Interview With Maronite Archbishop of Cyprus on his role as Special Secretary at the Synod of Bishops’ Assembly on the Catholic Church in the Middle East
By Gabriela Maria Mihlig,
Rome, 20 October, 2010 (Zenit.org).
Archbishop Youssef Soueif is working as special secretary at the synod of
bishops on the Middle East. But the archbishop is also contributing his message
as a representative of an island nation that has a particular role in promoting
peace.
Archbishop Soueif is the archbishop of Cyprus for the Maronites. The
48-year-old prelate has been a bishop for less than two years.
In this interview, he explains both his work at the synod, and the contribution
the Maronites of Cyprus can make to promoting the Gospel message.
Q: Your Excellency, His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI came to Cyprus this year in
a particular mission. Could you please outline the role of the Maronite Church
in Cyprus?
Archbishop Soueif: In June 2010 we had a wonderful experience of welcoming His
Holiness Pope Benedict XVI for three historical and highly grace-filled days!
We as the Catholic Church in Cyprus, formed by Maronites and Latins, and also
the Orthodox Church of Cyprus, headed by His Beatitude Archbishop Chrysostomos
II, as head of the Orthodox Synod of Cyprus and on a personal level, warmly
welcomed His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI. Together with the government of
Cyprus, [and] President Dimitris Christofias. All of us with all the
communities of Cyprus, we lived this historical event on this island.
On the national, social, ecclesiastical and spiritual level the visit was a
success.
Concerning the Maronites of Cyprus our existence is not new. We have lived on
the island since approximately 1,200 years [ago] and […] we are contributing
to this multi-cultural society of Cyprus, offering to the larger society our
patrimony, our tradition, and our ecclesiastical, spiritual and human
experiences for the benefit of the whole country.
In itself Cyprus, a member of the European Community, is like a bridge between
the Middle East and Europe. It is Europe in the sense that Cyprus is a full
member of the European Community. Its place and its role in geo-social life
help so much to be a bridge; it means to be a space of meetings, unity and
reconciliation of cultural dimensions between East and West. In this dimension
our Maronite archdiocese has its role and its mission.
We should mention here a very symbolic fact: His Holiness — during his visit
in June 2010 — presented the document of the “Instrumentum Laboris” to
Catholic patriarchs of the Eastern Catholic Churches and to the heads of the
Catholic episcopal conferences of the Middle East.
Q: What is your task as archbishop of Cyprus in the synod on the Middle East?
Archbishop Soueif: I was appointed special secreta ry of the synod for the
Middle East by His Holiness in April 2010. So I am part of the presidency of
the synod and, of course, the role of the special secretary in general is to
directly assist the general reporter of the synod, His Beatitude Antonios
Naguib, the Coptic Catholic Patriarch of Alexandria, and to follow the acts of
the synod in coordination with the general secretary and the group of experts.
There are basic tasks to be mentioned during the sessions: It is important to
follow and to observe and to listen very carefully to what the fathers of the
synod are saying and offering through their experiences as pastors of their
local Churches and in order to prepare elements for the report of the synod.
The most important thing about a synod is what the fathers are saying. In this
sense all the preparatory documents of the synod have a role in creating the
atmosphere. The most important element is what the Holy Spirit is saying
through the bishops during the sessi ons, and of course the contribution of
every father has its own importance, because it is reflecting the experience of
the people of God in this or that place.
So in this way the special secretary is accompanying the work of the synod
fathers and is helping to formulate proposals by the end of the sessions. Now
all this kind of work is assisted by experts and by a big staff of people
working in the general secretariat of the synod, because at the end, the result
of those fruits will be presented to the general secretary, His Excellency
Archbishop Nikola Eterović.
Q: Looking into the text of the “Instrumentum Laboris,” may I raise
the question: What is essential for the Church of Cyprus?
Archbishop Soueif: Concerning the experience of Cyprus, we as Maronites — as I
mentioned before — have been living in Cyprus since the eighth or ninth
century. Our spiritual experience shows and confirms that we are religious
people, very attached to the Church. Thank God our people are practicing their
faith and we must give attention to the youth concerning the life of faith and
concerning spirituality. We in Cyprus — together with our brothers and sisters
from all the communities, that is, from the Greek Cypriots, Turkish Cypriots,
the Latins and the Armenians — we form the society of Cyprus and we are
contributing to keep this multi-cultural society as a real message of
conviviality. Of course, we wish to see a solution for the Cyprus problem based
on peace, reconciliation, freedom and justice. We wish as Maronites — it means
as a small group, but very rich in its history and its culture — to return to
our villages.
We believe that all the churches and the monasteries and also the mosques of
the island have to be opened to all people. It will be a blessing for reconciliation,
forgiveness and love among people. A real and serious faithful reflects what he
is living inside himself.
The Christian is called to witness the values of the Gospel and the reality of
the resurrection, which means peace, forgiveness, brotherhood, love and respect
for every human being in the world.
We encourage all initiatives of working together among Christians and between
Christians and non-Christians in different projects: in the educational, social
and human fields. Working together helps to strengthen the trust and to renew
the friendship among people and among families.