Maronite priest brings message from Synod

Intermountain Catholic

+ Enlarge

Father Abdallah Zaidan (right), from Our Lady of Mount Lebanon in Los Angeles, joins Father Bill Bonczewski (second from right), pastor of St. Jude Maronite Catholic Church for vespers. Fr. Zaiden then spoke of the Synod he attended in Rome in October 2010.

MURRAY — Parishioners and clergy from the Diocese of Salt Lake City joined members of St. Jude Maronite Catholic Church to celebrate the 1,600th anniversary of their patron, Saint Maron, at an evening prayer service Feb. 9. They also gathered to hear a message from Father Abdallah Zaidan from Our Lady of Mount Lebanon in Los Angeles, who attended the Synod of Bishops in Rome Oct. 10-24, 2010.

Fr. Zaidan was appointed to participate in the Synod of Bishops for the Christians of the Middle East and chaired the translation of its documents to English. He also participated at the Patriarchal Maronite Synod held from 2003-2005.

Synods are about a specific topic for a governing body and were started by Pope Paul VI after Vatican II, said Fr. Zaidan, who was born in Lebanon and came to the United States in 1988. "The theme of this synod was the meaning of church and community as a witness to Christ in his message of love and peace," he said. "The Middle East covers the wide-spread areas of Iran, Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Cyprus, Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt, of which there are various groups of Catholics and each has its own bishop. The goal of the synod is to one day have one church fully united with the Pope of Rome."

Fr. Zaidan highlighted three messages from the synod. The first was Pope Benedict XVI’s description of a universal design of salvation. "The Church started with Christ and a small community of Christians united to the same God," said Fr. Zaidan. "We also must be united and in communion with one another."

The second message came as the synod opened on Oct. 11 in correlation with the opening of Vatican II 48 years earlier on Oct. 11, 1962. "Pope John XXIII entrusted the first council to the divine providence of Mary and Pope Benedict XVI dedicated the synod to Mary, the Mother of our Church," said Fr. Zaidan. "Mary gave birth to the Church with the birth of Jesus and by her presence at Pentecost with the disciples."

The third message from the synod is that all the bishops from the various countries became one in spirit, heart and soul as they prayed each day at the synod, said Fr. Zaidan. "We became united in faith, hope and in charity," he said. "Our mission is to promote freedom of religion and freedom of conscience."

Areas of discussion at the synod included terrorism, dictatorship, drugs and persecution, Fr. Zaidan said.

"These things are our responsibility, but we must not be afraid because God will be with us," he said. "The synod was successful because it created an awareness of the struggles for Christians in the Middle East. It created a communication between the bishops, which led to an understanding that people must be in communion with Christ through the Gospel. They are not to have weapons; they are to have peace. People from the Middle East living in the New World should keep it alive in their hearts and share their memories with the youth.

"Finally, we hope one day all people might embark on the road of conversion and be renewed through the faith of the Holy Spirit," said Fr. Zaidan. "Together we might have a change of heart. We are a monastic church called to come together to celebrate faith, hope and love."

"Fr. Zaidan’s talk gave me hope," said Lydia Sequeira, a member of Saint Ann Parish, who was born in Iraq and has been living in the U.S. for 15 years. "I came to hear his message because I feel that not all Americans know what is going on in the Middle East and it’s important to enlighten them about how Christians are a minority," she said.