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Journalist and author, Camille Eid is also an observer of Middle East Churches. In an interview, he explains why Christians, once a strong minority in Iran, are now going abroad, at an estimated rate of 10,000 families a year. And why, he makes a somber prediction: “In fact, there is a real risk of disappearance, of an extinction of Christianity.”
In the XI century, the mid-Eastern churches split from the Roman Catholic Church. However, since then, a number of them have recognized the primacy of Rome. And the ecumenical work to promote a larger and deeper communion is still under way.
The Middle East is one of the worst hot spots in the world, not only at a geopolitical level, as a fertile ground for every sort of violence
and conflicts, but also at a religious one, due to the rising of a militant and political Islam. All over the area, the minorities suffer all kinds
of discriminations and persecutions, like the Christians, who are leaving the region at a growing speed. That’s why the Pope convoked a Synod of the Catholic Church for the Middle East, which will be held next month in the Vatican. At play is not only the future of communities that lived for centuries in the land of their ancestors but also the diverse and unique spiritual heritages.
Sr. Mary John Mananzan is the prioress of the Missionary of Benedictine Sisters in the Philippines and the co-chair of the Association of Major Religious Superiors (AMRSP). She has been very vocal and active against corruption, one of the country’s social evils. Some critics accuse her of destabilizing the nation, but she sustains that the struggle for truth and justice is part of their prophetic vocation as religious.
When the poor vote in an organized and disciplined way, life will change for the better in the Philippines. If someone seeks justice, therefore, they should work with the poor. Since the Church seeks the just society described in the Social Encyclicals, it should work with the poor. They are its natural ally.
While we call on people to be active in partisan politics, we, too, should do more as Church to educate our people on their political duties. No good people will be elected unless the general population exercises their votes in a moral manner. Yes, in a moral manner, since to vote for a bad or incompetent person is to do harm to the common good, and to sell one’s vote is to sell the country.
The Church’s role in teaching political virtues is an important one that cannot and must not be given up. But in the performance of this role, the Church works through the consciences of individuals. It does not itself become a “political subject” directly acting in the political terrain, and taking up positions in partisan conflicts. It forms consciences, but it does not substitute itself for the individual consciences of the members of its flock.
The Church must be involved in political life. The aim remains one: to help people build a just society, living fulfilled lives. This means that the Church supports all journeys that bring people together and favor communion with God. The tools to shape political life are well known: forming people and their leaders, taking a prophetic role, and encouraging personal commitment. There is no good political life without formation. This is not for leaders olone; all should strive to have the basic knowledge of political living. There is no good choice if the mind has not been informed properly.
The Holy Spirit is the first agent of evangelization and precedes the full establishment of the Church; He sets the process of personal conversion and of the coming of the Kingdom into motion. The full belonging to the Church will come later. The Church cannot control the dynamism of the Holy Spirit, but only recognizes His presence and action with the passage of time through a challenging journey of discernment.
The Spirit ensures us that there is a future even in our mortal bodies. Certainly, there is life after death, and we shall share in Christ’s Resurrection. Yet, we cannot forget that the Spirit moves the Church in transforming the world into a new Earth where people can live fulfilled lives before God. Hope is a gift of the Spirit. A gift that becomes true any time a person is open to the action of the Spirit and accepts to testify to his faith by living a life of service to others.
