At noon today, the Holy Father met with His Beatitude, Ignace Yousif III Younan, Patriarch of Antioch for the Syrians, who was accompanied by bishops and some of the faithful from the Syro-Antiochan community on the occasion of the annual Synod of the Syro-Catholic Church which took place in Rome from December 8 to 10.
Your Beatitude,
Your Excellencies,
Reverend Fathers,
Dear brothers and sisters!
I greet you most cordially and I thank you for your visit. Through you, I can extend my greetings to your community throughout the world, and express my encouragement in particular for those who are in Iraq and Syria, who are experiencing great suffering and fear in the face of violence. Along with these sentiments of solidarity and compassion, I assure you of my prayer.
To mark the occasion of your gathering in Rome, I have been asked permission to celebrate a Synod outside of your patriarchal territory. I gladly agreed to facilitate your meeting, which endeavours to recognize the pressing needs of your Church and to respond to the spiritual expectations of the faithful. In particular, you are on a journey of reforming the Divine Liturgy, in service to the Word of God, which should permit a new impetus of devotion. This work has required an intense appreciation for Tradition and much discernment, in order to appreciate how sensitive the assembly of the faithful is to the gift of the Word and the Eucharist.
The difficult situation in the Middle East has caused, and continues to cause, the displacement of the faithful to Eparchies of the diaspora, and this makes you face new pastoral challenges. It is a challenge: on one hand, to remain faithful to your origins; on the other, to be inserted in different cultural contexts, working in the service of the salus animarum and of the common good.
This movement of faithful to countries considered safer impoverishes the Christian presence in the Middle East, the land of prophets, of the first preachers of the Gospel, of martyrs and of so many saints, the cradle of hermits and of monasticism. All this obliges you to reflect on the situation of your Eparchies which are in need of zealous pastors and of courageous faithful, capable of witnessing to the Gospel in the midst of confrontation, which at times is not easy, especially with persons of different ethnicities and religions. So many have fled to take cover from an inhumanity that throws entire populations onto the streets, leaving them without means of subsistence. Try to coordinate your efforts with the other Churches to respond to the humanitarian needs, both of those who remain in the homeland and of those who have sought refuge in other countries.
Now, coming back to your Sees, you are heartened by this experience of communion lived near the tombs of the Apostles Peter and Paul; a communion that today finds particular expression here, in raising to the Lord, together with the Successor of Peter, a prayer of gratitude and of supplication.
I exhort you dear brothers to continue in your pastoral commitment and in the ministry of hope in service to the venerated Syro-Catholic Church. I greet with affection the faithful who accompany you, in which I see the different communities which they represent. I invite you to bring to all of them, the expression of my closeness and of my prayer to the Lord.
While I entrust each one of your communities to the protection of the Mother of God, of Saint Ignatius of Antioch and of Saint Ephrem, I impart to you, to your priests, to the men and women religious and to all the faithful, my heartfelt Apostolic Blessing, a pledge of the peace and the consolation of our All Merciful, One and Triune God.
Speech of His Holiness, Pope Francis
for the meeting with His Beatitude
Ignace Youssif III Younan
Patriarch of Antioch for Syrians
Your Beatitude,
Your Excellencies,
Reverend Fathers,
Dear brothers and sisters!
I greet you most cordially and I thank you for your visit. Through you, I can extend my greetings to your community throughout the world, and express my encouragement in particular for those who are in Iraq and Syria, who are experiencing great suffering and fear in the face of violence. Along with these sentiments of solidarity and compassion, I assure you of my prayer.
To mark the occasion of your gathering in Rome, I have been asked permission to celebrate a Synod outside of your patriarchal territory. I gladly agreed to facilitate your meeting, which endeavours to recognize the pressing needs of your Church and to respond to the spiritual expectations of the faithful. In particular, you are on a journey of reforming the Divine Liturgy, in service to the Word of God, which should permit a new impetus of devotion. This work has required an intense appreciation for Tradition and much discernment, in order to appreciate how sensitive the assembly of the faithful is to the gift of the Word and the Eucharist.
The difficult situation in the Middle East has caused, and continues to cause, the displacement of the faithful to Eparchies of the diaspora, and this makes you face new pastoral challenges. It is a challenge: on one hand, to remain faithful to your origins; on the other, to be inserted in different cultural contexts, working in the service of the salus animarum and of the common good.
This movement of faithful to countries considered safer impoverishes the Christian presence in the Middle East, the land of prophets, of the first preachers of the Gospel, of martyrs and of so many saints, the cradle of hermits and of monasticism. All this obliges you to reflect on the situation of your Eparchies which are in need of zealous pastors and of courageous faithful, capable of witnessing to the Gospel in the midst of confrontation, which at times is not easy, especially with persons of different ethnicities and religions. So many have fled to take cover from an inhumanity that throws entire populations onto the streets, leaving them without means of subsistence. Try to coordinate your efforts with the other Churches to respond to the humanitarian needs, both of those who remain in the homeland and of those who have sought refuge in other countries.
Now, coming back to your Sees, you are heartened by this experience of communion lived near the tombs of the Apostles Peter and Paul; a communion that today finds particular expression here, in raising to the Lord, together with the Successor of Peter, a prayer of gratitude and of supplication.
I exhort you dear brothers to continue in your pastoral commitment and in the ministry of hope in service to the venerated Syro-Catholic Church. I greet with affection the faithful who accompany you, in which I see the different communities which they represent. I invite you to bring to all of them, the expression of my closeness and of my prayer to the Lord.
While I entrust each one of your communities to the protection of the Mother of God, of Saint Ignatius of Antioch and of Saint Ephrem, I impart to you, to your priests, to the men and women religious and to all the faithful, my heartfelt Apostolic Blessing, a pledge of the peace and the consolation of our All Merciful, One and Triune God.
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