Category: Establishing and ensuring liberty, justice, and peace

Sons and Daughters

God spared my mother until she was 90 years old. Even during her dying days, she found time to marvel that she had become the mother of a priest. Somehow this had exceeded her fondest imaginings.
After she died, I found a little “baby book” she had filled out about me while I was an infant. How many hopes and dreams she and my father had for me and my sister, their only children. How much they sacrificed for us, that we would have opportunities denied to them.
It was only after both my parents were gone that I realized how much we, their children, were the real fulfillment and lasting achievement of their lives.
Imagine the parents of a little six-year-old girl in Baghdad. As a new born infant, her sparkling black eyes were the joy of their young lives. What dreams they had for her—how she would grow into a comely young woman, the handsome young man she would wed, the grandchildren she would give them.
What indescribable anguish and pain for her parents to watch her stunted growth, because they could not find the food she needed. What an indescribable loss for them, to see her die of a curable childhood illness because no vaccine could be found for her.
In the lowlands of Eritrea, rural life goes on as centuries before. Simple farmers and herders live in their straw and mud cottages, scattered across the African savanna.
Maybe their hopes for their children are simple too, but still great expectations for their simple world. What satisfaction to see a son grow up straight, tall, strong and agile.

What pride to see him learn the work skills for survival, master the intricate songs and dances of their culture, and gain the respect of peers and elders.
What a crushing blow one day to have someone from the “government” come to induct him into its army and send him to fight a meaningless battle in a meaningless war from which he never returns.
Put yourself in the place of a Jewish youth who fled Europe in the aftermath of the Second World War and who almost miraculously escaped the destruction that befell all his family.
Israel offered him new hope and new life. There he wed and, full of great expectations, raised children of his own. What pride mixed with dread must have been in his heart to see his sons and daughters drafted into the endless conflicts that are the lot of his new land.
“Killed in southern Lebanon” is the message that tells of his daughter’s death. What a brutal awakening from so many wondrous, hope-filled dreams.
See the tears streaming down the face of a Palestinian mother, as she tenderly washes the dead body of her young son. No soldier he, no daring youth, just a school boy who happened to be too near a place where stones and bullets were flying. Dead in an instant was his young life and the meaning of hers.
O Mary, remember all of us, you whose hopes, dreams, and great expectations—all the bright promise of Bethlehem—died with Him that day on Golgotha.


(Published in
Catholic Near East, 25:1, January 1999)

The Holy City

In the little town of Madaba in the Jordanian highlands, the pavement of the Greek Orthodox parish church includes pieces of an ancient mosaic. The mosaic dates from the year 565 and is in the form of a map depicting Biblical Palestine and parts of neighboring countries.
The most famous section of the map portrays the city of Jerusalem. Although it seems at first blush rather simple, it is actually a faithful representation of the layout of the Byzantine city — so much so that when Jerusalem’s Jewish quarter was being excavated and rebuilt by the Israelis, they used the Madaba map as their guide to the archeology of the city.
The inscription on the map, incomplete because some pieces are missing, says “HAGIA POLIS IEROUSA” or “The Holy City of Jerusa”.
For Jews, for Christians, and for Muslims — that is, for almost half the human race — Jerusalem always has been The Holy City. In fact, that is still its proper name in Arabic.
For Jews, Jerusalem is the city that King David captured from the Jebusites and made his capital three thousand years ago. It is the city crowned by the temple built by King Solomon, the privileged and special place of communication with the God of Israel that housed the Ark of the Covenant, the chest that contained the tablets of the Law.
Jerusalem is the immemorial symbol of Judaism’s heart. Through the long centuries, every Passover wish and prayer has been “Next year in Jerusalem!”
As the psalmist poignantly cries, “If I forget you, Jerusalem, may my right hand be forgotten!”

Christians remember Jerusalem also as the place where Joseph and Mary presented the infant Jesus to the Lord in the temple, where the boy sat in the midst of the teachers, listening to them and asking questions, where the man often came to pray and teach and finally to face his crucifixion and death.
Above all, Jerusalem is the place of the resurrection, the place of the descent of the Holy Spirit, the place where the Church was born.
For the followers of Jesus, Jerusalem is the focus of their earthly pilgrimage and the symbol of ultimate redemption. “I also saw the holy city, a new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.”
Muslims venerate Jerusalem as the place where Abraham offered his first-born son to God, as the home of the prophets, especially the Lord Jesus, and most of all as the place where the prophet Mohammed had his great mystical experience, riding up to visit the highest heavens.
Jerusalem houses the Al Aksa, the farthest mosque, and is the holiest city of Islam after Mecca and Medina.
Jerusalem is not just a territory in the Middle East, but a value in the hearts of 2,700,000,000 people. Jerusalem, the place of encounter with the divine, the symbol of peace is truly “The Holy City.”


(Published in
Catholic Near East, 23:3, May 1997)

Ring Around a Rosy

I was born in New York City, but my family moved to the city of Yonkers when I was a boy. The two cities are adjacent. One blends into the other, and only a marker on a lamppost calls attention to the boundary.
Would that Jerusalem were like that!
When Israel took possession of the old city of Jerusalem in 1967 — after 19 years during which no Jew was allowed even to enter the city — it fulfilled the deepest religious longings of the Jewish people.
No Jewish Israeli can conceive of relinquishing possession of the city of Jerusalem ever again. In fact, Israel has declared the city its indivisible capital for ever. It is the heart of the Jewish people — they cannot live without it.
I notice two things happening to Jerusalem. First, its boundaries keep growing at the expense of Arab lands. After 1967 the municipality was much extended, and continually new tracts of land here and there are added to the city.
Second, Jerusalem is becoming increasingly severed from the land to its north, east, and south — that is, from the Israeli-occupied Arab Palestinian areas, the West Bank.
The roads leading in and out of Jerusalem to the Occupied Territories for years had small military check points — usually just a few armed soldiers to examine documents.
Now they’ve grown quite substantial. They increasingly resemble border control stations, and the military presence is enormously increased.
You see, for almost two years, Jerusalem has been closed to the West Bank. Anyone living in the Occupied Territories may not enter the city without a permit from the Israeli military authorities.

The permits are hard to come by, are issued after long waits, and are usually for a relatively brief period of time.
Why? Why this ring around Jerusalem?
Israel is firmly committed to freedom of access to the Holy Places for all — but because of its overriding concern for security, Christian and Muslim Palestinians in the Occupied Territories rarely if ever can visit and pray at the shrines in Jerusalem.
Jerusalem not only contains their major holy places, but also their main hospital and other institutions. All roads lead to Jerusalem; travel from North to South is extremely difficult without access to Jerusalem.
The closure of the city to the West Bank threatens religious practices, health care, education, and many people’s livelihood.
For Christian and Muslim Palestinians, Jerusalem is their heart also — they cannot live without it.
Israel and Palestine are like Siamese twins. They are joined at the heart, and they are inseparable. Cut them apart, one must die.
Both peoples must have security. Both peoples must have life.
The plight of Jerusalem reminds me of the children’s rhyme:

Ring around a rosy!
A pocket full of posy!
Ashes! Ashes!
All fall down!

 
Published in
Catholic Near East, 21:1, January 1995)

Georgia on My Mind

In response to an invitation extended by Mr. Eduard Shevardnadze, Georgia’s head of state, Cardinal Achille Silvestrini, Prefect of the Congregation for the Eastern Churches, led a small Vatican delegation to Georgia.
Other members included Msgr. Claudio Gugerotti, Official of the Congregation for the Eastern Churches; Father Angelo Brusco, O.S.Cam., Superior General of the Order of St. Camillus; Mr. Francesco Carloni of Caritas Italiana; and Msgr. Robert Stern, Secretary General of Catholic Near East Welfare Association.
The overall purposes of the trip were to call upon civil and ecclesiastical authorities and to make pastoral visits to representative small Catholic communities. A special purpose was to explore the feasibility of building a multipurpose health clinic in Tbilisi to be staffed by the Camillian Fathers and placed at the service of the people of Georgia in the name of the pope.

General Description

Georgia and its neighboring republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan, separated from Russia by the Caucasus Mountains, historically have been a frontier between Europe and Asia. A part of the Russian and Soviet empires since the 18th century, Georgia declared its independence again in 1990.
Covering an area of 26,900 square miles, Georgia has a population of 5,400,000 according to its 1989 census. Its capital, Tbilisi, has 1,300,000 inhabitants.
Descendants of ancient tribes, ethnic Georgians are unrelated to the Russians and other Slavs and make up 70 percent of the population. Over 80 other nationalities live in Georgia, including Abkhazians, Armenians, Ossetians, and Russians.

History

Known to the ancient Greeks as Colchis, the mythical land to which Jason voyaged to find the Golden Fleece, Georgia was conquered by Pompey in 66 B.C. and brought into the Roman sphere. It remained firmly allied with Rome for almost three centuries.
Georgia’s independence from Rome dates from the Roman recognition of Mirian III as the King of Kartli-Iberia (eastern Georgia) in 298 A.D. He became a Christian and made Christianity the official religion of his kingdom in 337. By the 6th century, Christianity was the state religion in Colchis (western Georgia) as well.
In 645, the Arabs captured Tbilisi and installed an emir there to rule in the name of the caliph. Arab rule weakened with the expansion of the Byzantine empire. By 1027 the Georgian kingdoms were a united and independent power in the Caucasus.
The Seljuk Turks from Central Asia defeated the Byzantines and controlled the area for 50 years. They were finally defeated in 1122 by the Georgian king, David the Builder. This victory ushered in Georgia’s Golden Age.
In the 13th century the Mongols invaded Georgia more than once and dominated it for over 100 years. After briefly repulsing Mongol rule, the Georgian kingdom was again invaded and conquered in 1386.
After repeated invasions and conquests by Mongols, Ottoman Turks, and Persians, the Georgian king sought Russian protection in 1783. Georgia was annexed by Russia in 1800.
In 1918, Georgia declared itself an independent republic, but in 1921 the Red Army invaded and it was once again annexed by Russia.

Political Conflict

After a declaration of Georgian sovereignty on 9 March 1990, elections were held in October. Mr. Zviad Gamsakhurdia, a historian, became the chairman of parliament. However he was accused of establishing a dictatorship and overthrown by a military coup in January 1992. Mr. Eduard Shevardnadze returned to Georgia from Moscow a few months later and was elected chairman of parliament and head of state on 11 October 1992.
In September 1993 bitter fighting broke out between supporters of Gamsakhurdia and the new government that continued until last November.

Ethnic Conflict: South Ossetia

South Ossetia is a small mountainous region near the Russian border, north of Tbilisi. Two-thirds of its 100,000 people are ethnic Ossetians, traditionally allied with Russia. Civil conflict started there in 1989. In 1990 the South Ossetians, then living in an autonomous region within Georgia, declared their land to be a sovereign republic. In December 1991 they proclaimed their independence.
After intense fighting, a cease-fire was signed in June 1992 and is still in force, although there is still no final resolution to the conflict.

Ethnic Conflict: Abkhazia

Abkhazia, a region on the Black Sea in northwestern Georgia, was originally populated by a distinct ethnic group, the Abkhaz, most of whom embraced Islam in the 16th century.
After the Bolsheviks took over Georgia in 1921, Abkhazia became a sovereign socialist republic. In 1930, it was reduced to an autonomous republic within Georgia, and Georgian immigration was encouraged.
The Abkhaz people and leadership felt their land was becoming Georgian and losing its identity. By August 1992, when Abkhazian separatists declared an independent republic, precipitating civil war, the Abkhaz numbered only 18 percent of the population; 46 percent were Georgian.
Presently there is an uneasy truce. Russia has asked the UN to approve its troops as peacekeepers in the area. As a result of the fighting, an estimated 150,000 Georgians and other non-Abkhazian peoples, approximately 30 percent of the total population of Abkhazia, fled for their lives. Almost 50,000 live as refugees in Tbilisi.

Social and Economic Conditions

Approximately 250,000 people, 4.6 percent of the total population of Georgia, are displaced due to the civil conflicts in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Most live in great poverty, having lost their lands and possessions when they fled for their lives.
With the demise of the Soviet Union, the economy of Georgia, as that of other republics of the former U.S.S.R., has collapsed. Previously a privileged Soviet republic, Georgia is now almost destitute.
Living conditions have deteriorated drastically. Uncontrolled inflation has made the scrip used as currency almost worthless.
The average monthly wage is about 75 cents. Meanwhile, the cost of food for a small family costs approximately $25 a month. Many people are reduced to selling or bartering their possessions for food.
Before the collapse of the centralized Soviet economy, Georgia had processing plants for mineral water and tea leaves, breweries, and silk and textile factories. Now most of the Georgian factories and plants are not in operation.
Reportedly, corruption is rampant and organized crime controls a black-market and much of the popular economy.

The Church of Georgia

The great missionary of Georgia is St. Nino of Cappadocia. Originally the church in eastern Georgia used the liturgy of St. James and was dependent on the Antiochene patriarchate, until it became independent in 467.
The church in western Georgia used the Byzantine liturgy. With the unification of the two kingdoms and the establishment of one catholicosate in 1008, the Byzantine liturgy was followed by all.
After Georgia was annexed by Russia, the Georgian catholicosate was abolished. From 1811 until 1917, when the Georgian church again declared itself autocephalous, it was administered by a special exarch of the Russian Orthodox Church.
During the Soviet period, both the Russian and the Georgian Orthodox churches suffered. Of the 2,455 churches open in Georgia until 1917, only 80 were open until just a few years ago.
Traditionally almost all Georgians are Orthodox, although, after 80 years of communism, the actual level of religious formation and practice is very low. In 1988 a new Theological Academy, or seminary, was allowed to be opened in Tbilisi. Under the leadership of the present Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, Ilia II, a renewal of the church has begun.

Catholics in Georgia

From the Middle Ages, Latin (Roman) Catholic missionaries proselytized Orthodox Christians in Georgia periodically. In 1329 a Latin bishopric was established in Tbilisi, which later lapsed. By the time Georgia was incorporated into the Russian empire, it had about 50,000 Latin Catholics in addition to scattered communities of Armenian Catholics.
During most of the Soviet period, the remnants of these Catholic communities were totally isolated and had no clergy to minister to them. Presently, there are two Latin Catholic priests caring for the one Catholic church open in Tbilisi, two Latin Catholic priests providing pastoral care to a few Latin Catholic villages, and two Armenian Catholic priests caring for the few Armenian Catholic villages in Georgia.
Three years ago the Holy See named an ordinary for Armenian Catholics in Eastern Europe, who resides in Armenia.
Last year the Holy See appointed an apostolic nuncio to Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia who resides in Tbilisi and also serves as apostolic administrator for Latin Catholics in the Caucasus.

Parish Encounters

In the course of our visit, Cardinal Silvestrini celebrated two public Masses in Tbilisi, one in Sts. Peter and Paul Church and the other in the convent chapel of the Missionaries of Charity. Enthusiastic crowds jammed both.
When the delegation visited the Armenian Catholic village of Shvilisi, it was greeted in the traditional way with two young people in traditional dress bearing bread and salt. Dozens of children lined the entrance to the village with flowers. An outdoor assembly of hundreds of persons organized by the two Armenian Catholic sisters working in the village awaited the group in the village center.
Afterward, Archbishop Nerses der Nersessian celebrated an Armenian liturgy in the church at which the cardinal presided. The local Georgian Orthodox bishop attended the liturgy and a festive meal that followed.
In the small Latin Catholic village of Arali, Cardinal Silvestrini celebrated a Mass on an improvised altar outside the village church. There were too many people to fit inside. Rapt, weathered faces of old folk who had endured long years without sacraments were fixed on the cardinal. The occasional showers did not dampen their enthusiasm, their heartfelt prayers or their glad songs.


(Published in
Catholic Near East, 20:4, July 1994)

Bright September

What happened on the White House lawn on 13 September? A “Declaration of Principles” was signed concerning the first steps toward limited Palestinian autonomy in the West Bank and Gaza. It was limited, relatively vague and carefully drafted to avoid most of the major, controverted matters.
Was that all that happened on that September day? No, what really happened — I believe — was one of those major turning points in modern history.
What really happened, with the mutual recognition of Israel and the PLO and with the handshake of their leaders, was the beginning of a hopefully irreversible process of peace.
Moralists speak of the tension between the ideals we hold in our hearts and the daily decisions we have to make in the flawed, limited human situation.
Too much swayed by the circumstances of the immediate situation, we may betray our ideals. Too idealistic, we may become either too demanding or too impractical. A mature choice successfully avoids both extremes.
Finally the Zionist ideal of a Jewish state and the Palestinian ideal of an Arab state — these two conflicting nationalisms — have found some way, admittedly a less than perfect way, to accommodate to the present reality.
Moralists also speak of the overriding importance of a fundamental option, referring to the basic orientation of our lives and hearts.
September in Washington saw a fundamental option for reconciliation and peace, even though a thousand challenges must still be faced.

The Bible gives us two different versions of the entrance of the ancient Hebrew tribes into the Promised Land.
According to The Book of Joshua, it was a rapid conquest. By a series of swift military maneuvers, the land of Canaan fell entirely into the hands of the children of Israel. This version seems almost to good to be true.
The Book of Judges tells a different story. The Israelites gradually settled in the land, living among and with the Canaanites and sharing the land with them for better or worse. This sounds more like what usually happens in history.
The September declaration suggests interpreting contemporary history more along the lines of Judges than Joshua. No one is going to conquer or be conquered; both will share the land for better or worse.
In the Middle East — in fact in most parts of the world — the arranged marriage is common. Sometimes the first glimpse the bride and groom have of each other is at the conclusion of the wedding.
Obviously they do not marry because of love. Love is what, hopefully, they will gradual learn as they live together.
Maybe that White House ceremony was a kind of arranged marriage between Jew and Arab, Israeli and Palestinian. For sure they have not come together out of love, but as they stay together perhaps they’ll learn its ways.
Thanks be to God for the day and its decision. May it bear much fruit!


(Published in
Catholic Near East, 19:6, November 1993)

When the Price Is Right

The first time I went shopping in Jerusalem was about 30 years ago. I vividly remember spending an entire afternoon in one shop, discussing quality, sipping tea, making and rejecting offers, feigning indifference and disinterest — in other words, bargaining, Middle Eastern style.
Usually it’s done like this: First of all, if you see something you’d really like to buy, never let on that you’re interested. After diverting the conversation to other matters, you cautiously may express some curiosity as to its price.
The seller probably will mention a figure at least double its value and his expectation. You, in turn, express an offer of no more than half of what it’s worth and what you intend to spend.
Then, the negotiations begin. It’s as much a match of wits and skill as any game of chess. The goal, of course, is to bring your opponent as close to your price as you can. The method is a series of reluctant compromises. The style, if you’re capable of it, is dramatic; the rhetoric, exaggerated and extravagant.
Of course, the whole exercise is futile if you don’t have a good idea of the thing’s value — both market conditions and what it’s worth to the seller personally.
In The Book of Genesis there’s a classic story of bargaining, which extols Abraham, the great ancestor of all the Semitic peoples. When God was about to destroy Sodom, Abraham interceded. He persuaded God to spare it for the sake of 50 innocent people, then 45, then 40, then 30, and then 20. Finally he persuaded the Lord to spare it for the sake of 10.
Abraham bargained with God and drove the price of Sodom’s salvation down!

Now, thanks be to God, Abraham’s children, with mixed mutual sentiments of hope and apprehension, finally have begun to talk to one another and negotiate solutions to their differences.
And, what are political negotiations but a specialized kind of bargaining?
It should be no cause for wonder, then, that their initial proposals to one another are impossible. No one really expects them to be taken entirely seriously. They’re meant to open the bidding — they ask for or demand far more than the proposer ever expects to settle for or receive.
As in all good bargaining, there may be exaggerated and extravagant rhetoric and dramatic contrivance and staging. But, behind it all, there is a mutual expectation of compromise.
The art and the skill of it, naturally, is to bring your opponent as close to your price as you can. In this match of wits and will, the style of the process may be as important as the result. Saving face sometimes becomes more valuable than success.
Of course, the whole exercise is futile if each does not have a fair idea of what the other can afford and is willing to pay.
Shopping seems much easier when you’re confronted with fixed prices — no hassle, no bother, no time wasted in bargaining. But, it can cost you a lot more, because you have no say about the price.


(Published in
Catholic Near East, 18:1, January 1992)

Half Loaves, Scraps, and Possibilities

“Syrian puppet!” shouted a small group of demonstrators outside Our Lady of Lebanon Cathedral last month. Inside, Maronite Archbishop Francis Zayek was welcoming President Elias Hrawi of Lebanon, in New York for a state visit to the United Nations.
The president, a Maronite Christian, sat before the altar with his wife at his side. He was also flanked by Prime Minister Omar Karami, a Sunni Muslim, and Speaker of the House Hussein el-Husseini, a Shi’ite Muslim. The three of them form a troika of leadership in their troubled land.
Just one year ago in a final, bloody attack and battle in Beirut 16 years of internecine and international strife in Lebanon came to a halt. Since then, this newly formed government of national unity gradually has been trying to establish some degree of sovereignty over the land of Lebanon
Most of the country is under the control of Syria, an unwanted occupier in the eyes of most Lebanese; in the eyes of some, a necessary presence to maintain order and stability. Much of the south is under the control of Israel, perceived by almost all Lebanese as an occupying foreign power.
The government of President Hrawi, trusting in the Ta’if accord, which enabled the present reorganization of the Lebanese government and provided for the gradual withdrawal of Syrian forces, is collaborating closely with Syria.
His critics accuse him of selling out his country; his supporters commend him for his practical wisdom and patient perseverance in seeking to restore Lebanon’s independence.
“Half a loaf is better than none,” the old saying has it. Is this, perhaps, a good description of President Hrawi’s policy?

Last spring I joined two small Lebanese organizations presenting a testimony before the United States House of Representatives’ subcommittee on the Middle East. They had invited public submissions regarding the 1992 foreign aid bill.
At that time about $7 million were proposed for Lebanon, in contrast to over $4 billion in aid to Israel.
I quoted the Gospel story of the woman from the region of Tyre and Sidon (that is, Lebanon) who begged the Lord for help.
“I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel,” Jesus told her. “It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.”
“Please, Lord,” she replied, “for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters.” And, with that display of faith, the Lord granted her plea.
My plea was for a more substantial scrap for Lebanon. (The appropriation subsequently was increased to $10 million.)
In Lebanon, in America, and everywhere, politics, as they say, is the art of the possible. Good politicians are artists of a special sort, knowing how best to pursue an ideal in the flawed and sinful situation which is the real world.
What can we do as believers but encourage them, for as Jesus taught us, “Everything is possible to one who has faith.”


(Published in
Catholic Near East, 17:4. October 1991)

Seeing Is Believing

That first Easter Sunday evening, when the “Doubting Apostle” came back to where the other disciples were, he totally discounted their testimony. He just couldn’t — or wouldn’t — believe that they had seen the Lord.
“Unless I see,” Thomas said to them, “I will not believe.”
A week later, unable to deny the evidence of his own eyes, he sought no further proof. Jesus gently rebuked him for being unbelieving. “Blessed are those,” the Lord said, “who have not seen and have believed.”
One swelteringly hot afternoon this past February, the jeep I rode in bounced over pot holes, scattering clouds of dust into the palm trees. We were in southwest India, the Malabar coast, Kerala — the “Land of Coconuts.” The jeep pulled into the compound of the 16th century church of Palayoor.
A porch outside the church shelters a great stone cross, surrounded by oil lamps. “From the time of St. Thomas,” the local pastor proudly pointed out. From the time of St. Thomas?
Near the present church, built on the site of a far older one, there are remnants of Hindu worship: a well for drawing water for sacrifice and a great tank, or pond, of water for ritual bathing. But, Brahmins in the neighborhood of Palayoor never use it. The locality is called Chapakad, the cursed place. Why? Because of a tradition that St. Thomas baptized some Brahmins there.
Thpmas, one of the Twelve apostles, here in this obscure corner of tropical India? My first reaction to all of this was, “I don’t believe it.”

Writing to St. Ignatius from India in 1549, St. Francis Xavier said, “There is a city called Cranganore where there are many Christians . . . descended from those made Christians by St. Thomas.”
St. Francis Xavier was not the first to allude to the Indian apostolate of St. Thomas. From the third century onwards many Church writers mentioned it.
Is this a plausible tradition? It was fascinating to learn about the existence of Jewish settlements in Kerala, even before the time of Christ. Six of the seven churches said to have been founded by Thomas are in these ancient Jewish colonies.
Palayoor itself was a marketing center. Jewish merchants used to buy pepper and other spices there for shipment out of the nearby port of Cranganore.
St. Paul journeyed to the scattered Jewish communities within the Roman Empire to preach the Gospel. Isn’t it likely that St. Thomas did the same outside it?
Is this proof? Of course not! But, what is proof after all? Proof isn’t just potsherds and papyrus fragments, shaped stones and seals. The immemorial, ancient traditions of a living people is itself strong evidence indeed.
Seeing the dynamic faith of the millions of Malabar Christians, deeply rooted in two thousand years of Indian history and culture, it’s easy to believe their unanimous testimony: Thomas first told us of the risen Lord.


(Published in
Catholic Near East, 17:2, April 1991)

Title Searches

Before buying land, it’s wise to have a title search made. A specialized company researches the history of that parcel of land to make sure that no others have valid claims on it.
A title search report in New York City may chronicle purchases, trades, and bequests going back to an old Dutch farm in New Amsterdam. Now, from where did that Dutch title come?
In 1626, Peter Minuet, director general of the Dutch province of New Netherland, purchased Manhattan Island from local Indians. Did the Indians have title to the island? Did they even think of ownership of land as the Europeans? Probably they thought in terms of using the land, not owning it.
We are governed by laws. But, if you go back far enough, at some point people acquired land without legal title. Perhaps the land was vacant, and they began to use and hold it. Perhaps they seized it from somebody else who was there first!
Many contemporary controversies concern land titles. Unfortunately, the news media usually aren’t much interested in title searches.
Take Kuwait, for example. In the early eighteenth century, members of the Anaiza tribe migrated to the area from central Arabia. In 1756 they appointed a member of their as-Sabah clan to act as administrator of their affairs.
Technically, Kuwait was part of the Ottoman Empire, although the Turks treated it as an autonomous entity. In 1899 the as-Sabah signed an agreement with Britain for British protection. In 1913, Turkey formally acknowledged Kuwait’s autonomous status.

After World War I, Turkish lands in the Middle East were divided up by Britain and France. They created new nation states and set their boundaries. That’s when and how modern Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan came to be.
To whom did Kuwait belong before the Anaiza tribe came? Was it vacant land or were other people living there? What was the basis for Ottoman sovereignty over the Middle East from 1517 to 1917? To whom does Kuwait belong now?
If you think that’s complicated, try searching the title to the land to the northwest. To whom does the Holy Land belong?
To the children of Abraham, because God promised it to him four thousand years ago? To the children of Jacob, heir of the promise? To descendants of other ancient peoples who lived there — Hittites, Phoenicians, Canaanites, Philistines, Ammonites, Jebusites, Moabites?
Is it the land of the Assyrians or the Babylonians, the conquerors of the ancient Israelite kingdoms? Of the Persians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Seljuk Turks, Crusaders, Mamluks, or Ottoman Turks that conquered the same land, each in turn?
On what basis did the League of Nations entrust Palestine to Britain in 1920? Or, the United Nations partition it in 1947? Or, Israel and Jordan rule it? Who have valid claims to that land now?


(Published in
Catholic Near East, 17:1, January 1991)

The Church in the Soviet Union

When Catholic Near East Welfare Association was established by Pope Pius XI in 1926, it was mandated to assist the people and churches of the Soviet Union. Until recently, there were very few opportunities to do so because of the political situation.
Under President Gorbachev’s innovative policies of glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring), direct communication and assistance to churches in the Soviet Union is now possible. On the occasion of his visit to Pope John Paul II in December of 1989, the suppressed Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church was allowed to begin to register its local congregations.
In response to the pope’s appeal for assistance to the churches of central and eastern Europe and the U.S.S.R, the National Conference of Catholic Bishops in the United States set up in May of 1990 an ad hoc committee for aid to these churches. During the summer months, three fact-finding missions were sponsored by the committee.
Because of Catholic Near East Welfare Association’s role and competence, as secretary general Msgr. Robert Stern was invited to serve as a consultant to the committee and to accompany the fact-finding visit to the Soviet Union.

Purposes

Catholics in the Soviet Union are concentrated in the western part of the country, with the exception of those internally displaced and exiled.
Our delegation visited those areas where a Catholic hierarchy is established. Our objectives included initiating contact on a national hierarchy to national hierarchy basis or at least on a bishop to national hierarchy basis; informing the bishops in the Soviet Union of the potential assistance from the church in the United States; making a very preliminary needs assessment; and setting up a mechanism for future communication.
Additionally, we planned to meet with the Russian Orthodox patriarch and Soviet officials.

Participants

The delegation was headed in Moscow and Lithuania by Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, Archbishop of Chicago. It was otherwise led by Archbishop John L. May of Saint Louis, chairman of the American bishops’ ad hoc committee and also a trustee of Catholic Near East Welfare Association.
Other members were Bishop Paul A. Baltakis, bishop for Lithuanians outside of Lithuania; Bishop Basil H. Losten, Exarch of Stamford; Dr. Francis J. Butler, president of FADICA; Mr. John Carr, secretary of the United States Catholic Conference Department of Social Development and World Peace; and Msgr. Stern.

Milan

Before going to the Soviet Union, we traveled first to Milan, to meet with the president of the Council of European Episcopal Conferences, Cardinal Carlos Maria Martini, S.J., and its secretary general, Fr. lvo Furer. In Milan, we also were briefed by the secretary general of Caritas Internationalis, Dr. Gerhard Meier.
They shared the assessment of leaders of the western European churches concerning the pastoral situation in central and eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. They also informed the delegation of their activities to date and future plans.

Moscow

Our visit began in Moscow. We were briefed by American embassy officials; received in formal audience by Alexei II, the newly elected Russian Orthodox Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia; and met with officials of the All Soviet Council for Religious Affairs.
At St. Louis Catholic parish, Father Franas Racijunas told us of his time in Siberia at forced labor as a coal miner. He used to offer Mass secretly in an unworked gallery underground during his daily shift. Now he celebrates publicly next door to the KGB headquarters!
After Moscow, we proceeded to visit four republics: Lithuania, Latvia, Byelorussia, and the Ukraine.

Lithuania

We flew to Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, on a regularly scheduled flight of the Soviet airline, Aeroflot. Much to our surprise we were escorted off the plane ahead of the other passengers. On the tarmac, a group of bishops in cassocks and young girls in traditional costumes greeted us with flowers!
We met with Archbishop Julian Steponavicius and celebrated Mass “privately” at SS. Peter and Paul Church with an enthusiastic crowd of worshipers that overflowed into the square outside.
In the crypt of St. Theresa’s Church, families remember their loved ones. A woman asked us to pray over her father’s remains, just returned from Siberia, where he died after 37 years of exile.
The next day we drove to Kaunas for festive concelebrated Mass with the archbishop, Cardinal Vincentas Sladkevicius, and the entire Lithuanian hierarchy. Later we visited the seminary and then met with all the Lithuanian bishops together.

Latvia.

Driving from Lithuania to Latvia, we detoured to visit the Hill of the Crosses. Thousands of crosses, large and small, studded the hillside – a testimony of faith, resistance, and national sentiment.
In Latvia, the delegation met with the two active bishops there, the apostolic administrator of Riga and Liepaja, Bishop Janis Cakuls, and the auxiliary, Bishop Vilhelms Nukss.
In Riga, the seminary is being rebuilt by the students themselves under the direction of one of the priests who is also an architect. All during the years of persecution, except for Lithuania, this one small seminary in Latvia was the only place to prepare Catholic priests for the entire Soviet Union.

Byelorussia

In the Slavic republic of Byelorussia we were the guests of the newly consecrated bishop of Minsk, Bishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz, the only Catholic bishop in Byelorussia. At that time we met also with and were briefed by the new apostolic nuncio to the Soviet Union, Archbishop Francesco Colasuonno.
The day before we arrived in Grodno, Bishop Tadeusz had just opened a seminary. Two weeks before, the authorities had given him back an old convent, long used as a government clinic. Immediately, hundreds of volunteers had spruced up part of the old building. It was hard to believe that the 40 serious young men studying had just arrived.

Ukraine

Of the 10 Greek-Catholic bishops in the Ukraine, our delegation met in Lvov with the senior prelate in the republic, Metropolitan Volodymr Sterniuk, the administrator of Lvov, and Bishop Ivan Semedi of the diocese of Ivano Frankovsk.
We squeezed into the 9-foot by 15-foot room in an old apartment block that Archbishop Volodymr has used for home, chapel, and office for the past 30 years, since he was released from prison. His space was tiny, but his heart is great!
Visits were also made to churches, seminaries, and other institutions suggested by the bishops.

Outcomes

The visit certainly achieved its objective of establishing a structure for formal communication with the Catholic Church in the Soviet Union. It provided an excellent introduction to the Church’s situation there at a unique and positive moment in its history.
The delegation was warmly and enthusiastically received by the bishops and, in the case of the public liturgies, by the faithful. Although the contacts were brief, they sufficed to orient us to the needs of each church and to furnish an accurate overview of the diverse pastoral situations and challenges.
One result of the visit is that Catholic Near East Welfare Association will formalize a procedure for assistance to the churches of the Soviet Union.
As soon as is practicable, we will extend our seminarian sponsorship program to the major seminaries in the Soviet Union, presently in Riga, Kaunas, Telsiai, Grodno, and Lvov. Also, an annual disbursement budget for pastoral and humanitarian projects in the Soviet Union will be initiated this year.

Catholic demographics

According to information received, the Catholic population of the Soviet Union may be as many as 12,500,000 persons – 500,000 in Latvia, 3,000,000 in Lithuania, 2,000,000 in Byelorussia, 5,000,000 in Ukraine, and 2,000,000 in Russia and Kazakhstan. Scattered Catholic communities exist in other parts of the Soviet Union as well.
The overwhelming majority of Ukrainian Catholics belong to the Byzantine rite; the rest are mostly of the Latin rite.
Any description of large segments of the population as Catholic necessarily refers to family background and nationalist sentiments. A pastoral reality is the general paganization of entire generations during the long years of doctrinaire atheism.
Because of its systematic repression for so many years, religion seems to have a certain fascination for the younger generation. Many are seeking information, religious formation, and baptism. There is need for programs of evangelization, even for “believers” themselves.

Soviet government religious policy

The vice chairman of the All Soviet Council for Religious Affairs – the agency previously charged with the promulgation of atheism and the repression of religion – and his staff met with our delegation in Moscow. An event in itself!
The vice chairman gave this appraisal: Before perestroika the Church was conceived of as a hindrance and obstacle to progress; now it is seen as a positive force in Soviet society. The Communist Party shares this view as well, but this does not mean there are not difficulties. It is not easy to quickly change attitudes and feelings after so many years.
He also commented that before perestroika it took years for religious communities to be registered; now there is no problem. Hundreds of buildings are being turned over to the churches, religious literature may be imported, and the Church may participate in the mass media.
Subsequent to the visit, a law on freedom of conscience was passed by the Supreme Soviet. Although it has some limitations, especially the maintenance of strict separation of church and school and no provision for the legal status of religious confessions as such (as opposed to local congregations of believers), it is a huge step toward ensuring religious liberty in the Soviet Union.
In recent Soviet public opinion surveys, religious institutions enjoy a high level of confidence and more trust than any other institutions. There seems to be a growing optimism among believers.

Challenges of outside assistance

There is an extreme diversity of pastoral situations and religious history in eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. Bishops in eastern Europe and the Soviet Union are glad to share information, but they are not yet ready to spell out their needs.
There are, of course, profound differences of mentality, the result of different experiences over many years. Secularization evolved gradually in the West, but was imposed in the East. Many bishops were named by the old regimes; many have little formal preparation.
Most eastern European bishops view the changes in western Europe during the last 40 years as undesirable (although they are probably inevitable in the East).
Bishops in the East may well seek to replicate the classic institutions of the past – e.g., Catholic school systems, hospitals, and newspapers – which have been found wanting by many in the Church in the West or have overtaxed its resources.
It is important that bishops’ conferences be formed where they do not exist, and that each country’s bishops set their priorities for assistance. It is important to develop overall pastoral plans rather than ad hoc projects.

Initial concerns of Soviet bishops

All are concerned about the need for the theological and pastoral updating of their priests and about the tremendous shortage of clergy.
At present hundreds of parishes do not have priests to serve them, and still many more churches are being returned to religious use by the government.
There is need for formation of candidates for the priesthood and for the opening or expanding of seminaries. Although skilled faculty members are lacking, there is a wariness about importing them from the West. There is an abundance of candidates, far more than can be accommodated.
As church buildings are being returned to ecclesiastical use, they need to be restored, refurbished, and staffed.
Traditional Catholic life needs to be regularized, and the baptized, to be evangelized. Bibles, catechetical materials, and religious literature are needed for all levels of society. Accordingly, communication tools are necessary, especially printing equipment and paper.

External church relations

The Holy See is concerned with normalizing relations with the U.S.S.R.; regularizing the condition of the Ukrainian hierarchy; ascertaining the Catholic presence outside of the Baltic states, Byelorussia, and Ukraine and making provision for pastoral care; and for ecumenical relations with the Orthodox.
Patriarch Alexei is deeply concerned that conflict between Orthodox and Greek Catholics in the Ukraine may profoundly damage overall Catholic-Orthodox relations. He admitted that the 1946 dissolution of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church was the result of political intervention, but he was concerned about the future of the existing Orthodox Church in the western Ukraine.
Greek-Catholics are repossessing hundreds of churches in the western Ukraine, as their formerly Orthodox congregations and, often, priests declare themselves Catholic. The ancient sectarian rivalries and resentment of Russian domination in the Ukraine have been aggravated by many years of injustice. Presently, the Greek-Catholic church seems more concerned for defense of its rights than for ecumenical relations with the Orthodox.


(Published in
Catholic Near East, 17:1, January 1991)