Week of spiritual jihad for reconciliation: PRESS RELEASE 01/10/2011

Press release in conclusion of the 1 october 2010 about the

Week of spiritual jihad, through fasting, prayer

and sakina (God-inspired peace of the soul)

for reconciliation between the children of Mother Syria

at the monastery of Mar Musa al-Habashi

Monks and nuns of the monastery dedicated themselves, with friends and a number of visitors from the vast Syrian mosaic, to fast and prayer. We met daily in the church to read the Gospel, recite the Quran and meditate on a selection of texts about non-violent activism for reform, through forgiveness, through a dialogue based on brotherly reciprocal listening, through the acceptance of difference without conditions. A large number of friends (people and organizations) from around the world joined us in spirit, which made us feel deeply in communion and unity before God.

Fear, pessimism and division penetrate even into the heart of homes or monasteries. But, during these blessed days, we realized that we could succeed in communication between us, Arabs and foreigners, men and women, practitioners and humanists, opponents and supporters, only by refusing to consider ourselves the sole possessors of right opinions and patriotic virtues. The creativity that young Syrians show in communication and tolerance encourages us in our efforts.

We long for truth. We want to get rid of lies. What drives us on our path is our love for Syria and our confidence in its people. There will be no joy or success in our common social life, whether in the home or the country, if we continue to exclude the other by impairing his dignity, his goods, his liberty, his integrity or his quality of citizen.

We reject the spirit of confessional civil war, as well as armed struggle in all its forms. We believe that placing hope in an armed foreign intervention is a serious mistake. However, we believe in constructive solidarity among citizens of good will around the world. In "dialogue and reform", the first is impossible without true freedom of opinion and expression, which by its pluralism contributes to objectivity. The current situation calls for a spiritual solidarity from the human family as a whole, without falling into idealism or forgetting the risks of conspiracy. Similarly, reform will not succeed without respecting the citizens’ equal integrity, notably with the help of independent civilian coordination committees.

The sound of bullets prevails in the streets of the country, accompanied by the groans of the wounded, the detained, the missing and the hungry. What is left to us ? Only our vow of non-fanatism, non-slipping into personal interest. Only our perseverance in seeking God and brothers, right in the middle of this situation, so that the crisis is overcome, with the help of the Merciful. Amen.

The Monastic Community