by Fady Noun

In response to the challenge posed by the crisis of colonial boundaries and the Western model of democracy, replaced by a model in which one's culture and/or religion is experienced as a lost paradise, the Antiochian Churches should react by promoting and proposing the concept of citizenship to Sunnis and Shiites.

Beirut (AsiaNews) - As the borders drawn by the Sykes-Picot agreement (with which France and Great Britain divided the Arab part of the Ottoman Empire in 1916) disappears so does the raison d'etre for some borders born from ancient ecclesiastical disputes, of which the future does not know what to do.

Faced with the danger of their disappearance through the exodus of its members or even their physical elimination by dark atavistic instincts, the Eastern Churches seem to awaken finally from their slumber and realise that their prophetic call of the '90s 'In the East we shall be there together or we shall be no more' is no longer a premonitory elegant and funereal formula, but a programme for survival that includes water, electricity and basic necessities. Syria and Iraq are cases in point.

We are witnessing the disappearance of a world and the birth of another: the collapse of the Western model as a mandatory reference for all democracies, the disappearance of an "old world" that built colonial empires and was the agent of moral decay; the birth of a world marked by the awakening of despised people, for whom the leaven of change is no longer the dried out soulless democracy of the West dehumanised by secularism, but the culture and/or religion experienced as a lost paradise, with the atrocities and barbarism that mark all predictable utopias and anachronisms. We are in the clash of civilisations, but despite what Samuel Huntington's vision, it is not limited or purely political.

In this disturbing context, the annual Synod of the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch began yesterday in Balamand, Lebanon. Chaired by Primate John X Yazigi (pictured), on its opening day the Synod invited the other four Eastern patriarchs based in Antioch, the Greek Catholic patriarch, Syrian Orthodox patriarch and Syrian Catholic patriarch and the Maronite Patriarch.

Without getting into the theological dimension of this ecumenical meeting, the question arises: after John Paul II's pontificate and an agreement between the two Churches, there is a partial communion between the Syriac Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church, whereby the faithful of either can receive the Eucharist in the other's church, if their own church is not available. If the Syriac Orthodox Church is in communion with the Greek Orthodox Church, some simple-minded people draw a practical conclusion: When two churches are in communion with a third Church, are they not also in communion with each other?

Still, it is clear that in spiritual and cultural terms, the Antiochian Churches have something to say to the Arab world, something that no one but them can tell better.

"The Patriarchate of Antioch took up the challenge to preserve the deposit of faith and open up to others," Patriarch Gregory III said during the recent conference on 'Antiochian Unity: Its Dimensions and Exigencies'. This means openness to the Arab and Muslim worlds, openness to Constantinople and the West. It remained separate whilst preserving Christian unity, refusing to tear Christ's tunic, the seamless tunic, not taking sides when Rome and Constantinople split . . ."

Everything is in these remarks. Antioch's power is that of mediation, moderation, conciliation and unity. The Maronite Patriarch, Card Beshara al-Rahi, did not say anything different on the occasion of the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul when he said that "reconciliation" is the Church's key word. Now we need to move from words to deeds.

According to the head of an interfaith association close to the Maronite Church, "it is very difficult to say something about what is happening in Iraq. On the one hand, we must not help Muslim fundamentalists take themselves seriously, giving them more importance than they have. On the other, we cannot minimise the importance of a force that imposed itself on the ground and has large financial resources and enjoys a favourable human environment."

"The response of the Eastern Churches to this challenge," the source said, "must be twofold. They must proclaim loud and clear their attachment to the notion of citizenship under the rule of law as the only way out of the crisis. At the same, they must be ready to renounce and denounce all communitarian talk based on exalting minority rights. What is happening in Iraq is the responsibility of Al-Maliki as much as of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and the Kurds who seized Kirkuk playing the former's game. Christians in the Arab world today must assume their role as guides to citizenship for both Shias and Sunnis."

"Unfortunately, the Lebanese are caught up in this communitarian logic. The two main candidates for the presidency of the Republic are aligned with either Sunnis or Shias. General Michel Aoun's call for a two-stage election of the president follows the same logic; the same goes for the special provisions taken during the fasting month of Ramadan in predominantly Sunni Abra and Tripoli. Following the proposal by Wakf organisations (Islamic endowments), restaurants were asked not to serve food during the day. This way, the civil authority submitted to a religious authority in civil matters."

"The time has come to choose," the source said. "Whilst the churches may not have political power, they can still do a lot for Lebanon and the entire region, since they have a shared vision of the Christian presence in the East. Concretely, they can resurrect the Council of Churches of the Middle East, which is currently on its deathbed, breathe new life into it and make the leaven of change."

"They can take the initiative and adopt a shared vision of the Arab Springs, cognizant of the fact that, unlike Al-Azhar, no shared position exists as yet. Lest we forget, in two statements on the Arab Spring and the future of Egypt, the highest body in the Sunni Islam opted for the rule of law and not religion, and for the recognition of all fundamental human rights, including freedom of religion."

During the conversation, the source announced, with regret, the death of Mahmoud Azab, adviser on dialogue to the grand imam of the Al-Azhar Mosque who inspired the two major statements by Al-Azhar University.

"Oddly, he died on the feast day of Saints Peter and Paul, the same day when the restoration of the Caliphate was announced. Is it a sign of the times? In any case, it is a great loss both for Christians and for Muslims."

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• antiochian
• churches
• citizenship
• synod