On the Ground in Syria

Syria in the news daily now, as tensions mount from the Arab spring that seems to have ended. Franciscan Father Greg Friedman and I had the honor of visiting Syria a few years ago to see firsthand a clifftop monastery, an hour’s drive from Damascus, where a Christian community is in active and fruitful relationship with the Arab majority. Deir Mar Musa al-Habashi, the ancient monastery is called, “Monastery of St. Moses the Abbysinian.”

Greg and I were traveling with a film producer and a Franciscan sister who is an expert on Muslim-Christian dialogue. We wanted to know if this monastery we had heard about would be a way to help tell the story of Muslims and Christians seeking peace—together.

The four of us spent several days at this magnificent, ancient, restored monastery which had become a center of local culture. It was re-founded by an Italian Jesuit priest, Paolo Dall’Oglio, who at this writing, has been asked to leave by the repressive Syrian government; but has stayed. The government, in the current uprising, is powerless to remove such a well-known priest as Father Paolo.

I think of the afternoon when we sought refuge in the small cave that almost certainly St. Paul himself had visited—Mar Musa is along a major footpath of the ancient world.

I think of the community of idealistic young people, living close to the land, swept up in the fervor of peacemaking. I think, Now is a good time to pray for peace.

We should pray for peace in Syria—our prayers will help the people there, of whatever faith, in ways that we’ll never know, this side of heaven. Father Paolo Dall’Oglio understands this. But Father Paolo’s prayer is grounded in  hope. When we were together at Mar Musa, sitting on the rug upstairs from the beehive of  young volunteers and visitors,  I interviewed him for our American Catholic Radio program. We talked about how people can get past their differences, first by expecting something to happen.

“Hope is not waiting for something to come by itself,” says Dall’Oglio. “It’s not optimistic expectation. It’s an active vow, a stand. Hope is our realistic expectation based on our self-offering to God.”

There is self-offering happening as we hear the stories of those who risk their lives for freedom in the Middle East.

We devoted a special issue of St. Anthony Messenger magazine to Muslim-Catholic dialogue. The Mar Musa monastery has its own website. Both are worth checking out (though Mar Musa’s is not so up-to-date).

*****
Photo of Mar Musa by Franco Peccio (Creative Commons)

About the Author

John Feister

John Feister is editor-in-chief of St. Anthony Messenger magazine and other periodicals at Franciscan Media. He has a B.A. in American Studies from University of Dayton, and masters’ degrees in Humanities and in Theology from Xavier University. He writes and edits for various publications and contributes to American Catholic Radio. He is married with three sons. His most recent book, with Charlene Smith, is Thea’s Song: The Life of Thea Bowman (Orbis books).