Back in the Aula: Before "the Lord of History," MidEast Synod Opens

This morning in Rome saw the opening of the Special Synod of Bishops for the church in the Middle East, its focus on the communion and witness of the region's diverse Catholic fold.

Comprising 180 "Fathers" (including seven US prelates of various rites) along with some 70 experts, the two week assembly will mark some firsts: as never before, Arabic is among this Synod's five official languages, and with the gathering slated to treat Christian relations with the region's Muslim majority, among other speakers in its daily sessions will be representatives of Islam's Sunni and Shi'a branches. (A rabbi, David Rosen of the American Jewish Committee, will likewise speak, but the first rabbi ever to address a Roman Synod came in 2008, when the Israeli cleric Shear-Yashuv Cohen made a memorable turn in the Aula.)

Unusually, too, this 23rd Synod will meet for only two weeks, a week shorter than the three prior assemblies convoked by B16, and half the monthlong marathon its sessions traditionally took up under John Paul II.

On Friday, the rev-up began with a briefing on the event by the Synod's Roman chief, Archbishop Nikola Eterovic... and this morning, amid the backdrop of a Mass that combined the usual Latin chants with Arabic ones, the Pope formally launched the assembly with the following homily:

Venerable Brothers,
illustrious ladies and gentlemen,
dear brothers and sisters!

The Eucharistic celebration, the rendering of thanks to God par excellence, is marked for us today, gathered around the Tomb of Saint Peter, by an extraordinary reason: the grace of seeing gathered together for the first time at a Synod, around the Bishop of Rome and the Universal Shepherd, the bishops of the Middle Eastern region. Such a singular event demonstrates the interest of the whole Church for that precious and beloved part of God’s people who live in the Holy Land and the whole of the Middle East.

Above all, we give thanks to the Lord of history, because he has allowed, despite the often difficult and tormented events, the Middle East to see, from the time of Jesus all the way up to today, a continuity in the presence of Christians. In those lands, the one Church of Christ is expressed in the variety of liturgical, spiritual, cultural and teaching traditions of the six Venerable Eastern Catholic Churches sui iuris, as well as in the Latin tradition. This fraternal greeting which I direct with great affection to the Patriarchs of each of these wishes to be extended at this time to all the faithful entrusted to their pastoral care in their respective countries as well as in the Diaspora. On this Sunday, the 28th of Ordinary Time, the Word of God offers a theme for meditation which brings us closer in a meaningful way to the event of the Synod that we open today. Continued reading of the Gospel of Luke leads us to the story of the healing of the ten lepers, of whom only one, a Samaritan, turns back to thank Jesus. Connected with this text, the first reading, from the Second Book of Kings, tells the story of the healing of Naaman, head of the Aramaean army, another leper, who was cured by immersing himself seven times in the waters of the Jordan River, on the orders of the prophet Eliseus. Naaman too returns to the prophet and, recognizing him as the mediator of God, professes his faith in the one Lord. So two lepers, two non-Jews, who are cured because they believe in the word of God’s messenger. Their bodies are healed, but they are open to faith, and this heals their souls, that is, it saves them.

The Responsorial Psalm sings of this reality: “Yahweh has made known his saving power,/ revealed his saving justice for the nations to see. /Mindful of his faithful love and his constancy to the House of Israel” (Ps 98:2-3). This then is the theme: salvation is universal, but it passes through a specific historical mediation: the mediation of the people of Israel, which goes on to become that of Jesus Christ and the Church. The door of life is open for everyone, but this is the point, it is a “door”, that is a definite and necessary passage. This is summed up in the Pauline formula we heard in the Second Letter to Timothy: “the salvation that is in Christ Jesus” (2 Tim 2:10). It is the mystery of the universality of Salvation and at the same time of its necessary link with the historical mediation of Christ Jesus, preceded by that of the people of Israel and continued by that of the Church. God is love and wants all men to be part of His life; to carry out this plan He, who is One and Triune, creates in the world a mystery of a communion that is human and divine, historical and transcendent: He creates it with the “method” - so to speak - of the covenant, tying himself to men with faithful and inexhaustible love, forming a holy people, that becomes a blessing for all the families of the earth (cf Gen 12:13). Thus He reveals Himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (cf Ex 3:6), who wants to lead his people to the “land” of freedom and peace. This “land” is not of this world; the whole of the divine plan goes beyond history, but the Lord wants to build it with men, for men and in men, beginning with the coordinates of space and time in which they live and which He Himself gave them.

With its own specificity, that which we call the “Middle East”, makes up part of those coordinates. God sees this region of the world, too, from a different perspective, one might say, “from on high”: it is the land of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; the land of the Exodus and the return from exile; the land of the Temple and of the Prophets, the land in which the Only Begotten Son of Mary was born, lived, died, and rose from the dead; the cradle of the Church, established in order to carry Christ’s Gospel to the ends of the earth. And we too, as believers, look at the Middle East with this view, from the perspective of the history of salvation. It is this internal point of view which guided me during Apostolic visits to Turkey, the Holy Land–Jordan, Israel, Palestine–and Cyprus, where I was able to experience firsthand the joys and concerns of the Christian communities. It was for this reason, too, that I willingly accepted the proposal of the Patriarchs and Bishops to convoke a Synodal Assembly to reflect together, in light of Sacred Scripture and Church traditions, on the present as well as the future of the faithful and populations of the Middle East.

Looking at that part of the world from God’s perspective means recognizing in it the “cradle” of a universal design of salvation in love, a mystery of communion which becomes true in freedom and thus asks man for a response. Abraham, the prophets, and the Virgin Mary are the protagonists of this response which, however, has its completion in Jesus Christ, son of that same land, yet descended from Heaven. From Him, from his Heart and his Spirit was born the Church, which is a pilgrim in this world, yet belongs to Him. The Church was established to be a sign and an instrument of the unique and universal saving project of God among men; She fulfils this mission simply by being herself, that is, “Communion and witness”, as it says in the theme of this Synodal Assembly which opens today, referring to Luke’s famous definition of the first Christian community: “The whole group of believers was united, heart and soul” (Acts 4:32). Without communion there can be no witness: the life of communion is truly the great witness. Jesus said it clearly: “It is by your love for one another, that everyone will recognize you as my disciples” (Jn 13:35). This communion is the same life of God which is communicated in the Holy Spirit, through Jesus Christ. It is thus a gift, not something which we ourselves must build through our own efforts. And it is precisely because of this that it calls upon our freedom and waits for our response: communion always requires conversion, just as a gift is better if it is welcomed and utilized. In Jerusalem the first Christians were few. Nobody could have imagined what was going to take place. And the Church continues to live on that same strength which enabled it to begin and to grow. Pentecost is the original event but also a permanent dynamism, and the Synod of Bishops is a privileged moment in which the grace of Pentecost may be renewed in the Church’s journey, so that the Good News may be announced openly and heard by all peoples.

Therefore, the reason for this synodal assembly is mainly a pastoral one. While not being able to ignore the delicate and at times dramatic social and political situation of some countries, the Pastors of the Middle Eastern Churches wish to concentrate on the aspects of their own mission. As regards this, the Instrumentum laboris, elaborated by a Presynodal Council whose members we thank for their work, underlined these ecclesial finalities of the Assembly, pointing out that, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, it wishes to re-enliven communion of the Catholic Church in the Middle East. First of all within each Church, between all its members: Patriarch, Bishop, priests, religious persons, persons of consecrated life and the laity. And, thereby, in the relationships with the other Churches. Ecclesial life, corroborated in this way, will see the development of very positive fruits in the ecumenical path with the other Churches and ecclesial Communities present in the Middle East. This occasion is also propitious to constructively continue the dialogue with Jews, to whom we are tied by an indissoluble bond, the lengthy history of the Covenant, as we are with the Muslims. Also, the workings of the Synodal assembly are oriented to the witness of Christians on a personal, family and social level. This requires the reinforcing of their Christian identity through the Word of God and the Sacraments. We all hope that the faithful feel the joy in living in the Holy Land, a land blessed by the presence and by the Paschal Mystery of the Lord Jesus Christ. Over the centuries those Places attracted multitudes of pilgrims and even men and women in religious communities, who have considered it a great privilege to be able to live and bear witness in the land of Jesus. Despite the difficulties, the Christians in the Holy Land are called to enliven their consciousness of being the living stones of the Church in the Middle East, at the holy Places of our salvation. However, living in a dignified manner in one’s own country is above all a fundamental human right: therefore, the conditions of peace and justice, which are necessary for the harmonious development of all those living in the region, should be promoted. Therefore all are called to give their personal contribution: the international community, by supporting a stable path, loyal and constructive, towards peace; those most prevalent religions in the region, in promoting the spiritual and cultural values that unite men and exclude any expression of violence. Christians will continue to contribute not only with the work of social promotion, such as institutes of education and health, but above all with the spirit of the Evangelical Beatitudes, which enliven the practice of forgiveness and reconciliation. In this commitment, they will always have the support of the entire Church, as is solemnly attested by the presence here of the Delegates of the Episcopacies of other continents.

Dear friends, let us entrust the workings of the Synodal Assembly for the Middle East to the many Saints of that blessed land; let us invoke upon it the constant protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary, so that the coming days of prayer, of reflection and of fraternal communion may be the harbingers of the good fruits for the present and for the future of the beloved Middle Eastern populations. To them we address a hopeful greeting with all our heart: “Peace to you, peace to your family, peace to all that is yours!” (1 Sam 25:6).

Meanwhile, the following prayer's been issued for the Synod, written by Fr Rifaat Badr, a priest of the Latin patriarchate of Jerusalem and editor of Abouna.org, a website on the church's life in the region:

Heavenly Father, who loves the human person, Creator of Heaven and earth,
You desired the incarnation of Your Son Jesus Christ, our Redeemer and Savior,
that He would be born in the course of time, in our blessed land,
to the Virgin Mary and by the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Successor of Saint Peter, Pope Benedict XVI desired
to invite Your people, pastors and faithful
to a special Synod for the Catholic Church in the Middle East.
Walk with us, Lord, and bless us,
Guide us in this faith journey,
Inspire us to appreciate the great treasures that the East has received from You,
So that it becomes the encounter point of religions, the center of dialogue for human civilizations.

Good Shepherd,
You call us to be Your disciples here and now,
Make us a Church that is conscious of her identity
Deepen her faith in you as Lord and Master
Vivify the communion among her members and among the different Churches
And witness, in her individual members and institutions to Your Gospel and Your Resurrection
throughout our Churches, our society and the entire world.

Prince of Peace,
Our land is thirsty for security and well-being,
Spread Your peace and Your security in hearts and among nations
Make dialogue fertile and cooperation fruitful among the followers of the religions

Lord of Hope,
Lead us in the midst of the pains of our present time,
So that we might live love, deepen faith and strive to hope
By the strength of the Eucharist, through the intercession of our mother Mary,
Let us lift up all glory to the Loving Father, to the Son our Savior and to the Spirit the Consoler
Now and forever.
Amen

PHOTOS: Getty

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