St. George Melkite-Greek Catholic Church

THE CHRISTIANS OF THE MIDDLE EAST: PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE?
Light from the East: A Lecture Series on Eastern Christianity
Speaker: Archbishop Cyril Bustros, Eparch of Newton
Date: February 11, 2007

Archbishop Cyril: I am happy to be with you this evening to speak about Christianity in the Middle East.

An American once met one of our priests, an Arab Christian, and asked him, “When did you convert from Islam to Christianity?” The priest answered, “Have you read the Acts of the Apostles, Chapter 2, verses 6 through 12?

How is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea, Asia, Egypt and parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs. In our own language we hear them speaking about God's deeds of power.

My family is descended from these Arabs who were listening to St. Peter on Pentecost, 33AD. We have been Christians going back 2000 years, since Christianity started.”

What was the message of Peter in 33? The Jews were waiting for the Messiah, the Christ, el-Maseeh: they were waiting for Him. Jesus preached the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. He worked many miracles. He preached a new spirit to the Jews. He told people that there was only one God — that the Law of Moses, the Ten Commandments, the commandments of God, still represent the will of God, but now there is something new. The Spirit of God is the sign of the fullness of time. The Spirit of God is working through Jesus, through His teaching and through His miracles. The Jews did not accept the new message of Jesus — they delivered Jesus to the Romans and He was crucified. On the third day He rose from the dead, He appeared to the apostles, and He started teaching them what they must do to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. He told them, “You have to wait for the descent of the Holy Spirit upon you. He will teach you and He will be the power of the God to help you preach the Gospel throughout the world.”

Jesus rose on Pascha, the 3rd day after the Passover of the Jews. That is why we always celebrate Pascha, the feast of feasts, as the first Sunday after the Passover of the Jews. Jesus was buried on the Friday before the Passover of the Jews.

We read in the Gospel that the Jews when the Jews brought Jesus to Pilate that Friday morning they did not enter the court — the pagan Roman court — because they had to celebrate the Passover that evening, and if they entered the court, they would be ritually unclean and could not celebrate the Passover. Jesus was crucified at 12noon that day, and was buried after that. On Sunday morning He rose and appeared to His apostles. He promised that He would send the Holy Spirit to them. On the 50th day, He in fact sends the Holy Spirit, and St. Peter started teaching the Jews, only a simple message: “The one you crucified, God has raised Him from the dead and He appeared to us as one living. Jesus is risen from the dead and you must be baptized in His name to receive the forgiveness of your sins and to be filled in your soul through the baptism with the Holy Spirit.”

The Acts of the Apostles was written by St. Luke who tells that 3000 people were converted to Christianity — they were convinced that Jesus was really the Messiah — from that time, many Jews were converted to Christianity — laymen and priests — and the first Christian community started in Jerusalem. They had one mind, one heart, they held everything in common, and they distributed their belongings to people according to their needs. We jokingly say the first communist community started in Jerusalem — they had everything in common and shared according to the needs of everyone! But the Jews who did not accept Christianity started to persecute the Christians. The first bishop of Jerusalem, James, was put to death and many Christians left Jerusalem: they went to Syria. From that time, the spread of Christianity started because of the persecution of Christians in Jerusalem. One of the most famous persecutors of Christians, Saul, who was to become St. Paul, was sent by the Jewish priests from Jerusalem to Damascus to persecute the Christians.

The Acts of the Apostles tells the story how Paul was converted. Christ appeared to him and asked him: “Why do you persecute Me?” Paul asked, “Who are You? I do not persecute You. I persecute the Christians.” He said, “I am Christ. Go to Damascus and there is a prophet there named Ananias who will tell you what you have to do.”

The apparition of Jesus Christ blinded him and he went to Damascus to Straight Street, Tarik el Tawil. In Damascus, at Bab Touma, there is still a house, the house of Ananias the prophet. Paul went, and Ananias baptized him, and Paul could see again and started to preach in Damascus — to preach the Christian religion to the Jews. After that, all the apostles preached all over the Mediterranean: Jerusalem, Palestine, Samaria, along the coast, Tyre and Sidon in Lebanon, Damascus, and then Turkey and from there to Rome, to the other side of the Mediterranean Sea, and from Jerusalem to Palestine and Egypt.

From AD 37 to 43, Peter establishes a Church in Antioch, where, for the first time, the disciples of Jesus are called Christians. The name “Christian” came from Antioch, and we Melkites are of the Church of Antioch and are proud to have given the name Christian to all those who followed Jesus over the whole world.

From 61 to 64, St. Mark founded the Christian Church in Egypt. And even today the Christians in Egypt under Pope Shenouda call themselves el Kiraz el malhouziyah. They are also call the Church of St. Mark.

The Jews, as always, were not satisfied with Roman occupation. They were waiting for the Messiah to deliver them from the domination of the Romans. Jesus did not come as a political Messiah. He came as the spiritual Messiah: not to build the kingdom of this earth, but to build the Kingdom of God. Christianity was separated from Judaism because the Jews didn't accept Jesus as a spiritual Messiah, as the Messiah who was sent by God to build the Kingdom of God, not an earthly kingdom only for the Jewish people. That is why we speak of the “universality” of Christianity. If Jesus came only for the Jews, He would have established a Kingdom of this earth. But another Kingdom will come after Him. The Kingdom of God is forever, because God is not limited to space or time. The Kingdom of God is boundless, for all the ages and for all nations.

In 68, St. Mark is martyred in Alexandria, Egypt.

In 70, the Jews revolted against the Romans, who subsequently destroyed the temple of Solomon. From that time, the Jews have not made any sacrifices, because sacrifices to God are performed only in the temple of Jerusalem. Jews used to come from all over the world — there were Jews throughout the Middle East, in Rome, and in Egypt — to Jerusalem to sacrifice in the temple. That's why there is a desire among some Jews today to rebuild the temple of Jerusalem in order to sacrifice again to God. I don't know if this would be possible because a mosque, the Dome of the Rock, stands on the former temple site. The Jews were recently digging close to the Wailing Wall, under the mosque. If they destroy the Muslim mosque, it would be disastrous for the population, perhaps even a world crisis.

As Christians, we cannot condone the destruction of the mosque. We state that the peoples of all three monotheistic religions — Christianity, Islam, and Judaism — must see Jerusalem as the city of peace, as the symbol of the unity of the whole of humankind, a place of peace, of living together, of coexistence for all who believe in God.

In 135, the Roman Emperor Hadrian destroyed Jerusalem and the Romans built a city called Aelia Capitolina on the ruins.

In 200, the Roman Emperor issues a decree against the Christians, and many Christians were martyred from that time.

In 303, Armenia becomes a Christian nation when Saint Gregory the Illuminator converts King Tiridates III.

In 313, the Edict of Milan grants Christianity the legal right to exist.

In 314, the Emperor Constantine embraces Christianity and from that time Christianity became a legal religion all over the Roman Empire.

In 380, Christianity is declared the official religion of the Roman Empire by decree of the Emperor Theodosius. However, around 355, the Emperor Julian the Apostate again started a persecution of the Christians. But in 380, persecution of Christians ceases. Two great emperors, Constantine in 313, and Theodosius in 380, were the Christian emperors who started to spread the Christian religion in the Roman Empire.

Christianity is a monotheistic religion. Monotheistic means its belief is in one God. But if we say God spoke to us through Jesus, and Jesus is the Messiah, then when Jesus speaks is it a human speaking or God speaking? If it is a human, then Jesus is one prophet like any other prophet — nothing new. Then we don't need Him for there are many prophets! But if Jesus is really the Son of God, then it is the word of God Himself, in person, who is speaking to us. So there must be “something” hiding in Him. He is not only a human prophet. He must be something more.

In the Gospel we see many examples that the apostles believed that Jesus is not merely a prophet. Jonah, Solomon, Elias, there are many prophets but here in Jesus there is more than Solomon, more than a prophet, more than Elias, and more than Moses. Christians expressed this by saying that Jesus is the Son of God. Of course, not “son” of God in the biological way of understanding, but in the spiritual way — Son means through the image of God, the perfect incarnation of God. That's why we read in the Gospel “Who sees Me, sees the Father” — sees God. Who sees Jesus, sees God. The divine element in Him appeared to the apostles and they believed that really He is the prophet, the last prophet. We call him the eschatological prophet of whom Moses has spoken in the Old Testament: “There will be a time when God will send to you a prophet from among you and you will listen to Him.” He will be the new Moses to establish the new covenant with God. Thus the apostles see that Jesus is the last prophet promised by Moses and He is the Son of God because His teaching is not only human teaching (like the other prophets) but He is teaching directly from God.

In Chapter 5 of the Gospel of Matthew, it is very clear when Jesus states, “You have heard the people say it to you, but I say it to you.” So He puts Himself on the same level as God in the Old Testament. The Old Law has been preserved in its essence, but in the details there is another spiritual law. We keep the Ten Commandments of Moses, but we don't keep the sacrifices. We make the difference between the stance of the law of the Old Testament and the details of the law — things concerning what to eat and drink, how to dress, etc. Jesus said: You are free to eat what you want, you are free to drink what you want — the essential thing is to be faithful to the will of God. He summarized the whole Law of Moses in two commandments: Love God with all your heart, all your might, all your soul, and love your neighbor as yourself. Love God and love your neighbor and all the other things are secondary.

There is no more unclean food says Jesus. The Jews say that there are unclean foods. They only eat clean foods — they have a list of the foods they consider unclean. The Gospel of Mark makes it clear that there is no impure food. Jesus says to the Jews: Purify your heart. Your heart must be pure, and if your heart is pure everything will be pure to you. Because from the heart comes all the bad things, the evil things — murder, stealing, and adultery — everything comes from the heart, desire, will. If you purify your heart, everything will be pure to you.

The difference between Christianity and Judaism is on two levels: on the political level, as the Jews wanted a political messiah; and on the legal level. Christianity was considered a new religion. The apostles who started spreading the good news of the Gospel (“Gospel” means “good news”), started in Palestine. They went to Tyre, Sidon, Lebanon, Syria, Antioch, and all over the Middle East and Turkey. St. Paul in all his travels, spread the Gospel even to Rome.

It was in Rome that Paul and Peter were martyred. That's why Christianity considers Rome as the first among Churches and the pope of Rome is considered as the first among all the bishops of the world. There were four patriarchs in the east, and one in the west. In the east, the patriarchates of Constantinople, Jerusalem, Alexandria, and Antioch; and in the west, Rome.

In 325, at the First Ecumenical Council, all the bishops met in Nicea to proclaim that Jesus is the Son of God. He is equal to God in divinity, and He is not only human, since He is the Word of God. He is really the revelation, the incarnation of God. Arius, a priest from Alexandria used to say that Jesus is only a creature because there cannot be two Gods — if Jesus is God, and God is God, then that makes two Gods. Thus he said that Jesus was only a creature. The response of Athanasius of Alexandria and the Council of Nicea was according to the Gospel of St. John: “In the beginning was the word the word was with God and the word was God.” So the word of God is God. The divinity of Jesus is clear in the Gospel of St. John. Furthermore, if Jesus is only a human being, then a human being cannot save human beings. Athanasius said: “You are stealing my savior — a human being cannot save me.” Because all human beings are sinners, there must be a man who is really in such union with God that He can save me. A man filled with the Spirit of God to give me the Holy Spirit. What is religion? Religion is to be tied to God, to reach real union with God. So a mere human being cannot save us, we must be saved by a man in such unity with God that we call him the Son of God. So the Council of Nicea in 325 declared that Jesus is really the Son of God. They wrote the first part of the Creed — “ I believe in One God, Father almighty…” up to “And in the Holy Spirit”.

In 380, the Second Ecumenical Council met in Constantinople, and wrote the part of the creed that starts with “ And I believe in the Holy Spirit…” This was for a similar reason: some people were denying the divinity of the Holy Spirit — if the Holy Spirit is only a creature, an angel, He cannot spiritualize us, He cannot give us unity with God. The Holy Spirit must be the spirit of God, also divine and of the same nature as God.

There were other Ecumenical Councils. Arianism disappeared, but in 431, the Third Ecumenical Council met in Ephesus and condemned Nestorius as a heretic. Nestorius was saying that in Jesus there were two persons: the human person and the divine person. The Council said that there is one person with two natures. The Assyrian Church in Iraq refused the decrees of this council and they were called the Nestorian Church.

In 451, the Fourth Ecumenical Council in Chalcedon affirmed that Jesus is one person in two natures. The Armenian, the Syrian, and the Coptic Churches refused the Council of Chalcedon and they were considered monophysites. They recognized in Christ only of one nature. They said that one nature was composed of two natures divine and human. We Chalcedonians say it is easier to say Jesus is one person in two natures.

In 571, the prophet Mohammad was born. In 622, he and his followers emigrated from the city of Mecca to Medina (the Hijra), and the Muslim calendar is calculated from this year. In 632, Mohammad died.

In 638, Antioch and Jerusalem surrendered to the Muslims. From that time, the Muslims spread all over the Mediterranean. In many places Christians and Muslims lived together. There the government was Muslim but the majority of the people were Christian.

The Crusaders came to the Middle East in 1096. In 1099, Jerusalem fell to the Crusaders. The Crusades were to secure pilgrimage from the west to the Holy Land because at that time the Muslims had made it difficult to visit Jerusalem. There were also other economic and political reasons for the Crusades. Unfortunately, in 1204, the 4th Crusade attacked the Christian city of Constantinople, instead of continuing on to Jerusalem.

In 1366, when Antioch became majority Muslim, the patriarchate of Antioch moved to Damascus.

The Christians in the Middle East started fragmenting first with the Nestorians in 431, who formed the Church of Iran and Iraq, otherwise known as the Assyrian Church of the East. In the 11th century, a part of this Church united with Rome, the Chaldeans. There are now two Churches, Assyrian and Chaldean. Part of the Syrian Church that was separated in 431 became Catholic in the 17th and 18th centuries, so there are the Syrian Orthodox and Syrian Catholic Churches. Part of the Coptic Church in Alexandria, Egypt, who were monophysites, also became Catholic in the 17th and 18th centuries, so there are the Coptic Orthodox and the Coptic Catholic Churches. The Armenians were monophysites. Part of this Church unified with Rome, so there are the Armenian Orthodox and the Armenian Catholic Churches.

The word Melkite dates from 451, the Council of Chalcedon, which declared Jesus one person with two natures. The Council was presided over by the emperor of Constantinople, Marcian. The Syrians, Copts, and Armenians pejoratively called us Melkites (from the Syriac word Melek, meaning emperor) because we accepted the Christological decree of the emperor. We accepted this name and we kept it as a sign of fidelity to the council of Chalcedon. In 1724, there was a desire among some Christians of the patriarchate of Antioch to reunite with Rome. There had been a division between east and west — between Constantinople and Rome — for several centuries. So in 1724, the Melkite Greek Catholic Church was born. The term Melkite was again used, this time for the Church of Antioch that united with Rome. Thus, from that time on, there were two (Chalcedonian) patriarchs in Damascus: one Greek Orthodox and the other Greek-Catholic Melkite.

By 1734, in the Middle East, there are Churches that are Greek Orthodox, Greek Catholic, Syrian Orthodox, Syrian Catholic, Coptic Orthodox, Coptic Catholic, Armenian Orthodox, Armenian Catholic, Assyrian in Iraq and Chaldean, and Maronite. The Maronites are those members of the Syrian Church, who accepted the council of Chalcedon. They gathered around the Monastery of St. Maron in Syria. The Maronite monks later left Syria and went to Lebanon. Now their patriarch resides in Bkerké, Lebanon.

The persecution of Christians continued, but in a subdued way, under many Caliphs of the Muslims. Furthermore, from 1517 to 1917, the Middle East was under the Ottoman Empire — 400 years of occupation — but the Ottomans tolerated many Christians. Islam recognizes the presence of Christians and Jews. The Koran calls Christians and Jews Ahl al-Kitab, people of the book. They acknowledge that Christians have a book from God, the revelation of the Old Testament and the Gospel, but say that Christians falsified the Gospel. They believe that the true Gospel exists in Islam. They also believe that the Jews falsified the Old Testament, and that the real bible exists in the Koran. That is the difference between us. They say Christians have the right to exist, to have their churches, and practice their religion, if they pay a submission tax. During all the years of the occupation into the modern era, Christians were forced to pay a tax called ahl el-dhimmi (dhimmi means protection). They were under the protection of the Muslims on condition that they pay taxes to the Islamic government. And they did not have all the rights Muslims had.

In the modern era, after the Ottoman Empire, the Middle East came under the protection of France in Lebanon, and of England in Syria, Palestine and Egypt. Then, in 1943, the trend towards democracy started. Lebanon declared its independence in 1954, then Syria, and Egypt. In Lebanon, the constitution preserved the rights of all religions, Christians and Muslims. Unfortunately, there was a civil war in 1975. Then in 1990 the Tyre Agreement gave Christians and Muslims equal rights. In the Lebanese constitution, the President of the Republic must be Christian, the Prime Minister must be Sunni, the Speaker of the Parliament must be Shiite. Further, half of the ministers must be Christians, and the other half Muslims. This peace lasted from 1975 to 1990.

In 1453, Constantinople fell to the Ottomans, and Turkey became mostly Muslim. In 1915, there was the persecution of the Armenians — the Armenian genocide — and the Turks killed more than one-and-a-half million people. Armenians still have their two patriarchs, one in Armenia, and one in Lebanon. They also have a patriarch in Constantinople, and even until now, in Jerusalem. The Armenians number about 10 million. They have a very strong Christian community.

The Syrian Orthodox have their patriarch in Damascus, and the Syrian Catholics have their patriarch in Lebanon. We Melkites have our Patriarch in Damascus. The Greek Orthodox also have their patriarch in Damascus. The Coptic Orthodox have their patriarch in Egypt as do the Coptic Catholics. The Coptic Orthodox number about 10 million, and the Coptic Catholics number about 250,000. We Melkites number about 2 million all over the world. The Maronites number about 3 million. The Greek Orthodox of Antioch have many Churches in the Middle East and in America.

The Middle East Council of Churches corresponds to the World Council of Churches in Geneva. In the Middle East Council all the Christian faiths are represented: Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, and non-Chalcedonian — all the Churches are represented in the council. The Council has meetings every year. I was president for four years representing the Catholic Church. There are seven Catholic patriarchs in the Middle East: Greek Catholic, Maronite, Syrian Catholic, Coptic Catholic, Armenian Catholic and Latin. There is a Latin Patriarch in Jerusalem because when the crusaders occupied Jerusalem, they established a Latin patriarchate. There is a meeting every year of these seven Catholic patriarchs of the Middle East. Our presence in Lebanon, Syria, Israel, Jordan, and Egypt is very dynamic. There are many religious congregations of priests, of monks, of sisters. For example, we Melkites have five religious orders for men and five congregations for women. I, myself, am a member of the Missionary Society of St. Paul. The Maronites also have many religious orders, monastic and apostolic.

So the presence of the Christians in the Middle East has been strong; however, because of the insecurity of the present situation, many Christians are emigrating. In the beginning of the 20th century, 15% of the total population of the Middle East was Christian; now the percentage is only 6%.

In Iraq, before the war, there were 1.4 million Christians, Assyrians and Chaldeans, now there are only 700 thousand. Thus, in four years 700 thousand Christians left Iraq — fleeing because there is no security, no future for them. However, Jesus said to Peter “you are the rock, and upon this rock I will build my Church; and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” So we have faith that the Christians will remain for the future, and live in coexistence with Muslims.

For 15 years, I was the bishop of Baalbeck. Baalbeck is a majority Muslim city. 90% of the students at our school were Muslim and we had no problems. When I was transferred from Baalbeck to America, the Muslim leaders came to me and said, “Oh, we love you. We don't want you to leave us. We will go to the patriarch and ask him to leave you here.” I told them that the Pope of Rome appointed me, and they said, “Oh, it is difficult to go to the Pope, so we will have a party in your honor.” I told them that I didn't like parties, but they insisted. When I attended the party, there was an extremely large map of Lebanon with my picture in the middle and around it pictures of the Maronite bishop, the Sunni sheik, the Shiite sheik, and the Druze sheikh. On the map was an inscription that this is the national unity of Lebanon — from Baalbeck to the entire world, and the best expression of living together, Christians and Muslims. One year after my arrival in Boston, a man came from Lebanon and brought a picture of this map. I still have it in Boston.

I think we can live in peace in the Middle East — when we accept each other. Now with globalization and with democracy, we can have our own rights. Of course, it must always be a struggle, because it is human nature to want power. It is not a matter of religion, but it is a problem of those who have power imposing their will on others. We have this sad experience of the Lebanese war: fighting between Christians, Maronites (themselves Catholics), Sunnis, and Shiites.

In the beginning of Islam, there was a disagreement as to who would be the political successor to Mohammad's authority. The Ottoman sultan held the last Caliphate, and then it was no more. Now some fundamentalist Muslims, bin Laden and all these extremists, want to re-establish the Caliphate so they can rule the world, with one religion, one Islamic religion, under one Caliph. That is their dream, but I believe it will never be realized.

We can live in peace with the Muslims and the Jews in Jerusalem. In Israel they are speaking of two states, which may be the solution needed in Palestine. When these two people peacefully coexist, then we will have peace. We will have prosperity because our troubles are due to the wars of our neighbors. When there's peace between Israel and the Palestinians, then I think that many Christians from Lebanon will return, because Lebanon is a beautiful country.

We have the spirit of Christ and we have to be faithful to our Christian religion. We have to be strong and clearly believe our Christian religion as we hope for the future. We are not only optimistic but we have faith. Faith is more than optimism: optimism is a human attitude, but faith is a divine attitude. So we have faith in the Church.

Thank you, and now I am ready to answer your questions!

Question: What is the situation of Christians in Lebanon?

Archbishop Cyril: The presence of Christians in Lebanon is very strong. There are many communities: seven Christian universities in a country of only 4 million people. When the media speak of the war, they don't discuss the positive aspects of the Christian presence in Lebanon. The real problem for us is emigration. There are people who are insecure, and when students graduate from the universities and can't find work in Lebanon, they emigrate. In Boston alone, there are one thousand doctors from Lebanon! Can you imagine that many Lebanese doctors just in Boston? How many Lebanese doctors have emigrated throughout the world? Because these doctors cannot find work in Lebanon, they go to Europe, to America, or they go to other Arabic countries. However, the Church is there to help the suffering poor people, and there are many international organizations that are helping as well.

Question: What is the relationship between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches in the Middle East?

Archbishop Cyril: There's the Middle East Council of Churches, where we try to live in peace and love each other. There's the assembly of the Catholic Patriarchates — the seven catholic patriarchs of the Middle East — who decided to accept priestly concelebration in mixed marriages. A Catholic priest and an Orthodox Priest may co-celebrate in a mixed marriage, when the bride is Catholic and the groom is Orthodox or vice-versa. Both priests can come together and co-celebrate. That's one very positive aspect. Also, according to Lebanese civil law (and throughout the Middle East), children must be registered under their father's name. The patriarchs have agreed that if the father is Orthodox, then the children are registered as Orthodox; and, if the father is Catholic, then the children are registered as Catholic. And all the Christians accepted this. We also decided to have inter-communion — to accept the Orthodox that come to our Church to participate in the Divine Liturgy and receive Communion. That's a decision of the local authority; under local agreements between Orthodox and Catholic parishes.

Concerning of the reunification of the patriarchate of Antioch between the Greek Orthodox and the Melkite Greek Catholic, we have tried for two years. I was one the promoters of this initiative, but when it was time to sign the final declaration, the Orthodox did not sign because of their communion with the other Orthodox Churches all over the world. So, we're waiting until the world ecumenical movement makes some progress — it's now a matter for the International Orthodox Catholic Dialog Commission. There are 60 theologians and bishops who met in Bulgaria in September of the last year. So it is working at the international level, not just in the Middle East.

Question: How about other Christians in the Middle East?

Archbishop Cyril: All the Christian Churches in America maintain ties to the Middle East. I'm a member of the Senate of Churches of the Middle East. The Maronite Churches here in America, are members of the Maronite synod of the patriarchate of Antioch. The Protestants in America have also affiliation with the Protestants of the Middle East. The Roman Catholics in America are related to Rome, and through Rome the Catholic Churches in the Middle East. In Jerusalem, there's an Anglican bishop, and in Beirut, there's a Presbyterian council. In Egypt, there are also Anglican, Evangelical, Presbyterian Churches — they have many missions in Egypt and Africa. In Syria, they have some Protestant Churches.

In Lebanon, Protestants run the American University of Beirut. In response, the Catholics founded the Jesuit University. Now there are many local Catholic universities in Lebanon. The Maronites have two or three universities. The Orthodox have a university in Balamand. The Melkites have one college of philosophy and theology, where I was a professor of theology for 20 years. There aren't many Protestants in Lebanon, about six thousand out of two million Christians.

Question: How are Christians politically represented in the Middle East?

Archbishop Cyril: That depends on the country. In Lebanon, the President of the Republic is always Christian, as are half the members of the parliament, and half of the cabinet ministers. The chief of the army is Christian, the president of the National Bank of Lebanon is Christian — many important government positions are held by Christians. Of course, Muslims also have many government positions, but in Lebanon, the Christian influence is strong.

In other countries — in Syria, Jordan, and Egypt — the majority of the population is Muslim. Christians do not have much influence, so they are not involved in politics; however, they are present in the economy, in banks, in industry, and in all the ways of social life. They are there, but only in Lebanon do they have political influence. In other countries they don't because they are not the majority of the population. When there is an election in Lebanon, half the members of the parliament are Christian. In Syria they have some Christian members of parliament, and in Egypt they have one or two — even though Christians are ten million out of seventy million people in Egypt.

Question: What can we do to strengthen the relations between Muslims and Christians here in America in order to help strengthen relations in the Middle East?

Archbishop Cyril: In Islam there are two tendencies: there are the fundamentalist Muslims and the moderate Islam. The fundamentalists want to re-establish the Caliphate. They are dreaming of going back to Middle Ages, but they have to realize that it's impossible. Moderate Islam spreads conviviality between Christian and Muslims all over the world, the global village. It isn't possible to have one religion that imposes itself over the entire world. We have to accept each other as different: God accepts the diversity of religion, so we must accept each other, so we can compete in doing good, instead of competing in war. We accept each other here in America as Christians and Muslims, to be an example of peaceful coexistence for the Middle East.

In Arabic we say that when you don't know the other, you think he is your enemy, but when you go near you see he is human being. There is a Chinese story that I read, about a man hunting in the desert. He saw something in the very far distance, so he took his gun and wanted to shoot. But he waited because it could be either an animal or a human being, he didn't know. So he got closer, and saw it was a human being. And he got closer still, and was surprised to see that it was his brother. True story. Sometimes we think people are beasts, but then we realize that we are all human beings, brothers and sisters.