THE
VISIT OF POPE JOHN II TO SYRIA HIGHLIGHTED THE
COUNTRY’S
CHRISTIAN HERITAGE
by
Habeeb Salloum
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Not many people in
the West associate Syria with Christianity.
Yet, historic Syria which for thousands of years included
the area comprising modern-day Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, Palestine
and Israel, is the land which saw the first glimmer of
Christianity. It was
the home of Jesus and the apostles.
Within the borders of this Greater Syria, Jesus was born
and performed his miracles - a fact which was emphasised in May
2001during the Pope’s visit to Syria.
In the last few years, the Syrian government has launched a
campaign to remind tourists that Syria is the Biblical Holy Land -
the birthplace of the Prophets. According to Syrian Tourist officials, the government is
seeking to highlight the country's rich Christian heritage,
reasoning that history in Syria is not only in books or confined
to museums, but is clearly visible to the eye.
The officials are fond of saying, ‘Jesus was born and
performed his first miracle here’.
Pope John Paul II
during his visit to this oldest city in the world highlighted the
Christian connection to Damascus.
During his stay, the Pope, along with Christian and Muslim
leaders, visited the Umayyad Mosque - the oldest grand mosque in
Islam. It was the
first time in history that the leader of the Catholic Church sets
foot in an Islamic mosque.
The Syrians have a point when they equates Greater Syria
with Christianity. Some
Biblical historians indicate that
the first miracle performed by Jesus, transforming water to
wine, occurred in Qana, a village now in south Lebanon. Saint Paul was transformed from a persecutor of Christians to
a Christian Saint in Damascus and the first churches in
Christianity are to be found in present day Syria.
On his way to Damascus to persecute the city's early
Christians, the Roman Saul of Tarsus was blinded just outside the
city by a light from Heaven. His companions following the direction
of a message from Christ led him by hand to The Street Called
Straight on which was located the House of Judas.
According to the story, God told the devout Christian Ananias
to go to this building and enquire for one called Saul. When Ananias
saw the blinded man he placed his hand on Saul's shoulder and said,
"Jesus hath sent me, that thou mightiest receive thy sight, and
be filled with the Holy Ghost".
Saul's vision returned and he was baptised Paul.
His conversion from an enemy of the Christian believers to
one of their greatest defenders has ever since been equated to a
dramatic change of faith.
From that era, there
remains the underground Chapel of Saint Ananias, located in Bab
Touma - the old Christian quarter in Damascus.
Called by the Arabs Kanissat (Church of) Hananiyah,
it stands about 5 m (16 ft) below ground and is presumably the
cellar of the House of Ananias.
Restored many times, it is the only early Christian house of
worship from the first century to survive in the city. A simple
structure consisting of two small rooms with bare stone walls, it
houses only an altar, some icons and a few pews. It represents the simplicity of the initial Christians and is
one of the earliest still standing churches where services continue
to be held.
From the church, it is
only a few minutes walk to Bab Keissan (Keissan Gate), or as it is
often referred to, Saint Paul's Window.
Legend has it that from this gateway, while fleeing from the
Roman soldiers trying to kill him, Saint Paul was let down at night
in a basket by his disciples. An
early church, now in ruins, once stood near this gate where it is
believed the basket landed. The historical significance of the
Window attracts annually thousands of tourists.
In Maloula, 40 km (25
mi) north of Damascus, the soft spoken priest of the Greek Catholic
Monastery of Mar Sarkis, speaks with pride of his church, claiming
that it is erected on the spot where the first house of worship in
Christendom was built. One
of the original stone altars in the Christian world - a modified
version of an earlier pagan sacrificial slab, is to be found in the
Monastery's chapel. Here,
the Lord's Prayer is still recited in Aramaic -
the language spoken by Christ, but only singularly known only
to the residents of Maloula and the two adjoining villages of Bakh`a
and Jub`adin.
Famous among the
Christians of the East, Saydnaya, 30 km (19 mi) north of Damascus,
is a 6th century convent dedicated to the Blessed Virgin.
Its tiny chapel, the most important of the holy spots in the
nunnery, has its walls covered with old icons of the Virgin and
other saints - a number painted between the 5th and 7th centuries.
Hidden away among these sacred paintings is the most
priceless treasure of the Convent - one of the four icons of the
Virgin attributed to Saint Luke.
Among the top sacred sanctuaries in the Orient, for Orthodox
Christians, Saydnaya follows Jerusalem in importance as a place of
pilgrimage. Its
popularity is augmented by the miracles which the Holy Virgin is
reputed to bestow on people irrespective of their religion.
Thousands from all parts of the world travel to this nunnery
seeking the blessing of Saint Luke's icon.
This is especially true among the eastern Christians.
For them to visit this Convent is relatively equivalent to
making a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
With this strong Christian connection to Syria, it s no
wonder that the Pope was pleased during his visit to that country.
He, like many in Syria, believe that Christian history still
lives in that ancient Biblical land.
As he is chaperoned inside the splendid Umayyad Mosque by the
Grand Mufti of Syria, Sheikh Ahmad Keftaro and the Greek-Melkite
Archbishop of Syria, Isidore Battikha, Syria’s religious tolerance
became much better known to the outside world.
Photographed in the Umayyad Mosque at the Tomb of Saint John
the Baptist - sacred to both Christians and Muslims - the Pope
highlighted Syria’s connection to the Christians across the globe.
Habeeb
Salloum
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