Presence of the Pious Union in Aleppo
by Gabriele Cantaluppi
"Daesh" is an Arabic acronym, which defines the fundamentalist Islamic state, and is the great fear of Syrians, especially Christians. Everyone remembers the purge carried out in Mosul in Iraq in June last year, when ISIS emptied the city of Christians and, unfortunately, irreparably destroyed historical, architectural and literary memories. “We are not leaving, we remain alongside the weakest, the poor, the old who do not have the money or the physical strength to leave Aleppo” are the resolute words with which Boutros Marayati, archbishop of the Coptic Armenians of Aleppo, confirms the presence of a Christian community that did not want to emigrate from a tormented city.
His conviction comes from the Gospel: “We continue to be certain that God does not abandon us; faith tells us that after the cross there is always the Resurrection”. These people could renounce their faith and, all things considered, live in tranquility; instead they confirm it, accepting to suffer. But there is also the courage that comes from the solidarity with which, for centuries, Christians and Muslims have been able to live together, accepting their diversity as mutual enrichment.
And even today they collaborate in helping those who cannot leave their homes and the poorest, when the rich or those who could pay for the trip have left and, among them, also doctors and social workers. The dialogue with the Muslim world is certainly more complex than it may appear at first glance. Our Western culture, indebted to the Greco-Roman world and Christianity, has made a clear distinction between Throne and Altar, placing Human Rights as universal values. But Pope Benedict XVI had already invited us to take note that in today's society cultures and conceptions of man different from Western ones are confronted. Islamic thought is strongly imbued with religious sentiment and its radically theocratic states are based on Koranic law, which does not distinguish between civil and religious power. Every single activity of the citizen, even the most insignificant, is marked by the Koran and the teachings of the Prophet. it is an essential prerequisite to take this into account, so that the dialogue does not remain partial. Syria is one of the first regions in which the Gospel was announced and it was precisely in Antioch, not far from Aleppo, that the followers of Jesus were called Christians for the first time (Acts 11,26). Europe doesn't want refugees: but what does it do to remedy a war situation that has continued since March 2011? What are international organizations doing to curb the arms trade? Forty kilometers from Aleppo is Turkey and everyone knows that it is there that the armed groups find supplies of ammunition, with which they then bomb the city.
Monsignor Antoine Audo, Chaldean archbishop, points the finger at the lack of water and electricity, which has affected around two and a half million inhabitants for over two months. it is an "aggressive poverty" and it is sad to see thirsty women and children wandering around with empty bottles in their hands and people, even from the middle class, queuing at Caritas asking for food. Pope Francis has repeatedly recalled that the real unconfessed motivations are found in the desire to prolong the conflict in the Middle East in strategic points for the arms industry. Life expectancy has fallen from 79 to 55 years, but the worst tragedy is perhaps that of children who, even if they manage to escape death, have a destiny forever undermined by the images of violence they have had to witness and by the dearest of which they are deprived. The Holy Crusade was present in Syria with a branch of the Pious Union of Transit at the Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi in Aleppo. In 1935 it registered as many as fifteen thousand members and a thousand priests had taken on the commitment of the "perennial mass for the dying". The situations linked to the historical events of the last century in Europe and the Middle East and the current ones, together with the crisis of spirituality in the contemporary world, have certainly greatly reduced the membership. In addition to the Catholic one, other Christian confessions present in that tormented land, such as the Chaldeans, the Copts and the Maronites, also have a profound veneration for Saint Joseph, whose feast they celebrate close to Christmas, as if to underline his intimate collaboration in the mystery of the Incarnation. An ancient Ambrosian hymn entrusts Saint Joseph with the task of saving the Son of God, with a quick escape at the command of the angel. But it is immediately said that behind this apparent weakness of God, there is the realization of a plan of salvation, that of illuminating the darkness of Egypt. May our Saint obtain this horizon of hope also for the tormented Syrian people.