 31 Maggio 2020NewsFlash of Antioch - MAY 2020
Even the month of May has passed in quarantine ... and it's not over. I have been asked from Italy how I have been living this time of pandemic. I gave a short summary which I am sharing with our readers. I must add that I have been busy and still am, writing down my memories of my vocation and missionary life in this country.
I still have a lot of work to do! It is not always easy. However, I am fortunate in having documentation from the period I spent in Izmir -such as the parish activity programs and a lot of photographs. I even keep a daily diary of Antioch, continued in The Chronicle of Antioch (1997-2019) and a good many captioned photo albums. I am really continuously surprised reliving these past events and encounters, many of which feel like they happened only yesterday! In addition, I have received help from a dear confrere in Italy, Fr. Oriano Granella, in the parts where my Italian is quite "barbarized" ... and "Turkishified”
Antioch (Turkey): the time of the Covid-19 pandemic
I have been asked to say a few words about how I have been living in Antioch during this time of pandemic. It certainly has seemed (and continues to be) like a long night of bad dreams in which I am both protagonist and spectator. In the beginning we heard about Corona Virus in China and then in Italy but always as something far away which didn’t affect us. Then, suddenly, the virus arrived in Turkey, disturbing a population of 80 million.
The virus was diagnosed first in Istanbul on 11th March and the first national measure was the closure of all schools including universities. Initially this was viewed as excessive and not taken seriously. Learning from the Italian experience, within 10 days the government had taken steps to restrict things further. Mosques and places of worship were closed down as were sporting events, hotels, restaurants and cafes. Travel by plane, train and bus was initially restricted and then travel was suspended entirely except for the most essential reasons.
From 21st March over 65’s were forbidden to leave home and this was extended, on 4th April to include children and young people under 20.
Though providential, these drastic measures have inflicted dramatic damage on an already weak and ailing economy. People have adapted. The Turks have a great sense of duty and respect for authority so they obey.
I have been experiencing enforced enclosure for about 2 months now. The only person who comes regularly is a lady who has been working in the church for 24 years, providing for the only resident – yours truly. Here we were in mid-Lent; Sunday Masses, catecheses and all formation meetings were suspended from 19th March.
However, the situation means I have had to adapt so as not to leave the faithful of this church alone. Every morning I send the Mass readings of the day to 100 WhatsApp addresses. On Fridays the Stations of the Cross and in May the rosary are streamed using Facebook, as is also the Sunday Mass on Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon. The 3 children (all university students) of the lady who works in the church, come and form a proper assembly including hymns! We spent the whole of Holy Week in this way. We asked all those at home to create a prayerful environment during the time of the celebrations by setting the dining table with a beautiful cloth and placing on it a cross, an icon, a candle and the Bible.
The latest news is that places of worship will reopen on 12th June, then the bishops will give us directives.
How have I personally been living this time? It’s been like a very long series of spiritual exercises and it’s not over yet. But I believe God speaks through history and in the events of daily life and sends us messages through them. Solitude, silence, being distanced from the chaos of every day gives us an important opportunity to reflect on the meaning of life and the dimension of faith.
My day has a timetable: in the morning the Office of Readings, Lauds, and Mass which some people always manage to attend. In the late afternoon there is reflection on the Word of the Mass of the day with the help of the Jerusalem Bible and concordances, then Vespers. Then I walk for a long time round the two gardens of the church. I feel lucky to have access to space and greenery when so many families are squashed together in small rooms.
The antivirus that sustains us is Prayer and the Word of God. Let us continue to draw on it with faith …and this storm will also pass.
May 1st. We begin saying the rosary every evening and broadcasting it on Facebook ... 15 to 20 of the faithful join us so we can pray to Our Lady together.
May 5th. Despite the quarantine we celebrate the birthday of Kristina, the eldest daughter of our domestic worker. She is the catechist of the children.
May 14th. We are in full Ramadan. I bring the Pope’s message for this occasion to the Mufti Hamdi Kavilloglu who is the head of all the mosques and Imans of our region. I also offer it to our readers .. On the occasion of the month of Ramadan - which began this year on April 23rd - and for the feast of 'Id al-Fitr 1441 H. / 2020 AD, the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue sent a greeting message to Muslims throughout the world from title: Christians and Muslims:From Competition to Collaboration.
This is the text of the Message, signed by the President of the Pontifical Council, Card. Miguel Ángel Ayuso Guixot, M.C.C.J, and by the Secretary of the same Pontifical Council, Rev. Mgr. Indunil Kodithuwakku Janakaratne Kankanamalage:
Dear Muslim Brothers and Sisters,
In his Providence, God the Almighty has granted you the opportunity to observe anew the fasting of Ramadan and to celebrate ‘Id al-Fitr.
The Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue appreciates the importance of this month and the great effort by the Muslims throughout the world to fast, pray and share the Almighty’s gifts with the poor.
Mindful of the gifts prompted by Ramadan, we join you in thanking the Merciful God for his benevolence and generosity, and we extend to you our heartfelt best wishes.
The thoughts we would like to share with you on this occasion, dear Muslim brothers and sisters, concern a vital aspect of relations between Christians and Muslims: the need to move from competition to collaboration.
A spirit of competition has too often marked past relations between Christians and Muslims, the negative consequences of which are evident: jealousy, recriminations and tensions. In some cases, these have led to violent confrontations, especially where religion has been instrumentalized, above all due to self-interest and political motives.
Such interreligious competition wounds the image of religions and their followers, and it fosters the view that religions are not sources of peace, but of tension and violence.
To prevent and overcome these negative consequences, it is important that we Christians and Muslims recall the religious and moral values that we share, while acknowledging our differences. By recognizing what we hold in common and by showing respect for our legitimate differences, we can more firmly establish a solid foundation for peaceful relations, moving from competition and confrontation to an effective cooperation for the common good. This particularly assist those most in need, and allows us to offer a credible witness to the Almighty’s love for the whole of humanity.
We all have the right and the duty to witness to the All-Powerful One we worship, and to share our beliefs with others, while respecting their religion and religious sentiments.
So that we may further peaceful and fraternal relations, let us work together and honor each another. In this way we will give glory to the Almighty and promote harmony in society, which is becoming increasingly multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multi-cultural.
We conclude by renewing our best wishes for a fruitful fast and a joyful ‘Id, and assure you of our solidarity in prayer.
May 15th. Video conference of the Cardinal of Bologna, Matteo Zuppi, with the Capuchins of Emilia Romagna, including Antioch and Jerusalem. He offers some reflections on a very current topic: "In the time of the Coronavirus" ...
Time of pandemic: kairòs
‘This time of pandemic, ‘ the Cardinal begins,’ is a kairòs, that is, a sign of the times that must take flesh in living the message contained in Pope Francis’s Evangelii Gaudium . It is necessary to pass from existence to history, to immerse oneself in the concreteness of life. Existence can be identified with our narcissism, our living time wasting it, while history is the reality that today tells us that for too long, as a Church, we believed we were healthy in a sick world. Although this virus has isolated us all, it has also very much united us. It has made us understand that we are all in the same boat and that the time has come to know how to listen to and read the questions of the other and this is not easy for us, because we often talk about one thing and people are thinking about something else; they are thinking about the concrete problems of their lives. The experience of the virus has made us see how we have lived up to now, and still live, using spirituality as a tranquilizer! This is no longer allowed: we must enter history confronting the real questions of life.
Having a sense of history
The question we have to ask ourselves is this: Do we continue to live as before (saying- Sooner or later, fortunately, everything will go back to how it was) or do we start again from here? The answer is clear: we have to start from here, from this new situation. We have a sense of history that questions us and that we cannot escape and that expects an answer from us. We need to start again from the essence of the Gospel which is summed up in the search for the meaning of life. We are used to having a program that underlies our choices and actions. This ‘program’ which, after what we have experienced, can no longer be the starting point: first we must live what is needed , the program will follow. And what are the profound needs of today? They basically have two names: future and hope.
Future: new language and new solidarity
The pandemic gives us great possibilities for the future. First of all, it invites us to reformulate our language: do not immediately close down conversations with sure, dry answers. Do not want to find an answer at all costs, but leave room to live the fatigue of reconstruction. In this regard, not being able to celebrate and eat the Eucharist has led us to rethink eating the Word! Let's not forget about this too soon. Poverty is another reality that must challenge us: we begin to see the fruits of suffering, the despair of people who lose their jobs; this must push us to look for a new solidarity (We are all in the same boat! We are with you and you are with us). In the journey of rediscovering the value of solidarity beyond the Gospel, re-reading and reviving the values of the Italian Constitution can be a good help.
Judgment! This is how some read the moment we are living ... Forget that! It is important to grasp the signs that come to us from the Gospel. The passage relating to the tower of Siloam (Lk 13: 1-9) invites us to a conversion of our pastoral and missionary activity.
Hope: look up
A second invitation that the Word suggests to us is - look up! We begin to look far beyond our gardens, we begin to work for the world. There are many pandemics. Let's not stop at Covid: this one has only popped the soap bubble we have been in and asks us to look at the many "pandemics" that still exist in the world: hunger, wars, poverty, etc. We are not asked to do more than we already do and to add other things, but we are asked to learn how to do the things we need to, to rediscover the essentials! And what is needed is to answer the questions that come from the hearts of men. It is not a "return to abnormality", because normality (even if we did not understand it) was our problem. We need to rebuild in a better way, with joy, find what really matters and free ourselves from what makes us waste time and prevents us from living history.
Rethinking and rediscovering Mass
The lack of the Eucharistic celebration, of which there has been a lot of talk, has taught us fundamentally that the Mass must be rethought, rediscovered, lived better, as today we risk falling into ritualism and not talking about it anymore.
A new beginning
And now we start again, we are in the middle between closing and opening; it is the beginning of a new opening and the big risk is that of presumption, of going back to being distributors of securities ... We need to keep in mind that fear is a strongly present reality and which we must gradually get rid of, and to do this requires a journey- prayers and speeches alone are not enough .(Il Coppo. May 2020. Capuchin Emilia-Romagna monthly newsletter)
May 23rd. The Capuchins of Turkey meet via Skype ...
May 23rd. The Ramadan Fasting ends, but the holyday is only marked in the family. For 4 days there is a total curfew ... The streets are completely deserted!
May 28th. The catechists from Italy give a catechesis on Pentecost to the neocatechumenal communities of Antakya, Istanbul and Izmir via ZOOM ...
May 29th. Today is the anniversary of the Conquest of Constantinople, capital of the Eastern Roman Empire. The Ottoman Turks, led by Sultan Muhammad II, conquered the city on Tuesday, 29th May 1453, after about two months of fighting. The mosques have been opened (the date is suspicious!) and prayer is allowed in the courtyards ... with a promise from the President that it will very soon also be possible in Aghia Sophia.
May 31st. The Orthodox Church has opened for worship -though with many restrictions .. then Communion is distributed using a single spoon! They say that the Body and Blood of Christ does not contain the coronavirus ...
Catholic churches, according to the directives of our bishops, will open on June 14th. From the latest news, in our region, in the last 20 days, there has been no case of Covid-19. Six police chiefs from various Turkish cities come to visit our church ... the first visit in 2 and a half months.
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