patriarch Antonios Naguib (Coptic patriarch of Alexandria), who spoke on the
“Instrumentum Laboris,” emphasizing all that which is related to
hope. We as Christians in the Middle Eastern countries have a mission and a
vocation from Christ himself, we, men and women of this East.
Of course, he reiterated the goals of the synod. First, that Christians could
acknowledge again their identity, their mission, and the importance of their
presence in this East, and the providence who planted them in this land, in
this day and age. Second, that they will live their unity that is communion and
give witness on all levels — spiritual, economic, political, and social.
Today, we are more and more aware of the challenges that are awaiting us in the
Middle East: the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Iraqi war, the conflicts
between Sun ni and Shia in the region, immigration, the relationship with
Islam, fundamentalism, violence, Christian immigration, religious freedom —
and all these are challenges that affect the presence of Christians
economically and politically, and their security. And this requires a work plan
that the general relator outlined in this report.
New Pentecost
We came out of the meeting with great joy, as if we were coming out, and we
will, with a new Pentecost in which the spirit speaks to the churches of the
Middle East and inspires the Christians to be aware that they are safeguarding
a mission and a vocation that cannot be neglected, and that the Middle East is
awaiting them to contribute to the building of this society of peace, this
society of respect for the human person and for religions, a society in which
we build a common and safe life.
And as Lebanese, when we hear all this, we realize how important Lebanon is,
because it is the sign of convivialit y among Christians and Muslims. It is a
civil society, empty of any theocratic regime and it reminds us of the words of
John Paul II: “Lebanon is more than a county, it is a mission.” With
all the internal problems in Lebanon, the value of the Lebanese is still great
and Lebanon is asked to play a large role in the Arabic world like it has in
the past, on the levels of Arabic, cultural and political renaissance.
In the midst of this international conflict between cultures and religions,
Lebanon must be a witness. We are happy to participate and show the face and
value and civilization of Lebanon. Through you, we would like to greet the
entire Arab world, all the countries where our people live with our brothers,
Muslims, Jews, Iranians, and Turks, like the “Instrumentum Laborum”
mentions, so we can really build bridges and be a community that promotes
dialogue.
Our Christian culture is a culture of openness, a culture of peace, like Christ
wants. We are happy today that we have begun on the right foot with this great
portion of hope and knowledge of the value of our presence in the East.
Bishop Béchara Raï is the Catholic Maronite bishop of Jbeil, Lebanon, and the
president of the episcopal commission for communications in Lebanon. He is
currently a participant in the Special Assembly for the Middle East of the
Synod of Bishops, and is writing a daily briefing for ZENIT’s Arabic edition.