A reference document entitled “Christians in the Middle East: Towards Renewed Theological, Social, and Political Choices” was made public today by the ecumenical group “We Choose Abundant Life”. The group is made up of specialists in theology and human and geopolitical sciences, women and men, ordained ministers and lay people. They belong to different Churches and have different cultural horizons, national geographies, and complementary areas of expertise. The document calls Christians in the Middle East to adopt renewed theological, social and political choices based on a critical approach to their past and current situations, especially since the Arab Spring revolutions in 2010 and beyond. The launching event was held at the Mar Elias Church in Antelias, in the presence of the Nuncio Joseph Spiteri, a representative of Sheikh Akl of the Druze community Sheikh Fadel Selim, a representative of Sayyed Ali Fadlallah, Sheikh Hussein Shehadeh, Metropolitan Boulos Sayah, the Secretary General of "ACT ALLIANCE", Rudelmar Bueno de Faria, from Geneva, alongside academics, Christian and Muslim clergy, and a number of civil society actors who attended the event online via Zoom from Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Palestine and Lebanon.
The ceremony started with the Lebanese national anthem, followed by the screening of a documentary entitled "Why: We Choose Abundant Life" that summarizes the main axes, messages and objectives of the document, which, at its core, nurtures the belief that the power of life is stronger than the culture of death.
Next, Ziad Al-Sayegh, an expert in public policies, presented the document "We Choose Abundant Life", its background and goals. He considered that “human dignity is threatened today in our world. Its fundamental principle is tainted by ideological, state, and political distortions. The moral compass has failed to uphold human cause or dignity”. Al Sayegh said: “At a time of historical choices, “We Choose Abundant life”, is a must as Christians in the Middle East find themselves today before a test and called upon to choose between a blessing and a curse, between life and death.”
Al-Sayegh stressed that “we are not minorities, and we reject the alliance of minorities, and the invocation of protections. We belong to an Arab majority that aspires to a civil state which pillar is active citizenship that preserves diversity and embraces pluralism.” He concluded: “Therefore, we, with all our brothers and sisters from all cultural backgrounds and religious affiliations, find ourselves in a continuous struggle to achieve an abundant, dignified and peaceful life for our human being and our societies away from past grudges, dark experiences, and suicidal springboards that some seek to maintain for personal interests, or pure racism”.
Reverend Najla Kassab, ordained minister in the National Evangelical Synod of Syria and Lebanon (NESSL) and president of the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC), spoke about the content and the directions of the document, and pointed out that it “invites us to think and distinguish what God wants from us in this region, “here and now”, and to engage in choosing life over death, frustration, destruction, poverty and displacement.” She said: “To choose life it is to engage in an in-depth dialogue emphasizing the common concerns, challenges and aspirations that strengthen the foundations of human dignity, community peace, citizenship, the right to be different, social justice, economic integrity, good ecological management, human solidarity, witness to the values of truth, justice, freedom and human rights”. She stressed that: “the Christian presence is not only a presence, but a dedication to the service of every human being, and to selfless love, in fulfillment of God’s plan: “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
Professor Asaad Kattan, in his speech on conclusions and options, quoted some of the document’s key paragraphs "The revolutions of the Arab Spring have not yet resulted in the establishment of democratic political governance, but called for citizenship to be brought into the heart of political practice”. “What we see today is a reshaping of this region; while the past, proving unable to respond to social and political challenges, led to an explosion, the new has yet to form its shape”. He stressed that "Christians of the Middle East are required alongside their Muslim sisters and brothers, and with their other partners, to go deeper into building a civil state where citizenship prevails without discrimination or exclusion”. Churches are required “to expose the injustice that has befallen women through the ages, and seek to change this reality by taking bold initiatives that emphasize the integration between women and men without prioritizing one over the other”.
The ceremony included virtual interventions by: His Beatitude Cardinal Mar Louis Raphael Sako, Patriarch of Babylon for the Chaldeans, Head of the Middle East Council of Churches for the Catholic family (Iraq), His Beatitude Michel Sabbah, Latin Patriarch Emeritus of Jerusalem, Dr. Anne Emile Zaki, University Professor (Cairo), Dr Viola Raheb, researcher and theologian (Austria/Palestine), Father Amir Jaji, Dominican priest (Iraq). The ceremony ended with the inauguration of the signing of the document.
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