“Oriental” Churches of Levant and Mesopotamia in Continuing Social Fragmentation

Abstract

In the present difficult circumstances in the Middle East, the position of the so-called Oriental Churches, which is united by the similarity of the liturgical language, the language of the patristic and historical heritage – Syriac, is indicative. The pre-Chalcedon faith confession of these Christians and their special Eastern church rites, despite the separation of the Uniate Catholic communities, gave them an identity that persists to this day. The fate of these ancient autochthonous Christian communities was formed not only in conditions of an alien and heterodox environment, but also in isolation, and even confrontation with the main branches of Christianity. Now, serious efforts are being made by them in the mainstream of the activities of world supra-church structures, primarily the World Council of Churches. A characteristic feature of these communities are relatively prosperous diasporal communities, which far exceed the number of co-religionists in their historical homeland, and therefore, an important part of the ministry of their church hierarchy has become diverse contacts with foreign dioceses. Moreover, against the backdrop of the rise of the national aspirations of the Kurds – their neighbors in the territories of historical settlement – the national argument often referring to the Aramaic or Assyrian origin is often used. The vulnerable position of the flock of these ancient but few communities in the Middle East forces them to seek material, and sometimes even political, support abroad. Russia is still using the resource of only inter-church relations, which once showed its inadequacy, but at the same time the development of cultural ties with these communities in their homeland, the financial recharge of these projects on a secular basis could also contribute to strengthening our country’s image in the Middle East. The implementation of cultural, scientific and educational initiatives to support “Oriental” communities could become additional direction for Russia’s fruitful participation in the fate of the region, could prevent fragmentation of the Middle Eastern societies, to improve the situation of these communities and to normalize interfaith relations in general.