®Monomakhos

Patriarch John X on the Present Situation in Syria

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[Editor’s note:  This sermon by His Holiness John X, Patriarch of Antioch and all the East, was sent to us last week by one of our readers.  Due to technical difficulties on the Patriarchate’s end (in Damascus), we weren’t able to access it.  This situation has been resolved.  Here it is in full]:
Sermon of Patriarch John X
Sunday Liturgy, Church of the Holy Cross, December 15, 2024
Beloved,
“Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong, Let all that you do be done with love” (1 Cor. 16:13-14). With these words, I begin, and with these words, I address our dear children in this cherished homeland. I extend my hand to yours during these delicate times, so that together, we may place our hope in the Almighty Creator, the Father of Lights and God of all consolation, to wipe away every disturbance from our hearts, crown them with His holy hope, and strengthen us to seek a better tomorrow.
We stand on the threshold of a new phase, perceiving the dawn of a homeland we all love and cherish. We are on the brink of renewal, which we desire to be radiant with hope and crowned with light. Here in Damascus, from the Straight Street, from Al-Mariamiyya, the neighbor of the Umayyad Mosque, we declare to the world: as Christians, we are from the soil of Syria and from the Cedars of Lebanon, from the majesty of Qasioun Mountain, the expansiveness of Homs, the legacy of Aleppo, the waterwheels of Hama, and the gushing springs of Idlib, from the sea of Lattakia and the Euphrates of Deir ez-Zor. We are not guests in this land, nor did we come to this land today or yesterday. We are from the ancient roots of Syria and as old as the jasmine of Damascus. We are from Apostolic Antioch, from this land that has adorned the world with the name of Jesus Christ. We proclaim this and engrave it as a covenant, saying it to our children, to our brothers, to our partners in the homeland, and before our Creator, Who willed that we exist on this earth alongside others, alongside our Muslim brethren, with whom we seek the pleasure of the Lord of the worlds, the Master of heavens and earth. I have said it before, and I repeat it now: “My Muslim brothers, between the ‘we’ and the ‘you,’ the ‘and’ (in Arabic, ‘waw’) falls away, leaving only ‘we you’ and ‘you we.'” Together, we are the bearers of a shared history with all its ups and downs, and our destiny is one.
“In Syria, we are in a homeland of national partnership, a partnership that has always been, and will remain, with God’s will, unified—unified by its soil and, above all, by the unity of the hearts of its people, from all spectrums. As Christians, we have extended our hand since the very beginning, and today, we extend it to all components of this nation. We are the sons of Syria—the dream every Syrian aspires to. And the Syria we envision is:
• Syria: A Civil State: A state where all are equal in rights and duties, including the preservation of personal status laws for each of its components.
• Syria: A State of Citizenship: We do not seek our citizenship as a favor from anyone. We are an integral part of this national fabric, a fabric that transcends the logic of majority and minority, adopting instead the logic of role and mission. Just meters away from us stands a church or the home of John of Damascus, who once served at the Umayyad Court. We come from the Church of the Patriarch of Mercy, Gregory Haddad, whose funeral procession was attended by all of Damascus—Muslims and Christians alike.
• Syria: A State of Coexistence and Civil Peace: We extend our hand to everyone, as we have always done, and we call on both the near and the far to safeguard civil peace and national partnership. We urge everyone to look towards a bright future, one that we build together with aspiration, consideration, and hope. We say this not to commend the past but to hope for a promising future. We say this as we embrace the freedom from hearing our church bells, which have always, and will always, resonate alongside the minarets, calling together upon the Most High, seeking and striving to be one heart.
• Syria: A State of Law and Respect for Religions: For how can it be otherwise when all its components are on the same boat, a boat that rejects the logic of protectionism and subjugation. We say this with our eyes fixed on a homeland that enshrines the rule of law, respects religions, and upholds human dignity—the foundation upon which its honor is built.
• Syria: A State of Respect for Collective and Individual Freedoms: Responsible freedom based on a state of civil institutions that ensures equality for all and calls for the involvement of women and youth in rebuilding Syria. In addition, it ensures that all Syrians are equal in front of the law, and that all of them have the right to participate in political life and hold public posts on the basis of competence without any discrimination.
• Syria: A Sate of Democracy: A state where sovereignty belongs to the people, the law is the arbiter, and power transitions peacefully.
• Syria: A State of Respect for Human Rights: Ensuring the independence of the judiciary and equal opportunities for all its citizens, emphasizing adherence to international human rights law and rejecting all forms of violence, hate speech, and discrimination.
The ultimate guarantor for achieving all these aspirations is the Constitution. Therefore, the process of drafting the Constitution must be a holistic and inclusive national endeavor.
We must also emphasize that Christians are not to be used as material for media exploitation. It is essential to be mindful of how to handle media and social media platforms, especially regarding the many rumors they spread irresponsibly.
Furthermore, we stress the importance of distinguishing between caution and prudence on one hand and fear on the other. We do not interact with our fellow Syrians in fear, for love is the bond that unites us all. As the Evangelist John says, “perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love” (1 John 4:18).
As we approach Christmas, the season of the hope brought by the Newborn in a Manger, I ask God to protect Syria and inspire those responsible for its leadership during this phase, for the good of this country and its kind-hearted people who deserve life and see hope reflected in the eyes of their children. From this hope, we look forward today, affirming and keeping in mind that “God is in her midst; she shall not be moved.” Blessed be His name forever. Amen.

Comments

  1. At about 22:50 in this interview with Mearsheimer, Napolitano plays a clip from Julani saying he wants the Russians to stay and wants good relations and another that says he wants good relations with Iran:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyzQAIRTci8

    If this started out as a CIA/Mossad adventure, Erdogan surely hijacked it for his own purposes. I would not be happy with anything I saw in Syria from the time the HTS took Hama onward if I were working for either agency. I’m amazed that Napolitano still assumes the “MI6” is in the driver’s seat in Damascus. I don’t think that was ever true for a moment. Erdogan has more say than anyone else. After that, the Russians. But the Iranians are gaining ground as well.

    People saw the Iranians as the big losers in this revolution because they assumed it was Israel/US behind it. And initially, it may very well have been when it came to funding. None of these people care from whom they obtain funding and sometimes even training. We’ve funded and trained terrorists everywhere including al-Qaeda and ISIS.

    Short term vs. long term.

    It’s becoming increasingly clear, however, that HTS knows whom it needs to woo in order to retain and consolidate power and not meet Assad’s fate or worse.

    To the extent Israel was involved in this revolution, it will regret it gravely. Assad, at the end of the day, despite all the propaganda that swirled around him, was a moderate whose family initially came in as Arab socialists (Ba’ath party) during the pan-Arab period. HTS/Turkey will turn out to be more of a threat to Israel.

    • It’s looking more and more likely that your assessment about who’s the winner (i.e. Turkey) is correct.

      I personally think that Israel has shot its wad, militarily speaking. It’s stretched too thin and now it’s got to worry about Turkey.

      As for its long-term prospects, geopolitically speaking, I’ll hold off commenting until we know whether it suffered any emigration.

        • “Now that Russian gas is no longer flowing to EU states…”

          …the EU (particularly Germany) is the other big loser.
          The Russians have many customers for cheap gas…

          • I don’t think this situation is likely to last. Europe and Russia will sign a new agreement when Ukraine is brought to heel. It’s interesting how Ukraine is just now going down for the count when Europe’s 5 year agreement with the Russians is up. I suspect the Russians will reinstate the oil only charge more to recover their losses, which frankly is fair after what the West has put them through. The Russians should have a psychic hotline. They always seem to know the future (mostly because they are the ones who are planning it).

  2. Also from Larry Johnson: The bloom is off the Collective West’s “victory” in Syria. The Syrian Army melted away too quickly IMO and is reconstituting itself by guerilla actions against the HTS/Turks.

    As for the Turks, the bromance between Turkey and Israel appears to be over:

    “Then there is the other fly in the ointment — Israel. Netanyahu can insist that Israel is now more secure from threats emanating from Syria, but I think he is deluding himself. Turkiye eventually will be a bigger nightmare for Israel than Syria ever was. One of Erdogan’s sons, for example, just held a massive rally in Turkiye and roused the crowd with this chant:

    “Yesterday Hagia Sophia, today the Umayyad Mosque, tomorrow Al-Aqsa!

    “Hagia Sophia is the Grand Mosque in Istanbul, which was the Eastern Orthodox version of the Vatican until captured by Sultan Mehmed II and his troops in 1453. The Umayyad Mosque, previously a cathedral, started as a small house of prayer in 634 AD when the Rashidun Caliphate took control of Damascus. Are we picking up a pattern here? I think Erdogan’s son was sending a clear, unmistakable message to Bibi Netanyahu and his Zionist cronies — you’re next. While Israel is now in control of a small part of southern Syria, it is unlikely that Turkiye is going to let that arrangement stand over the long term.”

    • “Hagia Sophia…was the Eastern Orthodox version of the Vatican”.

      Err… St Peter’s in the Vatican is the RC version of the Hagia Sophia”.

  3. This too is good. Krainer makes an excellent point (they had to censor him repeatedly to get it on YT, there’s a link to the complete program). If you were setting up a scenario to take out the Zionist entity, this would be it.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoUa26T9J-Q

    He talks about Iran’s capabilities vis a vis Israel and the US and the fact that the Russians are scheduled to sign a military alliance with Iran in less than a month. The background piece that leads me to be sympathetic to Krainer’s thesis is that the stockpiles of Western armories have already been emptied to the Ukraine. Without an advantage at sea, Israel probably can’t be defended if a war is started with Iran.

    They haven’t quite come to the point of expressing my notion that Erdogan screwed the West, but effectively Krainer did. He offered that Israel invaded the south of Syria and bombed all the military very quickly and out of a sense of desperation, not as though they expected Erdogan to take over. They think there might have been a deal between Russia and Iran to let Turkey run Syria for the indefinite future. Luong thinks Turkey actually invaded in order to keep Israel from taking over Syria; i.e., he had knowledge of some of their plans toward a Greater Israel. That is, the deal was that there would be two great powers in the sandbox, Iran and Turkey. This makes sense from a sectarian point of view since it leaves Sunnis ruling Sunnis and Shia ruling Shia.

    The world is getting much more tribal and faith based as the last of the ideologies (Liberalism) slowly evaporates.

    • BINGO! This is the reality that Americans need to understand! Since WWII we have repeatedly PROVOKED nations around the Globe. We have this cockamamie idea that we are the police force of the world and that these countries are happy for this unwanted intervention. The US is responsible for untold thousands of needless deaths and the destruction of nations. I love our country but the CIA, our State Dept., and Congress (through the Israeli Lobby) are so shockingly corrupt. The silver lining is that people are beginning to wake up to this reality. Fr David

      • Fr David, it actually goes farther back than “after” WWII. We provoked the Japanese mightily into war as well. This was proven by former President Herbert Hoover btw.

        While it is true that the Japanese were the aggressors in China (and horribly so), the fact remains that there were significant political divisions among the Japanese. One faction (those aligned with the Imperial Navy) made outreach to the Roosevelt Administration, letting us know that they were willing to extricate themselves from Manchuria.

        Unfortunately, these messages were intercepted by Harry Dexter White, an FDR aid who was a Soviet spy. Long story short, the State Dept never knew that there was a way for a peaceful resolution.

        When it became clear to the Japanese that their messages weren’t being responded to, Adm Yamamoto (who was himself in favor of peace) devised the attack on Pearl Harbor, hoping that by destroying the Pacific fleet, it would serve as a knock-out blow. The goal was to bring America to sue for peace.