Conversely, Viaggio tra i cristiani d’Oriente is also a way of learning that minorities, the Christians in the East and the Islamic communities in the western world, question us about religious “otherness” that prevents the majority religion from claiming absolute primacy, and, hence cultural impoverishment. Pichon refuses however to establish a parallel between Christian minorities there and Muslim ones here (“Christianity has older origins there than Islam”): Furthermore, from his point of view as a believer, he lays claim to the importance of religious origins, and consequently hopes for honest confrontation between radicalisms, rather than politically correct dialogue, “I prefer a face to face on the truth rather than politically correct coexistence. Hence, I fear that to deny or even tone down the West’s Christian roots is not only a form of impoverishment, but suggests a form of neutral secularity with regards to religious matters that I consider impossible”.
What was the objective of this long journey among the Christian communities in the Near East? Did you intend to report on their situation, and portray a different manner of experiencing Christianity?
In the beginning I wanted to find a gentle and progressive way of abandoning the Arab world we loved so dearly, having lived there at length. A journey overland, by car, seemed the best solution compared to a far too quick journey by air. Later on, I also added the objective to prove that it is possible to travel across the Near East, sleeping every night in a monastery, and managing to speak of those Arabs unknown to the West; Arabs that the “clash between civilisations” does not consider worthy of representation.
What are the most important emergencies these communities have to deal with? Financial? Or political and cultural?
I deliberately chose the narrative form, that of a travel journal. Consequently I did not have an outline to follow. However I believe that the characters we encountered and the situations described in the book are sufficient for providing the right impression of the fear and alarm that exists among the Eastern Christians. First of all, it is necessary to emphasise that for a number of reasons their numbers are shrinking like the “skin of a shark”. First of all, their demographic dynamics are inferior to those of Muslims. Furthermore, these Christian communities emigrate more, because they benefit from ecclesiastic schools providing a good education. The economic situation in the Lebanon or in Syria, for example, obliges a person with a degree in medicine from Saint Joseph’s University in Beirut to choose between a miserable salary at home or a good job in France or Canada. This is the main problem, as the Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir told me when we travelled through Bkerké. The last reason, is that the shockwaves of radical Islam that trouble the region, from Egypt to Iraq, certainly do not reassure these communities. They tend to become second-class citizens and even have to justify their own presence in spite of the fact that their churches are autochthon!
Do you believe their situation has deteriorated?
Yes, I think it deteriorated immensely after the American invasion of Iraq, although in Palestine and Turkey this phenomenon is a very ancient one. In Lebanon and Syria they still have a few cards to play and are capable to a degree of influencing political processes. In Iraq, Palestine and Turkey instead, they are beginning to totally vanish, probably by the next generation, if not earlier. If this should happen, not having been capable of preserving their position within a country will result in the Arab world experiencing great remorse.
You describe the faith of these communities, explaining their roots and their identities, as well as the beauty of their monasteries and their monastic societies. Do you see these as a sort of original model of Christianity, desirable in a secularised western world?
The Eastern Christians are not better than us, but hold a mirror to their brothers in the West, who would do well to look in it. They constantly question us through their lifestyles and their majestic liturgies about the verticality and the meaning of symbolic meditation, which the West has angrily discarded, and consequently it is slowly dying. The sense of what is holy, the idea that one is reaching one’s objective (in this case God) by making changes, and deviations that are the beauty, the gestures and the loyalty to the past, is all to be rediscovered in the West, where “transparency” and chatter have killed all forms of spirituality, transforming them into trash. Furthermore, one cannot deny their courage in perpetuating their identity, while Europeans do not even dare acknowledge the Christian roots of their continent.
Don’t these populations also in some way remind us that Christianity is not a Western affair?
Yes indeed, it is good to remember that these Eastern Christians are the direct descendents of the Gentiles mentioned by Saint Paul, hence the very first people touched by the evangelical message beyond the original Jewish context. Therefore they need not justify their presence here in any way; even Islam comes after them, and until the tenth century they were also a demographic majority. These are evangelical lands and not those of the New Testament; Damascus in Syria, Zion, Tyre and Qana in Lebanon, Gadara in Jordan or Antioch in Turkey were initially travelled by Christ himself or by his first apostles, long before Naples, Rome or Lyons!
What relationship do these minorities have with Islam? Is it similar to the one here between Christians and Muslims? You speak of a silent coexistence, in which it is possible to live together without however speaking of theology or naming the Gospel.
I believe that Islamic-Christian dialogue must take place within the truth, at least out of respect for Muslims who have the virtue of focusing on the figure of God as absolutely impossible to circumvent. Preserving illusions of vague convergence is not good for anyone. That said, although in the East theological dialogue is little practiced and replaced by reciprocal polite respect, I believe that the people of Muslim origin present in Europe are totally different in their outlook. They, on the other hand, are the first to be amazed by our later repudiations. We need to establish an authentic dialogue based on compassion and on the Incarnation.
In the book you describe the pride and the dignity of these communities. Does being a minority provide them with greater energy and authenticity? Or instead does being a minority lead to radicalising of one’s position?
One often accuses the Eastern Christians, and in particular the Maronites in the Lebanon, of having “nationalised” their religion, and consequently of having confused earthly matters with heavenly ones. One cannot deny that these communities have needed and continue to need territorial and economic status, and hence a political one, in order to survive. In reality, when Arabism still existed as an ideology within the Arab world, they tended to allow themselves to be forgotten within the framework of a secular and, above all, Arab society. Now that political Islamism tends to impose itself, their position becomes untenable and they develop an identity-based reaction that is a places them at a disadvantage.
How is religious conversion seen in these countries? And what problems are there for those in mixed marriages?
The subject of conversions in general is a delicate one, because in many countries, such as the Lebanon, Egypt or Jordan, one’s religion is stated in one’s identity documents and hence one is guaranteed that one will be judged according to the laws of one’s personal status. Converting therefore above all, means upsetting civil and political order, and in the Lebanon in particular, this order relies on a delicate demographic balance. As far as conversion from Islam to Christianity is concerned, the problems are even greater, due to general condemnation from Muslim civil and religious society, where in theory abandoning Islam can be punished by death. That said, no country applies this law, but social, family and political death is guaranteed, when it is not Islamists taking charge of the matter. Mixed marriages instead are a problem at the heart of this matter; Islam authorises this, but only for Muslim men. Even if the bride remains a Christian,, she must bring up the children as Muslims. In practice, these marriages are extremely rare, and western women above all pay a high price in these situations.
In conclusion, what role could these minorities play in Arab countries? How important is it for a religion to have an “other” to have to address? Could this be a remedy for extremism?
In reality the extremism agitating the Muslim world is an internal affair in Islam. The real fracture is between Sunnis and Shiites. Christians have always played a cementing role between these communities, and thus their presence is even more necessary now than it was in the past, when they introduced modernity into the Arab world.
Do you believe that the Muslims are aware of this role played by Christians? And, vice versa, do we play the same role with Muslims in the West?
I do not think we can compare the Muslim minorities in Europe to the Christian minorities in the land of Islam, nor can we draw a parallel between them. Islam has never been autochthon in Europe, unlike Christianity in the East. Certain Islamic rhetoric does on the other hand play on this false similitude. However, the profound respect and the mainly peaceful and benevolent feelings of Muslim people towards Arab Christians is a reality, recently also mentioned by the Saudi Prince in an article entitled “The Arab world needs the Christians”.
Well then, what kind of secularism would you suggest for the countries in the Arabian Near East? Should we negotiate for French-styled neutrality, for a predominant religion (as in Italy) or for religious plurality as in the United States?
As far as religion is concerned, I believe that one will better accept and have oneself accepted by other denominations present in Europe, if we do not forget our Christian roots. The Italian model, which I do not however know in great detail, seems in this case more appropriate than a false neutrality that effectively cannot be achieved.
Translated by Francesca Simmons