The Vatican hoped to use the unprecedented Synod for the Middle East
to reinvigorate the eastern Catholic hierarchies and strengthen their
loyalty to Rome.
A show of solidarity with Christians in the region was
to encourage spiritual revival around revitalised churches.
The stated reason for the synod was to help stem the tide of Christian emigration from the Middle East.
This is a genuine concern for the Catholic church.
The continued
Christian presence in a Muslim-dominated region keeps alive the model of
coexistence as a viable alternative to a "clash of civilisations" view
of religions as destructive forces. It also maintains a link to
Christianity's Semitic heritage and holy places.
Another
motive for convening the synod, however, has become apparent during the
last two weeks of intense discussions: the Vatican wants to curb the
politicisation of the eastern Catholic churches. Its officials
repeatedly raised concerns that Catholicism in the Middle East is being
fragmented and weakened by parochialism among its various branches.
In
more veiled terms, they accused Eastern clergy of letting sectarianism
go unchecked and fostering isolationist ethnic churches.
It
is a classic case of the sprawling Catholic church's
centre-versus-periphery dilemma.
The Vatican views the regional
situation from above, through its representation at the UN and the Arab
League, and its near-global diplomatic network.
The local churches'
perspectives are grounded in the politics of their communities and
countries.
The Vatican held a similar Synod for Lebanon
in the 1990s. It put the spotlight on Lebanese Christians, politically
marginalised and thoroughly demoralised under the post-war Pax Syriana.
It bolstered their flagging sense of community, with the church as
focal point.
As such, it also succeeded in restoring the authority of
the hierarchy headed by Maronite Patriarch Sfeir, to the extent that he
was able, in 2000, to start a movement against Syrian domination that
would culminate in the "Cedar Revolution" of 2005, with Christian politicians once again partners in government.
The
Synod of Lebanon created a strong Maronite hierarchy, loyal to Pope
John Paul II and his Middle East policy.
In the process it marginalised
ethno-nationalist elements within the Maronite church that had actively
supported a federal solution for Lebanon.
These were objectives that the
Vatican had tried and failed to achieve through a decade and a half of
heavy-handed interventions in the Lebanese church.
Pope
Benedict XVI may have wanted to mimic John Paul II's approach this
month, but the Arab delegates had other ideas.
The patriarchs and
bishops of the eastern Catholic churches were not interested in being
told how to run their own shops.
On the contrary, it looks like they
went into the synod hoping to mobilise the Vatican's considerable
political and diplomatic resources for their own ends.
Time and again
they turned the discussions – which the pope sought to keep to pastoral,
not political, issues – towards the Palestinian question.
Certain
comments in the statements issuing from the synod have caused offence
in the Israeli establishment, potentially shaking the fragile
relationship on which the Vatican relies to fulfil its policy objectives
in Jerusalem and other holy sites.
Eastern patriarchs are
also frustrated with the limitation of their power within the Catholic
communion as a whole. Their authority is limited in Catholic canon law
to local patriarchal territories in the Middle East.
More than a century
of emigration has, however, left large parts of their Eastern-rite
congregations under the territorial authority of the "Patriarch of the
West" – the pope.
Barely concealed beneath the official
rhetoric is an age-old gripe about the distribution of power.
Some of
the eastern patriarchs have long felt that their status as heads of
churches should give them parity with the pope as head of the roman
church, or at least a clear superiority over western bishops.
These
aspirations are based on claims to direct succession from the apostles,
who founded churches in the Middle East before going on to European
centres such as Rome.
Several Arab delegates used the synod to call for
the eastern patriarchs to be "ipso facto members" of the college that
elects the pope.
For all the heart-warming platitudes about
unity, hope and coexistence that have and will come out of the Synod
for the Middle East, the eastern and western churches have serious
differences to settle.
SIC: TG/UK