The recent Maronite Synod was historical in every sense of the word. The first such Synod since 1736, it clarified the Maronite Church’s position on a number of crucial issues and also served to confirm its essential Arab identity.
The Synod was a step forward in relations between the Christian communities of Lebanon and Syria, which warmly welcomed its results. Sources in Damascus said that Syria wanted to prove to Bkirki its appreciation for the stance adopted by the Church during the Synod.
However, the sources added that any serious improvement on the Bkirki-Syrian track should be gradual, slow and sure, avoiding possible mistakes that undo progress that might be achieved.
These steps would ultimately lead to official contact between Bkirki and Syrian officials, but it is still too soon to predict when and what exactly it will involve, the sources said.
The Syrian sources said the Synod’s resolutions last Saturday reflected Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir’s wisdom and sound thinking and helped reinforce the respect Damascus has for the prelate. They said the Synod’s resolutions consolidated the patriarch’s image as a national leader in the eyes of Damascus.
A number of issues and points in the Synod’s final statement were behind this satisfaction, notably, the absence of a direct reference to Syria and its presence here.
Although the statement asserted Lebanon’s sovereignty, independence and liberty, as Bkirki has always done over the past decade, it did not call for a Syrian withdrawal.
This is a significant departure from the successive calls of the Council of Maronite Bishops in September 2000 and September 2001 for Syrian troops to be pulled out of Lebanon in accordance with the 1989 Taif Accord that ended the civil war a year later.
The church also emphasized its place in the Arab world and denied that it ever had plans for a separate Christian Maronite entity.
No Maronite Christian can dispute this statement because Bkirki is the supreme authority for Maronite Christians across the world and the patriarch, the head of the Maronite community, is the spiritual authority for all Maronites.
One of the Synod’s participants explained that this meant the Maronite diaspora, spread all over the world, cannot ignore the Synod’s decision.
Maronites live in many parts of the world, and some would argue that many Maronites were no longer truly Lebanese, and so those who were not did not need to follow Bkirki.
Synod sources said that the confirmation of Bkirki’s supreme authority at the Synod would help cut short any attempt to break away from the patriarchate’s control.
Sfeir indirectly referred to Bkirki’s authority in the homily he delivered right after the proclamation of the Synod’s resolutions. The patriarch asserted that Lebanon was the home of all Maronites, and is to the Maronite community what Rome is to Catholics.
Sources said this was an effort to clear up misunderstandings at last year’s World Maronite Congress in Los Angeles, during which a number of Christians adopted positions which contradicted the authorities’ official line and approved the US Congress’ bill to hold Syria accountable for its alleged support of terrorism and its occupation of Lebanon.
Last month, Sfeir said that he still wanted the Syrian troops to leave Lebanon but affirmed that the Maronites should not rely on US pressures in Damascus in this regard. The Syrians should leave Lebanon on good terms, he said.
Another significant development at the Synod was the presence of representatives from the Sunni, Shiite and Druze communities.
Sources at the Synod explained that this was to show that there was no hidden agenda in the Maronite Church, and that by inviting eminent Muslim figures to the Synod, the clergy wanted to prove that Bkirki shares the same national vision as the other communities in Lebanon.
The sources close to Damascus said that the Synod’s resolutions in general were outstanding, and considered them among the most important resolutions ever made by an ecclesiastical gathering, whether in modern history or in ancient times.
In addition to its results, Damascus sources also praised the extraordinary nature of the Synod. This Synod was the first in the Maronite Church for 267 years, and was attended by numerous high-ranking Christian spiritual leaders, among them four patriarchs, 36 Maronite bishops and more than 400 others, including the representatives of Muslim communities.
For Syrian officials, the Maronite Church has detached itself from the Catholic and Orthodox churches, through its strong and clear stands, particularly those favorable to the Arabs. In return, the sources said, there is a complete commitment on Syria’s part to make the patriarch feel completely at ease, on important issues or unimportant ones.
Damascus wants the patriarch to be comfortable even with the tiniest details, one of the sources said, adding that to further this goal, consultations were continuously under way between Syria and Bkirki.