Routine Catholicism
In Jordan, as in most Middle Eastern countries, Catholics — and indeed all Christians — are the minority. But in general, their lives in a Muslim society are far more ordinary than Westerners, who see the Middle East only at moments of high drama, might expect. They carry on with the usual round of parish life and make their Catholic presence known by their work in hospitals, schools, and other institutions.
“We live in peace” with our neighbors, says Fr. Yacub Hijazin, the pastor of St. Joseph's. Born and raised in Jordan, Fr. Hijazin studied in Rome as part of his training for the priesthood. He now ministers to about 300 Catholic families in Amman, and oversees the K-4th grade school. Franciscan priests from Israel occasionally visit the parish to say Mass and provide pastoral support.
Fr. Hijazin's concerns for his parish are focused more on financial woes than political or interfaith tensions. “Our people are poor,” he says, and the church's resources are tight. How does St. Joseph's help? “We pray for them,” says Fr. Hijazin simply.
A few miles away, Chaldean Catholic priest Fr. Raymond Mousalli ministers to those poorer still — the Iraqi Catholics who flooded Jordan after the Gulf War. Thousands of families left Iraq for economic reasons and cannot document religious persecution, which they must prove to be granted asylum in Western nations. Caught in immigration limbo, many have waited years for visas.
Because the refugees also cannot obtain work permits in Jordan, Fr. Mousalli spends much of his time grappling with the effects of unemployment on his congregation. “Psychologically it's difficult — the [refugees'] emotions, the tension between wife and husband,” says Fr. Mousalli. He counsels troubled married couples, finds medical care for those unable to pay for it, and helps Iraqi children learn English in the hope that visas will come through soon.
A Universal Church
Fr. Mousalli began working with Iraq's Catholic refugees eight months ago. Born in Syria, he came to the priesthood in an unusual way — through a church-sponsored scouting group. There, scouts not only hiked and camped; they also learned about their religion. “I got my vocation through the Boy Scouts,” Fr. Mousalli chuckles. Now, he speaks proudly of the youth group, choir, and women's group at his fledgling parish.
Despite the exodus of the early 1990s, there are still many Chaldean Catholics in Iraq, says Jesuit Father Kevin George O'Connell. An American priest from Boston, Fr. O'Connell was sent to the Jesuit Center in Amman seven years ago, to minister primarily to the country's expatriate community of Catholics. Fr. O'Connell notes that an Iraqi Jesuit on staff of the Center continues to visit Baghdad to lead retreats. The Iraqi priest and a few other American and Middle Eastern Jesuits have occasionally been invited to teach courses at Baghdad's Chaldean Catholic seminary, where men continue to be trained for the priesthood.
Along with providing the sacraments to Jordan's English-speaking population, including thousands of Filipino Catholics, Fr. O'Connell ministers to some of the country's even more populous Sri Lankan community. Many of the Filipinos and Sri Lankans work as domestic help in Amman's wealthy and middle-class households. Though language can be an obstacle for some of his parishioners, it doesn't stop them from celebrating the liturgy. With the Sri Lankan Catholics, “I have occasionally said a Mass in English, while they responded in Sri Lankan,” says Fr. O'Connell. They also collected money to bring a Sri Lankan priest in for Christmas masses.
Giving Witness
As in countries worldwide, the Catholic presence in education here has a broad reach. Many Muslims educated by Jesuits in other Middle Eastern countries “see our small, discreet Jesuit sign [in Amman] and knock” to say hello, says Fr. O'Connell. Ibrahim AbdelHaq, a practicing Muslim who works as a tour guide in Jordan, remembers his time at St. John de la Salle College fondly. “It's the best school in Amman for boys,” says AbdelHaq, who attended St. John's from age 6 to 18. After shared classes in courses like biology and math, the students — the majority of whom were Muslim — went to different classrooms for religious instruction in either Christianity or Islam. But “sometimes I'd be in the mosque on Friday, and in church on Sunday,” he says.
Are attitudes like AbdelHaq's typical? Many experts say they are — in Jordan, at least. “The average Muslim on the street is more than tolerant of Christianity because the Christian traditions are integral to the Qur'an and the Islamic faith doctrines,” says Rami Khouri, an Orthodox Christian and former editor of the Jordan Times. Douglas Silliman, head of the political section at Amman's U.S. embassy, says Christians and Muslims in Jordan show “incredible respect and tolerance for each other's religions… My Muslim friends will talk to me about how Bible stories differ from the Qur'an, and vice-versa.”
Still, not all is rosy. In addition to problems caused by the Middle East's political volatility, tensions between the two faith groups are exacerbated by perceptions of Christians outside the region. “Some people here think all Westerners are Christians, and all Christians are anti-Muslim, anti-Arab — but that's not the case,” says Fr. O'Connell. One problem, says Khouri, is the U.S. media's pickup of louder Christian voices: “Most people here don't understand that leaders like [the Rev. Jerry] Falwell do not speak for all American Christians. This is why we have this cycle of extremism on both sides.”
Khouri thinks Christians living in the region could do more to defuse tensions. “They have not affirmed their potential role as intermediaries between the largely Christian West and the predominantly Muslim Middle East… this is a role Christians could play if they wanted to,” he says.
Despite economic problems and the shadow of violence, there is much hope among those working with the region's Christian communities. The challenge is for Catholics and other Christians to “give witness to the positive value of Christianity to their Muslim neighbors,” says Fr. O'Connell. As everywhere else, he says, in the end it's about Christians “being visibly good people.”
© Copyright 2003 Catholic Exchange. All Rights Reserved.
Laura Sheahen, who just returned from a pilgrimmage to the Holy Land, is the religion editor of Beliefnet.com.
