Day 1
Signing of the Apostolic Exhortation
'Ecclesia in Medio Oriente'
Benedict XVI's exhortation:
'Churches of the Middle East, fear not!'
By Van Meguerditchian and Wassim Mroueh
HARISSA, Lebanon, Sept. 14 - Pope Benedict XVI signed the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation of the Special Assembly for the Middle East of the Synod of Bishops Friday, urging Christians in the region to be brave and remain loyal to their beliefs and values.
“Churches of the Middle East, fear not, for the Lord is truly with you, to the close of the age.
“Fear not, because the universal Church walks at your side and is humanly and spiritually close to you,” the Pope said in his homily during a liturgy at Harissa’s Saint Paul Basilica.
“In light of today’s Feast, and in view of a fruitful application of the Exhortation, I urge all of you to fear not, to stand firm in truth and in purity of faith,” Benedict said.
“This is the language of the cross, exalted and glorious!”
The Pope then signed the Exhortation, which includes recommendations made to the Christians of the region during the Special Assembly for the Middle East of the Synod of Bishops, which convened in the Vatican in October 2010.
“By its biblical and pastoral orientation ... and its summons to dialogue, the Exhortation points out a path for rediscovering what is essential: Being a follower of Christ even in difficult and sometimes painful situations, which may lead to the temptation to ignore or to forget the exaltation of the cross,” the Pope said.
The Pontiff said that the Exhortation encourages “genuine” dialogue among different religions based on the faith in one God.
“The Exhortation shows openness to authentic inter-religious dialogue based on faith in the one God, the Creator. It also seeks to contribute to an ecumenism full of human, spiritual and charitable fervor, in evangelical truth and love,” he said.
Pope Benedict – who arrived for a three-day visit to Lebanon Friday – said that the synod discussed all aspects of the situation of Christians in the Middle East.
“In examining the present situation of the Church in the Middle East, the synod fathers reflected on the joys and struggles, the fears and hopes of Christ’s disciples in these lands,” the pope said.
“In this way, the entire Church was able to hear the troubled cry and see the desperate faces of many men and women who experience grave human and material difficulties, who live amid powerful tensions in fear and uncertainty,” he added.
The gathering was attended by President Michel Sleiman and a wide array of bishops as well as Druze and Sunni religious figures.
Delivering a speech at the beginning of the Mass, Greek Catholic Patriarch Gregorios Lahham III voiced support for the Catholic Church in the Vatican, saying the world was in need of a unified Church strong enough to carry the principles of love, hope and truth.
Addressing the pope, Lahham said: “You carry a message to Lebanon, the country that is a message in itself, as your predecessor said,” in reference to late Pope John Paul II, who famously described Lebanon as a unique example of coexistence in the region.
Lahham also thanked the Vatican for its support to the Palestinian cause.
Here is the Vatican's English translation of the Pope's homily, which was delivered in French, the language is using for all his public discourses in Lebanon:
I thank Patriarch Gregorios Laham for his words of welcome, and the Secretary-General of the Synod of Bishops, Archbishop Nikola Eterović, for his introduction.
My warm greetings go to the Patriarchs, to all the Eastern and Latin Bishops assembled in this beautiful Cathedral of Saint Paul, and to the members of the Special Council of the Synod of Bishops for the Middle East.
I am also gratified by the presence of the Orthodox, Muslim and Druze delegations, as well as those from the world of culture and from civil society. I greet with affection the beloved Greek Melkite community with gratitude for your welcome.
Your presence makes my signing of the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in Medio Oriente all the more solemn; it testifies that this document, while addressed to the universal Church, has a particular importance for the entire Middle East.
Providentially, this event takes place on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, a celebration originating in the East in 335, following the dedication of the Basilica of the Resurrection built over Golgotha and our Lord’s tomb by the Emperor Constantine the Great, whom you venerate as saint.
A month from now we will celebrate the seventeen-hundredth anniversary of the appearance to Constantine of the Chi-Rho, radiant in the symbolic night of his unbelief and accompanied by the words: “In this sign you will conquer!” Later, Constantine signed the Edict of Milan, and gave his name to Constantinople.
It seems to me that the Post-Synodal Exhortation can be read and understood in the light of this Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, and more particularly in the light of the Chi-Rho, the two first letters of the Greek word “Christos”.
Reading it in this way leads to renewed appreciation of the identity of each baptized person and of the Church, and is at the same time a summons to witness in and through communion. Are not Christian communion and witness grounded in the Paschal Mystery, in the crucifixion, death and resurrection of Christ? Is it not there that they find their fulfilment? There is an inseparable bond between the cross and the resurrection which Christians must never forget.
Without this bond, to exalt the cross would mean to justify suffering and death, seeing them merely as our inevitable fate. For Christians, to exalt the cross means to be united to the totality of God’s unconditional love for mankind. It means making an act of faith!
To exalt the cross, against the backdrop of the resurrection, means to desire to experience and to show the totality of this love. It means making an act of love!
To exalt the cross means to be a committed herald of fraternal and ecclesial communion, the source of authentic Christian witness. It means making an act of hope!
In examining the present situation of the Church in the Middle East, the Synod Fathers reflected on the joys and struggles, the fears and hopes of Christ’s disciples in these lands. In this way, the entire Church was able to hear the troubled cry and see the desperate faces of many men and women who experience grave human and material difficulties, who live amid powerful tensions in fear and uncertainty, who desire to follow Christ – the One who gives meaning to their existence – yet often find themselves prevented from doing so.
That is why I wanted the First Letter of Saint Peter to serve as the framework of the document. At the same time, the Church was able to admire all that is beautiful and noble in the Churches in these lands.
How can we fail to thank God at every moment for all of you (cf. 1 Th 1:2; Part One of the Post-Synodal Exhortation), dear Christians of the Middle East! How can we fail to praise him for your courage and faith? How can we fail to thank him for the flame of his infinite love which you continue to keep alive and burning in these places which were the first to welcome his incarnate Son? How can we fail to praise and thank him for your efforts to build ecclesial and fraternal communion, and for the human solidarity which you constantly show to all God’s children?
Ecclesia in Medio Oriente makes it possible to rethink the present in order to look to the future with the eyes of Christ. By its biblical and pastoral orientation, its invitation to deeper spiritual and ecclesiological reflection, its call for liturgical and catechetical renewal, and its summons to dialogue, the Exhortation points out a path for rediscovering what is essential: being a follower of Christ even in difficult and sometimes painful situations which may lead to the temptation to ignore or to forget the exaltation of the cross.
It is here and now that we are called to celebrate the victory of love over hate, forgiveness over revenge, service over domination, humility over pride, and unity over division.
In the light of today’s Feast, and in view of a fruitful application of the Exhortation, I urge all of you to fear not, to stand firm in truth and in purity of faith.
This is the language of the cross, exalted and glorious! This is the “folly” of the cross: a folly capable of changing our sufferings into a declaration of love for God and mercy for our neighbour; a folly capable of transforming those who suffer because of their faith and identity into vessels of clay ready to be filled to overflowing by divine gifts more precious than gold (cf. 2 Cor 4:7-18).
This is more than simply picturesque language: it is a pressing appeal to act concretely in a way which configures us ever more fully to Christ, in a way which helps the different Churches to reflect the beauty of the first community of believers (cf. Acts 2:41-47: Part Two of the Exhortation); in a way like that of the Emperor Constantine, who could bear witness and bring Christians forth from discrimination to enable them openly and freely to live their faith in Christ crucified, dead and risen for the salvation of all.
Ecclesia in Medio Oriente provides some elements that are helpful for a personal and communal examination of conscience, and an objective evaluation of the commitment and desire for holiness of each one of Christ’s disciples.
The Exhortation shows openness to authentic inter-religious dialogue based on faith in the one God, the Creator. It also seeks to contribute to an ecumenism full of human, spiritual and charitable fervour, in evangelical truth and love, drawing its strength from the commandment of the risen Lord: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. Behold, I am with you always, to the close of the age” (Mt 28:19-20).
The Exhortation as a whole is meant to help each of the Lord’s disciples to live fully and to pass on faithfully to others what he or she has become by Baptism: a child of light, sharing in God’s own light, a lamp newly lit amid the troubled darkness of this world, so that the light may shine in the darkness (cf. Jn 1:4f. and 2 Cor 4:1-6).
The document seeks to help purify the faith from all that disfigures it, from everything that can obscure the splendour of Christ’s light. For communion is true fidelity to Christ, and Christian witness is the radiance of the paschal mystery which gives full meaning to the cross, exalted and glorious. As his followers, “we proclaim Christ crucified … the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Cor 1:23-24; cf. Part Three of the Exhortation).
“Fear not, little flock” (Lk 12:32) and remember the promise made to Constantine: “In this sign you will conquer!”
Churches of the Middle East, fear not, for the Lord is truly with you, to the close of the age! Fear not, because the universal Church walks at your side and is humanly and spiritually close to you!
It is with this hope and this word of encouragement to be active heralds of the faith by your communion and witness, that on Sunday I will entrust the Post-Synodal Exhortation Ecclesia in Medio Oriente to my venerable brother Patriarchs, Archbishops and Bishops, and to all priests, deacons, men and women religious, the seminarians and all the lay faithful.
“Be of good cheer!” (Jn 16:33) Through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, the Theotókos, I invoke God’s abundant gifts upon all of you with great affection! God grant that all the peoples of the Middle East may live in peace, fraternity and religious freedom! May God bless all of you!
Apostolic exhortation
for the Middle East : A summary
The Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation
Ecclesia in Medio Oriente was elaborated by Pope Benedict XVI on the basis of the 44 final Propositions of the Special Assembly for the Middle East which was held by the Bishops' Synod in the Vatican in Oct. 2010, on the theme "The Catholic Church in the Middle East: Communion and witness" ["The company of those who believed were of one heart and soul"]
(Acts 4,32).
In the introduction, the Pope invites the Catholic Church in the Middle East to revive communion, to seek dialogue with Jews and Muslims, and to promote the rites of the Eastern Churches.
The first part of the document focuses on the contribution of Christians who live in the Middle East. The positions of the Holy See on the various conflicts in the region and on the status of Jerusalem and the Holy Places, it says, are well known. The Pope calls for conversion to interior peace linked to justice, and for forgiveness - overriding all distinctions of race, sex and class.
The next chapter addresses the issue of ecumenical unity, describing it as a form of mosaic which requires significant effort in the reinforcement of Christian witness. The Pope encourages a communion understood as recognition and respect for others. He encourages theology and ecumenical Commissions to speak with one voice on important moral questions like the family, sexuality, bioethics, freedom, justice and peace.
Under the heading “Inter-religious dialogue”, the document recalls the historical and spiritual links that Christians have with Jews and Muslims. This dialogue, it states, is not dictated by pragmatic considerations of a political or social order, but on the theological foundations of faith.
Regarding Christian-Jewish dialogue, the Pope invites Christians to condemn the unjustifiable persecutions of the past. With regard to Muslims, he says it is regrettable how doctrinal differences have been used as a pretext by both Christians and Muslims to justify, in the name of religion, acts of intolerance, discrimination, marginalization and persecution.
The document then addresses the presence of Christians in the Middle East, saying they have the right and the duty to participate fully in civil life. The Pope affirms the right to religious liberty and to publicly manifest one's belief and its symbols, without putting one's own life or personal freedom in danger.
The document then considers secularization and the violent fundamentalism that claims to have a religious origin. Secularism denies the citizen the right to publicly express his or her religion. A healthy secularity, on the other hand, means distinction and collaboration between politics and religion, characterized by mutual respect.
The Pope also faces the question of the Christian exodus from the Middle East under the chapter on Migrants. He asks political and religious leaders to avoid policies and strategies tending towards a monochromatic Middle East which does not reflect its human and historical reality.
This chapter makes an appeal on behalf of immigrant workers in the MIddle EAst who often experience situations of discrimination and injustice.
Part II of the Apostolic Exhortation addresses some of the principal categories that constitute the Catholic Church: Patriarchs, bishops, priests and seminarians, those called to the consecrated life, and the laity – whom the Pope invites to overcome divisions and subjective interpretations of Christian life.
Benedict XVI also addresses the family and its identity as a domestic Church; and the role of women in the Middle East whose voices, he says, must be heard with equal respect as men. Addressing young people and children, the Pope exhorts them not to be afraid or ashamed of being Christians and to respect other believers, Jews and Muslims.
Part III of the document is entitled: “The Word of God, soul and source of communion and witness” and suggests proclaiming a Year of the Bible and an annual Bible Week.
In this chapter the Pope encourages the development of new communication and educational structures.
In the chapter on Liturgy and sacramental life, the Pope says he hopes for an ecumenical agreement between the Catholic Church and the Churches with which it is in theological dialogue on the mutual recognition of Baptism, and for more frequent practice of the sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation.
Regarding prayer and pilgrimages, the Pope asks that the faithful have free access to holy places and that biblical pilgrimage returns to its original motivations of penitence and the search for God.
The chapter dedicated to evangelization and charity encourages an evangelization that looks to both the ecumenical and inter-religious dimensions and calls for a renewed missionary spirit in a multi-cultural and pluri-religious context, hoping that the Year of Faith will provide a particular stimulus.
Benedict XVI concludes the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation by asking that political and religious authorities not only alleviate the suffering of all those who live in the Middle East, but also eliminate the causes of this suffering, and do all in their power to enable peace to prevail.
At the same time, the Catholic faithful are exhorted to give a courageous and common witness that, the Pope says, is “difficult… but exhilarating”.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 15/09/2012 15:39]