News - Vatican - Catholic World Report

Reaching to the East
By appointing an Eastern-rite prelate to a post in the Roman Curia, Pope John Paul has underlined his determination that the Church should “breathe with both lungs.”

In a move that assures closer ties between East and West, Pope John Paul II nominated an Eastern-rite patriarch as the head of a Vatican Congregation on November 25. Ignace Moussa Daoud I, Patriarch for the Syrian Catholic Church—also known under the title Patriarch of Antioch of the Syrians—will replace Italian Cardinal Achille Silvestrini as prefect for the Congregation of Eastern Churches.

Cardinal Silvestrini, well known for his role as the right-hand man of the late Cardinal Agostino Casaroli in Vatican Ostpolitik efforts during the 1970s, and for his nine years (1979-1988) as the Vatican’s Secretary for Relations with States (in effect, the foreign minister for the Holy See), is stepping down at the age of 77.

The Congregation for Eastern Churches is the vehicle through which the Holy See monitors relations with the Eastern Catholic churches, which number about 20 different churches around the world and 17.4 million Catholic faithful. The nomination of Patriarch Daoud is seen as part of John Paul’s plan to raise the visibility of Eastern-rite Churches within the Catholic Church.

Patriarch Daoud is actually one of six Catholic patriarchs from the Middle East who preside over Eastern churches with their own liturgical traditions and autonomous ecclesial structures. All of these Catholic churches are in full communion with Rome.

A red hat expected
The new prefect is not the first Syrian prelate to be chosen for the post. In 1961 Pope John XXIII nominated Archbishop Gabriel-Acace Coussa, a Syrian from Alep of the Melkite Catholic rite, for the same position. John XXIII already knew Coussa well, as he had personally presided at his episcopal ordination; he named him a cardinal shortly after appointing him to the curial post. However, Cardinal Coussa died a few months into his mandate as prefect, shortly after the opening of the Second Vatican Council in 1962.

Patriarch Daoud was born in Syria on September 18, 1930. He speaks Arabic, French, and Italian. Ordained a priest on October 17, 1954, he eventually came to Rome to pursue higher studies. In 1964 he received a degree in canon law from the Lateran Pontifical University. On July 2, 1977, the bishops’ synod of the Syrian Catholic Church elected him as bishop of Cairo, Egypt.

On July 6, 1994, the Syrian Catholic bishops’ synod elected Bishop Daoud to the head of the archpatriarchate of Homs, Syria. Four years later, on October 13, 1998, the synod elected him as Patriarch of the Syrian Catholic Church and transferred him to Beirut, Lebanon—the seat of this Church. He received ecclesial communion from the Pope on October 20, 1998, and was consecrated and enthroned Patriarch on October 25, 1998. Two months later he made his first ad limina visit to Rome. As Patriarch, Ignace Moussa Daoud I became a consultant for the Pontifical Commission for the revision of the Code of Canon Law for Oriental Churches, and a member of both the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and the Congregation for Eastern Churches.

As prefect for the Congregation of Eastern Churches, Patriarch Daoud is expected to be made a cardinal in the next consistory. If so, he would become the second Eastern-rite patriarch to be inducted into the College of Cardinals, joining the 80-year-old Patriarch Nasrallah Pierre Sfeir of the Maronite Catholic Church, who resides in Lebanon. At this writing Patriarch Sfeir is also the only prelate from the Middle East in the College of Cardinals.

The Syrian patriarch was present in Rome a few days prior to his nomination, leading a group of Syrian Catholics who had come to celebrate their Church’s Jubilee. Patriarch Ignace met with Pope John Paul II privately on November 23, prior to the Holy Father’s meeting with the entire group of 200 pilgrims; it is likely that he heard the news of his nomination directly from the Pope.

After meeting with the Syrian pilgrims, the Holy Father told the assembled group that he knew of their frequent “difficult trials” as Christians living in the Middle East. “Tell your brothers within your dioceses,” he said, “that I am close to you in prayer and that I encourage you.” But in fact the selection of Patriarch Ignace Daoud as prefect for the Congregation of Eastern Churches, more than any verbal encouragement from the Pope, will help the Vatican deal with the delicate problems of Christians in the Middle East today.

Speaking their language
“Patriarch Daoud is someone from the Middle East,” said Professor Justo Lacunza, a priest with the French missionary order of the White Fathers who serves as the president of the Pontifical Institute for Arab and Islamic Studies. “He knows what he is talking about. He has an inner vision of the region. He speaks the language. He can help Catholic relations in the Middle East—even those apart from the Eastern rites.”

“The Middle East is the most difficult place for Christians to live in,” Father Lacunza continued. He explained:

It’s difficult because Christians are minorities. It’s difficult because of political situations, like the Palestinian-Israeli situation, where many of the Palestinians are also Christians, because of rigid positions coming from Muslim groups like Hamas, groups which want an Islamic state and not a pluralistic society. The Middle East is losing Christians who emigrate to the West not because they want to leave, but because conditions are so appalling.

The Patriarch would have a keen personal understanding of the hardships of Christians living in the Middle East. He became the archpatriarch of Homs, Syria in 1994, and lived there for four years. Under the dictatorial rule of the late President Hafez El Assad, who died in June of 2000, the nation was tightly controlled. Non-Muslims, including Christians, experienced problems exercising their rights as religious minorities. El Assad tolerated no opposition or criticism—a fact which became abundantly evident in 1982 when he had a large part of the city of Hama demolished in order to quell a nascent Islamic rebellion there; an estimated 10,000 people were killed in the massacre.
In the coming year, the Pope plans trips to several countries where the Eastern Christian tradition is dominant. He will visit Ukraine in June 2001 and Syria in May. The Vatican has confirmed his plan to visit Armenia, although the dates have not been settled. And talks are underway regarding possible papal trips to Greece, Turkey, and Malta. So Patriarch Ignace will have his work cut out for him. His Congregation will play an important role in briefing the Pope on the situation facing the Eastern-rite Catholics in all of those places; it will also have to be keenly aware of relations with the Eastern churches that are not in communion with Rome: the Orthodox churches. The Patriarch’s personal knowledge of Syria will be especially useful, of course, as the Holy Father plans his historic visit to that Muslim nation, whose long tradition of Christianity stretches back to the days when the communities there where evangelized by St. Paul.
As problems continue to flare up in the Middle East, and as the Catholic Church strives to assure the place of Christians in Muslim societies, and safeguard Christian holy sites in the region, while standing up for human rights and religious freedom, Patriarch Ignace Daoud is well placed to render an important service to the Church.

Appointments in Eastern churches

According to the Code of Canons for the Eastern churches, the Eastern-rite Catholic churches have the authority to choose their own bishops, from a list of candidates that has been approved by the Holy See. Patriarchs and archbishops for Eastern churches are elected by the synod of bishops in the respective churches, and must then request ecclesial communion from the Pope. The Pope’s extension of full communion indicates that the patriarch’s election is confirmed and the Eastern Church remains united with Rome.