His Beatitude Patriarch Mor Ignatius Joseph III Younan, Syriac Catholic Patriarch of Antioch, and Honorary President of the Middle East Council of Churches, on the Legacy of Pope Francis in the Middle East, the Situation in Syria, and the Future of the Eastern Churches.
Patriarch Ignatius Joseph III Younan, born on November 15, 1944, in Al-Hasakah, Syria, has served as the head of the Syriac Catholic Church of Antioch since January 20, 2009. After his ordination in 1971, he worked as a pastor in Syria and Lebanon before being sent to the United States in 1986 to establish communities for Syriac Catholic faithful. In 1995, Pope John Paul II appointed him as the first bishop of the Eparchy of Our Lady of Deliverance of Newark. As Patriarch, he advocates globally for the concerns of Christians in the Middle East.
Your Beatitude, you experienced the pontificate of Pope Francis from the perspective of a community often under pressure. What legacy has this pontificate left among the faithful in the cradle of Christianity?
With the death of Pope Francis, the Eastern Churches, the universal Church, and indeed the entire world lost a merciful father, a hero of peace, and a champion of fraternal humanity. The apostolic Churches of the Middle East—oppressed and discriminated against for centuries—were often met with indifference by large parts of the Latin Church, which seeks to identify itself with the global Church. Many had once hoped that Pope Francis would actively advocate for their survival in their homelands, particularly during his official pastoral visit to Iraq. The Eastern Churches became frustrated and felt threatened with being forgotten, even as many words were spent within the Church on the topic of synodality! We now hope that the new successor of Peter will fulfill the promises made by Pope Francis.
In 2024, you had the opportunity for a personal meeting with Pope Francis. Looking back, what impression did he leave on you?
Pope Francis showed deep concern about the catastrophic security situation and the existential threats faced by Christians and other non-Muslim minorities in the Middle East. Our Syriac Catholic Church—one of the smallest sui juris Churches—was among the most heavily affected by killings, destruction, and the displacement of thousands of believers in Iraq and Syria. The Pope seriously feared that our survival in our native lands was at stake.
Has the Holy See done enough, especially in relation to Muslim rulers and the Muslim-majority society, which is known for not always treating religious minorities equally?
The Holy See certainly called upon international governments time and again to seriously work for the protection of Christians and all minorities who have lived in the Middle East for millennia. The main problem, however, was and remains the extreme difficulty in persuading Muslims worldwide to adopt and live by a religious understanding founded on respect for all people—just as the merciful God commands us.
After years of conflict, the situation in Syria has changed politically and militarily, but real peace is still elusive. Many Western observers welcomed the fall of the old order without considering the long-term consequences for the civilian population. How do you see the situation of the people on the ground today, particularly in Syria?
It seems that the so-called democratic countries of the West have no real interest other than befriending and supporting the ruling regimes of the majority society. For political reasons, they often ignore the survival of minorities, especially Christians, who are the indigenous people of their countries in the Middle East. The reactive stance of most Western politicians toward the new regime in Syria is largely shaped by the politically correct language of their media, which tend to attribute their own immigration problems to the former rulers of Syria. We sincerely hope that the newly established regime in Syria will actively strive for the reconciliation and peaceful reunification of all its citizens.
In January 2021, you signed an appeal against the sanctions imposed by the Biden administration. Washington remained firm. Have the past years been “lost years,” as they only intensified the suffering of the civilian population without achieving any political effect? Western media also rarely connect the sanctions to the regime change in Damascus.
It is widely acknowledged that international sanctions against any regime primarily harm the civilian population. Christians in Syria suffered greatly under the years of sanctions imposed on their country. These measures intensified the terrible violence of the religious war and led to the displacement of thousands of Christian families. Of course, the chaos also affected citizens of all religions and denominations. However, it had devastating consequences for the Christian population, whose numbers steadily declined – especially among the young. This tragedy was simply ignored by the politicians of secularized Western regimes, who portray themselves as defenders of freedom and supporters of oppressed peoples…
By mecc
source link : https://www.mecc.org/news-en/2025/5/2/his-beatitude-patriarch-mar-ignatius-joseph-iii-younan-the-west-ignores-the-survival-of-christians
