“Arab Spring is not the right term. This was no
spring. It was a monumental bloodbath. So many died, but the biggest
losers are the Christians…”
Elias Chacour, the Archbishop of Akko,
Haifa, Nazareth and All Galilee of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church is
the elder of one of the largest communities of Arab Catholics in
Israel.
The Church has 80 thousand faithful, 32 parishes and 28 priests.
The archbishop met Vatican Insider and other Italian media in
his residence in the Israeli city of Haifa, a shining example of
peaceful co-existence between religions.
During his meeting with
journalists, he expressed his concerns about the fate of Christians who
have been forced to flee Syria, about the dialogue process with the
Orthodox Church and about Pope Francis.
“I do not know why so many lost their lives in the
Arab “Spring” – which was not a spring at all since it produced no
fruits and new life was nowhere to be seen. The Chaldean bishop in the
U.S., Ibrahim Ibrahim told me that Detroit’s 4000 Chaldean Christians
have now become 130 thousand because many fled the countries where they
had previously been living. I ask myself why the West is doing nothing
to stop what is going on in Syria. 160 little Christian villages have
been completely abandoned. Many are fleeing to Lebanon but we do not
know how many. I saw our bishop of Damascus cry like a baby: every
single Christian in Syria needs our help; they need every bit of bread
and every glass of water they can get…”
Archbishop Chacour said all that has happened in
Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Syria over the past few years has been “a
turning point in Islamic history. Before, leaders would engage in power
struggle without involving the public. We were not happy with the
totalitarian regimes but we are not happy today either. This is partly
because of the risk of Islamic Sharia law coming into force, which would
be abominable. We don’t know what will happen further on down the
line,” the archbishop said.
The head of the Greek Melkite Church then went on
to talk about the domestic situation: “We are Israeli citizens; we have
not yet resolved all our problems but we are soldiering on: we must
resist any assimilation and work towards integration. Unlike other
Christian communities we do not have any foreign protectors.”
Chacour
saw the agreement over the Easter Sunday date as a big step forward in
achieving Christian unity in Israel. We have decided to go by the Julian
calendar. This has reduced our differences. The Latin Patriarchate and
the Anglicans switched to this calendar too… The streets of Haifa have
been blocked off to traffic for three days now. It was such a joy to
join our Orthodox brothers and sisters for the Palm Sunday procession.
The mayor of Haifa saw this and said: “If you do this every week, I’m
behind you.”
The archbishop also answered a question about Pope
Francis’ decision to emphasise his Bishop of Rome role. The Orthodox
looked very favourably upon this, as the Ecumenical Patriarch of
Constantinople, Bartholomew I, confirmed in an interview. “It was an act
of humility; By focusing on his ole as Bishop of Rome, Francis showed
himself to be a hero of humility. Other Popes have often neglected to do
this and have ended up seeing themselves as bishops of the world.”
But Elias Chacour was keen to stress that “Rome
should not be forgotten. But more importantly, we must not forget that
it was here that it all started, not in Rome. When my priests go on
pilgrimages to Lourdes and Medjugorje, I always say to them: “Tell Mary
it’s time she comes home.” People tend to forget Mary is from Nazareth
and that Jesus was the man who lived in Nazareth; he’s my fellow
countryman.”
The Melkite archbishop also talked about the Latin
Rite Catholics. “There are fewer of them compared to us. The community
of Arab Catholics under the Latin Rite is composed of 10 thousand people
but they have a Patriarch, four bishops, hundreds of priests and
numerous women religious: lucky them! We need to do more in terms of
sharing not just communion. It is not just our problems we should share.
You will know that every year we hold a Good Friday collection for the
Holy Land’s Christians. I can assure you that although I am Catholic, I
see nothing of these offerings.” The collection Chacour was referring
to, is traditionally split between the Franciscan Custody of the Holy
Land and the Latin Patriarchate.