An open letter from a Syrian Arab priest to His Holiness, Pope Francis

The following letter was issued by Fr. Elias Zahlaoui on March 13, 2020:

Holy father,

The tenth anniversary of the cosmic war on Syria, my homeland, is in a couple of days.

I would like, today, to ask you, personally, and the whole Catholic Church, everywhere, a question that is equally simple and grave:

Do you still believe today that Jesus Christ continues to exist in the Arab World?

I find myself obliged to explain that all the generalities that you never cease to proclaim and repeat, and those that you place on the tongues of your representatives in International Institutions, negate this belief.

My proof of this is based on all that the official newspaper of the Vatican, the Osservatore Romano publishes, as all these texts, without exception, that are sometimes given exiting, even shocking, headings, offer proof of sorrowful, regular, and total absence of any stance towards the declared catastrophic policy against the Arab World, that is adopted by some international powers, at the head of which are the United States and some of its Arab and European ‘valets’.

Is there anybody who dares say that he is ignorant of this policy of hegemony which knows no boundary, and which has continued for tens of years in a blatant challenge to every national and international legitimacy, and to every human and religious morality?

O how sorry I am to say that, in the absence of any condemnation from the Church towards this flood of successive catastrophes which afflict the Arab World, I find myself obliged—together with all the crushed people on the face of the earth—to ask God to bring down His just punishment on the perpetrators and agents of these catastrophes.

In fact, the church, which St Paul described as “the Pillar of Truth”, and which represents Jesus Christ, indicates its constant inability to direct the least condemnation to the miserable haughty (people), who have taken upon them- selves to destroy God’s creation, and to remove the Christian existence from the Arab World.

Holy Father,

I know that what I, the Catholic Priest, am saying is more than grave. But I hold onto my words, and present proofs for them.

Suffice it for me, first, to remind you of your traditional message on the “International Day of Peace”, 2020. And suffice it also for me to remind you of your official address which you delivered, during your visit to the United Arab Emirates, between 3 – 5 of February, 2019.

I am even going further than that.

There are two sorrowful occurrences that I cannot overlook, especially that they relate primarily to Syria, my home country. The first of these, which stopped me a long while, is your first visit to the United States around the end of September, 2015. You were then in the heart of this ‘Empire’, which declares openly its resolution to destroy all the opponents of its policies of infernal domination on the world—including Syria, of course—in the name of “Freedom”, “Democracy”, and “Human Rights”. You have delivered four addresses in front of the main civil and church representatives of this ‘Empire’, as well as in front of the United Nations General Assembly. I made sure that I read these addresses five times, so that I let no effect ‘of the moment’ to get a hold of my thinking. I am sorry to say that I have found in them nothing but words of praise and thanks, in addition to calls for more religious freedom and respect for nature and the environment.

For such words to issue forth from the representative of Jesus Christ, who died on the cross for the love of a humanity that suffers—today, more than at any bygone time—denigration, hunger, homelessness, and termination, is a matter that provokes pity and bitter questioning.

As to the second occurrence, this concerns the political quest—which hid behind the famed humanistic excuses—in the letter you addressed to our President, through Cardinal Peter Turkson on June 28, 2019.

Holy Father,

I find it difficult to believe that you were, at that time, ignorant of the fact that the “International Community”, in whose name you always talk, and with whose policies you always align yourself, is but the ‘American Empire’ and its ‘valets’. Were you, perchance, ignorant of the fact that the billions of the deserted humans, scattered on the face of the earth, and with whom, Jesus Christ identified himself totally and completely trying to stand in the face of this “International Community”, itself, in order to achieve the minimum level of a dignified and just life?

This struggle is exactly what Syria—with our President, Dr Bashar Al Assad, at its head—confronts against an exceptionally unjust cosmic war, and against an economic siege that has no justification whatsoever. With this legendary resistance, Syria has become a role-model for survival.

Holy Father,

At the end, let me express my sincere reaction towards the initiative that pushed you to send, on August 15, 2019, six thousand rosaries to the Syrian people.

Of course, It is not for me to belittle the necessity of prayer in a time in which prayer has become the most primary and greatest necessity.

However, I ask you honestly if you believe that this style of yours, in addition to your insistent calls for prayer for peace in Syria and the world, compensates for your total and incomprehensible abstaining from adopting any stance towards the torturers of peoples?

Is it not time for the Catholic Church to sever every relation it has with the policies of the ‘American Empire’ in order to reconnect with the kingdom of God?

O how it befits the Christians of the world, and not just the Christian and Muslim faithful in Syria, to intensify prayer, so that the Catholic Church be guided to Lord Jesus Christ, and to the tortured people of the earth with whom He identified himself?

If, in the near future, you made a visit to Crucified Syria, would you not open the way to this hoped for guidance?

Holy Father,

I hope that you see in this wish of mine, not only the hope of a Priest from Syria, but also, and especially so, the hope of the Crucified peoples of the earth.

Please accept my love and respect.

Fr Elias Zahlaoui