Houla, 29. May 2012
Mariyam al-Aadhra Church, Sulaymaniya-Iraq, 29 May 2012
Houla
Last Friday and Saturday, I watched with complete bewilderment the news. I asked myself sincerely if this is the same country that I have known for nineteen years and in which I lived ten years. Was it really the same country I left some months ago for my new mission here in Kurdish Iraq.
I have known Syria as a country with friendly people who love to drink tea or maté with each other, the land of profoundly religious persons who deeply respect the religion of their neighbors.
To our dear friends on the occasion of Easter 2012
Translation from Arabic
Easter comes after a year of untold suffering, unpredictable and unimaginable for most of us. Unfortunately, what we wrote on the same occasion a year ago still applies to the current situation of our unhappy country. At that time, we had expressed our solidarity with the victims of the conflict and our participation in the expectation of those who were hoping for a deep reform of Syria without falling into the logic of violence, and fearing the explosion of civil war and loss of national unity. Misfortune has reached us and we fear the worst.
Interview by Victor Edwin SJ
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2011
Mar Musa or Deir Mar Musa al-Habashi literally The Monastery of Saint Moses the Abyssinian is a monastic community Syriac Catholic rite, situated near the town of Nabk, approximately 80 kilometers north of Damascus. Paolo Dall’Oglio SJ is the leader of this community and Sebastien Duhaut is an inmate of the monastery. Both Paolo and Sebastien tell Victor Edwin SJ about the present situation in Syria for Jivan. Read interview...
Christmas call 2011
Dear brothers and sisters,
Peace, love, solidarity and reconciliation, from our Savior,
We deemed appropriate to write you about the service of reconciliation, because we consider it part of our sacred duty and charisma. We retain that, in the treatment of the current tragic situation, adopting any non-evangelical project or trespassing, for any reason, the ethnics of our Messiah, or the positions of his most pure Mother, or the tradition of the disciples and apostles in the original church, is forbidden to us.
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.
Call for a week of spiritual jihad, through fasting, prayer and sakina for reconciliation from Friday 23d to Friday 30th September 2011
Call for a 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, in the mountain of Nebek
from Friday 23d to Friday 30th September 2011
The Pope said about the situation in Syria on Sunday, 7 August 2011: "I follow with great concern the dramatic and increasing episodes of violence in Syria, which caused many casualties and great suffering. I invite the Catholic faithful to pray, for the efforts for reconciliation to prevail on division and resentment. Moreover, I insistently ask the authorities and the Syrian people to restore as quickly as possible peaceful coexistence, and to respond adequately to the legitimate aspirations of the citizens while respecting their dignity, for the sake of stability in the region. "
The Community of Deir Mar Musa al-Habashi in the mountain of Nebek wishes to dedicate eight days to fasting, prayer and sakina for imploring of God Almighty, Father of All Mercy, reconciliation between citizens, on the basis of a common option for non-violence as the only method able to ensure sustainable reform and to avoid the slide into civil war and the vicious circle of revenge.
A Democracy of Consensus for the Sake of National Unity
2011/7/25
Introduction
After discussions with Syrian friends about the future of the country and ways out of the current problems, I decided to offer the idea of a “democracy of consensus”. This, along with prayer and fasting, is my contribution to the constructive dialogue which is necessary to escape from the cycle of bloodshed and revenge.
Fast for peace
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صوم من أجل السلام،
Jeûne pour la paix, Fasten für den Frieden, Ayuno por la Paz, Digiuno per la pace, Fast for peace