By Msgr. Noel C. Burtenshaw

When you talk to the Patriarch Maximos V. Harim about Lebanon, his brown eyes become particularly bright and alive. That nation, so sorrowful and wounded over the past 10 years, is home for over a quarter of a million of his people.

“Do you know,” says the Patriarch, who was visiting his Melkite Catholic parish in Atlanta, “that Lebanon is only about the size of Los Angeles. It is merely 6,000 square miles in total area. That is very small. But it has seen so much suffering over the past few years.”

The Patriarch, who is the Melkite Catholic leader of all the East, has been involved in that suffering and the effort to bring a solution too.

“There are two forces at work,” says the alert and multi-lingual leader. “First you have the political which includes the Christian and Moslem factions. Then you have the religious. We, the religious leaders, have come together and have had good results. We have urged the politicians to keep the talks going.”

The Patriarch has hopes but he sees possible disaster. “Lebanon could be partitioned and that would be awful. Syria will not leave until Israel does. And while Israel will pull back in the south towards its own border, it will not leave. So we live and hope.”

The Patriarch has also witnessed the plight of the Palestinian and speaks most sorrowfully about their situation. “When we speak of the Palestinian we must distinguish between the PLO and the poor refugee. In Lebanon today there are 400,000 refugees who are homeless living in camps. Without food from the U.N. they would starve. These people must be given hope.”

The church leader feels he knows what must happen. “The Palestinian needs a homeland, even a small area of land on the West Bank. There are a million Palestinians in one small area there but Israel will not concede any homeland to them. There must be a concession.”

“Just consider,” the Patriarch continues, “the Palestinian people are growing twice as fast as the Israelis. Awful things could happen. There must be more concessions.”

Patriarch Maximos was born in Egypt. He had five brothers and sisters. His father was a merchant. Today his Melkite people are spread all over the world. They are a half a million strong in the Middle East. Brazil has 300,000; the U.S. has 100,000. While he is called the Patriarch of Antioch, Alexandria and Jerusalem, his residences are in Beruit, Damascus, Cairo and also Jerusalem.

“I have a bishop in each place and I visit them and the people constantly. I have not been to Jerusalem in recent years but I plan to go next year. You know, 20 years ago there were 40,000 Christian Arabs in Jerusalem, today there are less than 10,000. They feel like second class citizens under the Israelis so they don’t stay. The Holy Shrines in Jerusalem will be mere museums if this continues. Pope John Paul is very concerned about it, too.”

The Patriarch and his bishops minister to many different kinds of parishes in the Arab world. “Some of our parishes want married clergy and to these we give married priests. Others, and that would be most, want celibate clergy and so we ordain non-married for those communities. It has always worked well. It has been our tradition for many centuries.”

“In the U.S.,” continues the Patriarch, “I have promised Pope John Paul I will only send priests who are unmarried. But the scene is changing in America. Now Anglican (Episcopal) priests are coming into the Church and bringing their wives, so there is change taking place.”

Does the Patriarch see a change in the legislation of the Latin Church on priests being married. “Oh yes,” he says, “it will change but not soon, in time but not any time soon. Perhaps we can be an example in the Melkite rite. We ordain married men but not single priests who are ordained. Perhaps it will be like that.”

Patriarch Maximos lives at present in Syria. “We have good relationship with the authorities,” he says. “At one time we could not have schools but now we can. Assad has good ties with the nations of the East but he needs to get arms from them for his own protection. He would like better relations with the U.S. but America is one-sided; it sides all the time with Israel.”

When asked about Christian freedoms in the Syrian Moslem society the Patriarch said, “We are free to do anything we wish in Church but not outside. So we cannot have clubs that function outside church. In our churches we are free.”

Patriarch Maximos, who is 76, celebrated the sacred Liturgy for the Melkite community of St. John in Atlanta. He told the pastor, Monsignor William Haddad, and the people that perhaps this was the “last time” he would be with them and asked them to “pray that love wold return to the people of Lebanon. We need to be united again so pray for love among us.”

After the Liturgy, which was attended by Archbishop Thomas A. Donnellan and some Atlanta clergy, the Patriarch was warmly received by Monsignor Haddad, Melkite rite priests from other regions and the people of St. John's parish on Ponce de Leon Avenue.