Eating cake with the Syrian-Catholic patriarch

So I’m sitting at the dinner table with three others, talking about the situation in Palestine, and what the churches might do. The talk is mostly in Arabic, I pick up what I can and smile at the rest. I go for dessert, a Garden of Eden table of luscious cakes, help myself, and return to the table, to find that the two people I know have left and I am about to have cake on my own with the Syrian-Catholic patriarch.

What do you talk about with a Syrian-Catholic patriarch? We ended up chatting on Arabic dialects and the Syrian-Catholic communities in Australia and Sweden. What I really wanted to ask him was: “How much are you willing to challenge your government on its treatment of Palestinian refugees?” But for a tiny minority in a squeeze, political involvement is a touchy subject.

For that very reason, the conference we were at was quite inspiring. The churches of the Middle-East, together with NGOs and churches from other regions, came together on the invitation of the World Council of Churches, to talk about peace and justice in the Middle-East. The aim is to bring churches together in a more forceful challenge of Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories.

The result was the Amman call, and the launch of the Palestine Israel Ecumenical Forum where advocacy and justice issues can be addressed. For Palestine’s Christians it will hopefully mean stronger support from sister churches – in the Middle East and elsewhere – who have long been quite reluctant to speak out on their situation.

Samples of patriarchs and bishops of Jerusalem,

calling for increased support from their sister churches.