“God, in his inscrutable love, shaped you and set you apart with the indelible mark of a particular election to his service. [. . .] You have chosen to resign from your office as patriarch of Antioch of the Maronites in this special circumstance, and I accept your free and magnanimous decision as an expression of great humility and profound detachment. I am sure that you will always accompany the journey of the Maronite Church with your prayers, your wise counsel and your sacrifice.” On his return trip to Beirut, after presiding over the ceremony of installation of the statue of Saint Maron in the last unoccupied niche in the northern façade of Saint Peter’s Basilica, the patriarch let it be known, indirectly, that the Maronite patriarchate would not be left vacant for long.
The date for the conclave of the Maronite Church to choose a new patriarch should be announced shortly in order to take advantage of the presence in Rome of the 40 or so Maronite bishops from around the world and thus spare many of them the tiring and expensive trip to Lebanon.
Under the Canon Law of the Eastern Churches, the election of a new patriarch must be completed within two months of a vacancy. On this occasion, the Maronite Church has opted for speed.
The conclave to elect the new patriarch should be convened within ten days at the latest.
It will be presided by the longest serving bishop in a non-stop session.
The process should include three ballots.
In case of a draw, the law allows for the intervention of the Holy See.
Speculations
Much speculation has whirled around Lebanon concerning Patriarch Sfeir’s so-called “resignation”, a term that is both inappropriate and too political.
Circles hostile to him claim that the Holy See pushed him to quit because of his political views. This is not what Benedict XVI’s letter says.
The latter speaks instead of “a free and magnanimous decision”.
This said, it is clear that Patriarch Sfeir’s 2000 appeal helped the movement opposed to Syria’s 30-year stranglehold over Lebanon grow until Syrian troops pulled out after the assassination of Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
Since then, the patriarch’s hostility towards Syrian political meddling in the internal affairs of Lebanon has not changed, which earned him the hostility of pro-Syrian circles, Maronites included.
The head of the Maronite Church has expressed in particular his hostility to the virulent campaign launched by Hizbollah and led by its Christian ally, General Michel Aoun, against the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, which has been tasked with shedding light on the assassination of Rafik Hariri.
In fact, repeated leaks would suggest that Hizbollah officials were involved in the attack.
Notwithstanding concerns over the political division caused by Syrian interference and Hizbollah’s aggressive politics, backed by the only armed militia left since the end of the civil war (1975-1990), Patriarch Sfeir’s decision to resign is due to age.
In just over two months, the head of the Maronite Church, who was born on the same day as Pope John Paul II, will be 92 years old.
It is normal he should envisage handing over the patriarchal mantle to a younger man.
A precious service to the Church
The patriarch emeritus was elected on 19 April 1986.
Therefore, he is not very far from celebrating the silver jubilee of his service.
His long mandate was marked by a close relationship with John Paul II, who made him cardinal on 26 November 1994, so as “to bring him into a deeper communion with the Universal Church,” as Benedict XVI said in his letter.
“John Paul II’s visit to Lebanon in May 1997 to sign the post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation, “A New Hope for Lebanon,” marked the new close tie of his Church to Peter’s successor.”
Seen in Lebanon as a spiritual blueprint to rebuild war-damaged Muslim-Christian relations, the Exhortation was followed by the patriarchal synod of the Maronite Church (the equivalent of a council).
Faithful to the Maronite Church of Antioch and conscious of the need for a new evangelisation, the synod gave the Church a chance to plan the renewal of its structures.
At the same time, it allowed the Church to engage in some soul-searching into Maronite responsibilities during the civil war.
In order to emphasise the value of Patriarch Sfeir’s service, Benedict XVI appointed him vice president ad honorem of the special Synod for Catholic Churches of the Middle East, which was held last October.
Last but not least, the patriarch presided over the ceremony of the installation of the statue of Saint Maron on the northern façade of Saint Peter’s Basilica at the end of the jubilee year that marked 1,600 years since the death of the founding saint of the Maronite Church.
War and peace
“Your noble ministry as Patriarch of Antioch of the Maronites began in a time of war, which brought bloodshed to Lebanon for far too much time. It is with a burning desire for peace in your country that you led the Church and travelled the world to console those of your people forced to emigrate. At last peace has come, fragile but always present,” said the Pope in his letter to Cardinal Sfeir.
If we read between the lines, we can see what worries the Holy See.
As much as he acknowledges that a fragile peace has come to Lebanon, the Holy Father remains concerned that the transition from war to peacetime has been accompanied by large-scale emigration of Christians, not only from Lebanon but also from the entire Middle East.
Similarly, the Holy See would like to see an end as much as possible of the hostility of segments of the Christian population towards the Maronite Patriarchate.
These imperatives will guide the advice the Vatican will offer the electors who will choose the new head of the Maronite Church.
The next patriarch must be a man of peace who can bring together everyone. In light of today’s historical circumstances, he will face an Arab world in turmoil.
Archbishop Edmond Farhat, the apostolic nuncio to Lebanon, has described such circumstances as a “revolution of the spirit” and “the expression of a desire for freedom and emancipation, a thirst for truth and justice, a thirst for transcendence, a thirst for Jesus Christ.”
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