Sitting in the courtyard of a Maronite elementary school in Nicosia, filled with white chairs in an otherwise treeless and coverless space, some 15 elderly Maronite peasant women took part Friday morning in the meeting between Pope Benedict XVI and the Catholic community of Cyprus.The women, who are used to the sun, are from villages whose names have a musical quality, village like Aiya Marina, Courmagiti, Assomatos or Carpasha from which they were torn away more than 35 years ago, in 1974, when the Turkish army invaded the island of Cyprus was.
The Pope asked that the women be seated in the front row. To a large extent, the ceremony was for them. Today, they are Catholic Cypriot community. Of course, a Catholic community that follows the Latin rite exists.
It is linked to the Custody in the Holy Land exists and made up mostly of immigrants and foreign workers. However, of these two minorities in this predominantly Orthodox nation, the Maronite community is the most fragile and threatened, with just a few thousand members.
The concern shown by the Pope regarding Cyprus’ small Maronite community is similar to that John Paul II showed towards Lebanon. Through them, it seems the Universal Church wants to preserve a model that could wither away. Certainly, the Maronites of Cyprus could disappear.
Expelled from their villages, families have reacted in different ways to their tragedy. In the villages, times stands still. A few, shy elderly men and women have been left, ghosts from another age. Some families who fled are suffering for the loss of their land, homes, harvest and churches. The younger generation has instead adapted to the calamity and is turned towards the future.
According to Antonis Hagi Russos, a member of parliament representing the Maronite community of Cyprus, 80 per cent of young Maronites marry outside of their group. The situation is such that the next generation will be either assimilated into the Greek Cypriot population or contaminated by the pervasive secularism. Either way, the Maronite identity might be lost.
When he met the Pope, the lawmaker gave him a silver plate with the engraved names of Maronite villages on the Turkish side, expressing the community’s desire to “go back to their origins”.
The Pope, who addressed Maronite Cypriots when they cheered him last Saturday, reassured them. “I know your wishes and your suffering,” he said. “I hope that through the help of the interest parties, you can be guaranteed a better future.” Where this guarantee might come, no one knows.
Of course, the Maronite community shows signs of revival thanks to the energetic action of their bishop, Mgr Boutros Gemayel, but he has retired having reached the clergy’s age limit.
Intense diplomatic negotiations have led Turkish authorities to give villagers better access to their land. In the case of three villages, residents can now return to celebrate Sunday Mass.
A few elderly left in their native hamlets have been able to till the land again and can now collect the olive harvest. “Not in the village of Aiya Marina”, said those directly concerned. Their village is in fact considered within the military zone, and all the houses are occupied by the Turkish military.
However, as good as this revival may be, it must continue if it is to last. This is now in the hands of Mgr Gemayel’s successor, Mgr Youssef Soueif, always present in the welcome ceremonies involving the Pope.
“If young people are not brought back to the village, then the village must be brought to them,” said Maria Koikkonnou, a Maronite woman involved in preparing the papal visit.
This means that village values must be restored to the younger generation and that they must be evangelised from the start. This is why the Pope gave so much importance to priests, Christian educators and all those dedicated to the consecrated life.
In his homily during the Mass in Holy Cross Chapel, the Pontiff urged them to remain faithful to the cross of Christ, be models of steadfastness in the face of adversity, even if this means, in some cases, giving one’s life. The Pope gave a stern warning, saying, “Imagine what the world would be without the cross?” A question to make one shudder.
Following the speeches and exchange of gifts, the hot courtyard of the Maronite school saw village life re-emerge in songs and dances. Their creativity and sincerity distracted those present from the scorching weather.
Saint Maroun, a 4th century hermit who became the father of a community with some 7,000,000 members around the world, built his first church on the ruins of a pagan temple.
This appears to be the fate of the Maronite community, progressively replacing with the light of the Gospel the darkness of superstition, even when that light is dimmed, coming to us in the more human disguise of the simplest of joys.
SIC: AN