Meeting with Clerics in Syria

In order to develop a possible spectrum of opinions on the issue of civil security, we had arranged meetings with the heads of the most important religious groups in Syria: John X, Patriarch of the Great Antioch, Syria, Cilicia, Mesopotamia and the entire East, and with Ahmad Hassoun, Mufti of Syria.

As representatives of the generation of Poles who, due to geopolitical games, grew up in the conditions of economic sanctions, we understand well that civilians should never be anyone’s hostage. As far as credible it is to be, seeking a peaceful solution and de-escalating conflict in the region.

Both religious leaders agreed that under the control of President Assad, there is no reason to speak of religious persecution of any of the groups. Independently of each other, both clergy emphasized that the nature of this war was culturally foreign to Syrian society.
In their opinion, the horrors of war would never have existed, it not for the import of extremist ideologies and the play of external interests.
Realized at the expense of all Syrians, attacked primarily by foreign mercenaries from all over the world (including to a large extent from Western Europe).

The heads of both churches painfully felt the nightmare of war in their immediate surroundings. Patriarch’s closest associates have been kidnapped and there are no news about them yet. Mufti’s son, Syria, was killed by a bullet in the hands of his father, who was the actual target of the assassination. Ahmad Hassoun said on the day of his son’s funeral that he would forgive the killers if they brought the weapon he was killed on to his grave. It was a dramatic call for reconciliation and an end to the war. Weapons for the grave of Mufti’s son have not been brought to this day …

St. John Paul II reminded Poles in difficult times that we would never lose hope in divine mercy. This hope can be seen near the old Roman Gate in the old part of Damascus, by the road called „Prosta”, which two thousand years earlier traversed St. Paul. An Islamic mosque and a Christian orthodox church function in harmony there. In correlation to the words of their spiritual leaders, the faithful accidentally met near both temples definitely and spontaneously emphasized that they owe peace and security to President Asad.

„(…) We came to Damascus to see with our own eyes a safe, normally functioning, vibrant city. As a chairman of the team for intercultural and inter-religious dialogue, the second goal was equally important to me: I had to find out how religious minorities are treated. I saw the church and Muslims neighboring the mosque for four hundred years proudly showing the street that John Paul II was walking in, „said deputy Skutecki (https://wiadomosci.dziennik.pl/polityka/artykuly/584434,baszar-el-asad-grzegorz-schetyna-kukiz-15.html)