Final communication of the 11th Congress of the Council of Catholic Patriarchs of the East, which was held at the Monastery of Notre Dame de la Deliverance (Sharfeh, Lebanon), from September 23 to 27, 2001.

Introduction

The 11th Congress of the Council of Catholic Patriarchs of the East was held from September 23 to 27, 2001 at the Monastery of Notre Dame de la Deliverance (Sharfeh, Lebanon), the seat of the Syrian Catholic Patriarchate. The Council enjoyed the hospitality of His Beatitude Ignatius Peter VIII Abdel Ahad, Antiochan Patriarch of the Syrians. Those who attended were: Their Beatitudes Cardinal Nasrallah Peter Sfeir, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East for the Maronites; Cardinal Stephen II Ghattas, Patriarch of Alexandria for the Coptic Catholics; Gregory III Laham, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, of Alexandria and Jerusalem for the Greek Catholic Melkites; Raphael I Bidawid, Patriarch of Babel for the Chaldeans; Michel Sabbah, Patriarch of Jerusalem for the Latins; and His Excellency Mgr. Jean Tirouz, Auxiliary Bishop of the Patriarchal Diocese for the Armenian Catholics, representing His Beatitude Nerses Bedros XIX.

The Congress was mainly occupied with the question of youth in our Churches. It also dealt with ecumenical issues during a session that brought together the members of the Council with Their Holinesses and Beatitudes the Patriarchs of the Orthodox Churches: Ignatius IV Hazem, Zakka I Iwas, Catholicos Aram I Kechichian, Bishops Elias Audeh, George Khodr, Kigham Katcherian, Athanasius Ephrem Barsoum, Paul Matar and Joseph Kallas. The prevailing situation at the heart of the current circumstances on the regional and international levels was also discussed. Other problems, which need to be gone into in greater depth and necessitate follow up, were also evoked.

Christian youth in the Middle East

Under the title “Christian presence of youth in the Middle East: witness and mission”, this 11th Congress occupied itself first and foremost with the question of the youth in our Churches. Previously, the subject had been lengthily prepared, over a period of more than six months, through the sending, first of all, of targeted questionnaires to the different youth movements in our respective countries so that the responses of the youth themselves could constitute the basis of our reflections.

Our Congress this year differed from past Congresses because of an invitation addressed to forty two young men and women, representing the youth movements of our Churches and countries, who were meeting in the Convent of Notre Dame du Mont (Adma, Lebanon) from September 21 to 23, to join us in sharing on the mission of the youth and their witness. This subject is a vital one and of great importance for all of us today.

This preparatory meeting gave the youth the possibility of living together an experience of fraternity, love and solidarity, during which they could report on their situation in the different countries of the Middle East (Lebanon, Iraq, Palestine, Jordan, Egypt and Syria). They also formulated their questions, concerns, hopes and desires, which they presented to the Congress, benefiting from specialized sessions on the youth and their problems.

After the opening of our Congress, at which the delegates of the youth movements played an active part, the first workday was consecrated, still in collaboration with these same delegates, to this important subject. The attentive listening to the reports about the social, human and pastoral situation of the youth in our different countries, which had been put together by the participants, was followed by a detailed lecture. The delegates themselves presented their problems, putting together their desires, recommendations and suggestions, with the goal of assuring greater participation of the youth in the life of our Churches, our societies and our nations.

A heightened sense of responsibility, a deep sense of belonging to the Church and social involvement characterized the general atmosphere of this session.

We must emphasize, at this point, how much the Church needs the youth and how much the youth need the Church. The Church needs the youth so that in them she can appear in her fullness. She is alive and active to the extent that all the categories that make her up, including the youth, are both active and interactive, assuming their specific role at the heart of the community of believers. Its is thus that the Church appears clearly, in her youthfulness, just as St Paul describes her “glorious, with no speck or wrinkle or anything like that, but holy and faultless” (Eph 5:27).

The youth, also, need the Church, which bears the Divine Word; the Word that illuminates their life and gives meaning to their personality, to their presence and their toil. Christ and the Church love them most particularly. We do not doubt for even a moment that our common work, as pastors and youth, might be a real sign of hope and life for our ecclesial communities all together.

We take this opportunity to reaffirm our sincere desire to put in place even more pastoral activities that would permit the youth to assume their role in the life of our Churches. We strongly request of our bishops, priests, men and women religious to collaborate with us in the service of the youth. This should be at various levels:

1. The development of various apostolic movements destined for the youth, so that they can be the place where the youth might live their faith and their involvement in the Church. These movements are a link, tying the Church to the committed youth, on the one hand, and tying the Church to a public of youth who are more removed, on the other hand.

2. Elaborate programs of formation that permit the youth to anchor themselves in Christ, to participate in the life of the Church and to bear witness in their society, so that their life becomes vocation, mission and witness. With this aim in mind, it becomes imperative to have recourse to the modern means that the youth themselves use.

Develop a pastoral program, promoting the integration of the youth in the life of the Church and its instances (parish councils, etc) so that they participate in the decision-making, especially that which concerns them.

3. Guarantee assistance and support to all those who help the youth to be an active and constructive element in our societies and to open themselves to others in a spirit of dialogue, cooperation and love.

4. Exert an effort to stop the hemorrhage of emigration of the youth, through the development of values that consecrate their belonging to their homeland and the extension of moral and material support within the limits of the means available and as far as possible.

5. Organize meetings of the youth of our countries and our Churches, assisting them to broaden their horizons, opening up to others, within their own countries, in the region and in the world.

6. Create a General Secretariat of youth movements of the Middle East that would serve as a tool for the realization of specific objectives.

We address ourselves here to all our children, young men and women, so that they might unite their efforts to ours and so that, laboring together, clergy and laity, we might arrive at developing the appropriate means to support their presence in our Churches and countries. We renew our trust in them and our love for them, praying that God might extend His help to us for “if Yahweh does not build the house, in vain do the builders labor” (Ps 127:1).

Meeting between Catholics and Orthodox

In conformity with our practice, the third day of our Congress was consecrated to the meeting with our brothers, the Orthodox Patriarchs and those who accompanied them. Yesterday, we published a common communication concerning this meeting, in which the Middle East Council of Churches, a common catechism, concrete and practical ecumenical initiatives as well as the present tension on the international scene were discussed.

International current events

No one is unconscious of how explosive the current international situation is, after the painful terrorist attacks against New York and Washington D.C. Such a situation can only trouble us profoundly, just as it does the whole world. This is why:

We reject most strongly these terrible terrorist acts, which cost the lives of thousands of innocent victims. Sharing the suffering of those persons affected, we pray for the victims and ask God that such actions never be repeated anywhere.

We call for moderation, wisdom and a sense of responsibility in relation to these terrorist acts so that uncontrolled reaction does not unleash an interminable cycle of violence that profits no one. We join our voice to that of His Holiness Pope John Paul II, who called for behavior defined, not by the spirit of revenge, but by the spirit of “justice and peace”.

We warn against reactions which are not the fruit of reflection in these painful circumstances as well as against unjust judgements, provocative expressions, prejudices which harm particular categories of people, like Arabs or Muslims. Such positions only serve to increase enmity and hatred. Today, more than ever before, we are in need of dialogue, not of a clash of cultures and civilizations. It is clear that, at this level, the various religions could play a positive role. This immense responsibility falls to every one of us.

We draw attention to the fact that, in many aspects, globalization is a negative factor. It leads to despair, a sense of impotence and bitterness among many peoples, particularly those of the Third World, who suffer from poverty, disease, ignorance and under-development. They also suffer from terrorism organized by certain states and from the collective egoism of the industrialized countries. It is time for the entire world to concentrate its efforts on these negative aspects, to confront them and make sure that the situation does not get worse. Our world today is a large village, whose children grow up together. It is unacceptable that some flourish at the expense of others, or without them.

We call for a global moral awakening at the beginning of this third millennium, so that, in an atmosphere of dialogue and in a spirit of justice and peace, all humanity labors together to establish a healthy global system, beneficial for the poorest and the disinherited. Thus we will break down the logic of hatred and we will construct “the civilization of love”, which glorifies God and celebrates the dignity of he human person.

The situation in our countries

In these critical circumstances, with love and solidarity, we turn our gaze towards those who are perilously enduring the international events. We are sure that the fact that they suffer abandonment, laxity and injustice on the part of the international community, makes them chafe under the yoke of anger, the feeling of impotence and despair. Now, more than ever before, the time has come for the international community to face up to the problems from which our countries suffer. This is not only for the sake of our peoples but also for the justice and peace of this region and the entire world.

1. Palestine
In Palestine, the Palestine people continues to suffer from a cruel, even ferocious, conjunction that exposes it permanently to forms of injustice and humiliation that surpass the limits of what is possible to endure. Today, the hour of truth has come for the Palestinian question and it is now fitting that the world face up to it in a spirit of justice and peace. No peace, no stability, no security are possible in our region before the inalienable and legitimate rights of the Palestinian people are recognized in the form of an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital.

Every effort to avoid this issue or to negate these rights leads to a resurgence of violence and death. The Palestinian people has suffered for a long time, Pope John Paul II declared during his visit to Bethlehem, and the time has come to end the violence and establish the new bases for the peace process. This must be a just peace founded on international legality, guaranteeing stability and security for all. Justice is the way of peace and peace – when it is just – is a peace of security.

2. Iraq
In Iraq, the humanitarian situation deteriorates from day to day because of the unjust embargo, which culls its victims from among the innocent, mainly children. Like so many others, we call, every year, for the lifting of the embargo so that the Iraqi people might pick themselves up and join the international community, within which Iraq might contribute in building a better world. Unfortunately, these reiterated calls have not found an attentive hearing and the Iraqi people continue to chafe under the injustice and its terrible consequences. The hour has come when the world must put an end to the blatant injustice of which the Iraqi people are victims.

3. Lebanon
Lebanon continues to suffer from economic difficulties and political instability due to multiple dependencies and arrests, which should be brought to a halt. We desire that this country develop  on all levels so that it might accomplish its construction within a framework of stability, independence and sovereignty. Thus it might properly contribute to the construction of the Arab world in a spirit of solidarity and equality, putting at the disposition of the Arab world all its realized projects in the various domains.

4. The Arab countries
We call the various Arab countries, in these difficult circumstances of their history, to labor for the benefit of their citizens, in the respect of their dignity, their spiritual, moral and material progress, so that they can take the place which is theirs in the march of their nations. They should also seek to reinforce the role of the youth in order to facilitate their participation in the construction and the equilibrium of their countries and societies.

Conclusion
Despite the difficulties and the critical circumstances that our region and our world are passing through, we renew our hope in a better future. With this in mind, we derive determination and