Closer Cooperation between SUA and SOCA & Your 29th anniversary
Dear Holiness, the Patriarch of the Syriac Orthodox of Antioch and All the East,
We refer to the recent visit (15‐20 August, 2009) by our official delegation of the Syriac Universal Alliance (SUA) to the Saint Ephrem Monastery in M‘arrat Saydnaya.
Again we wish to express our utmost gratitude to You and to His Excellency, Mor Philoxenos Mattias Nayis, for the warm hospitality we have been privileged to receive from You and all the monks.
In spite of Your busy agenda, You honored us considerably by enabling us to discuss certain matters with You that concern the past, present and future relationship between the Syriac Universal Alliance and the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch (SOCA).
As discussed with You, the main purpose of our visit was to strengthen the relation with our church and to receive Your blessings and prayers for the work SUA is doing for our people.
In addition, we set up fruitful meetings with two Syrian Government Ministers and the Grand Mufti. From these, and other state officials, we have received a lot of understanding and support. We can now delightfully proclaim, by the grace of God, that what we have achieved was beyond our expectations and a huge success.
To summarize, the three core points that we discussed with Your Holiness were as follows:
1. Relationship SUA and SOCA
It is obvious to say that the past relationship between SUA and SOCA has not always been the most illustrious. Most of the time, we were closely cooperating with each other, but at other times we had unfortunately grown apart from each other. This was often due to a lack of mutual communication and understanding about each other’s difficulties, problems, views and decisions.
Thanks to Your sincere willingness to communicate openly, and our strong desire to do the same, we were able to completely remove all our previous misunderstandings. Your Holiness, we introduced You to the face and vision of the “new SUA.” We were delighted that we understood each other perfectly well in order to usher in a new era of close cooperation between SUA and SOCA. We expressed our strong determination to learn lessons from our past relationship and to grow closer to our beloved Church.
2. SUA’s mission and unique position among our people
SUA is well acquainted with the history of our people. Our church fathers rightfully chose the Truth of the Gospel, but at the same time they remained proud of their pre‐Christian Aramaic cultural heritage. We also hold our beloved Aramaic language in grandeur, which is a Biblical language and which has been sanctified by our Lord Jesus Christ and His apostles.
Because we know our history, we are able to recognize and appreciate the significant role that our churches and monasteries played throughout the centuries in the preservation of our ancient Aramaic (Syriac) heritage. In fact, without these holy institutions, the SUA and most of our people would never be in this privileged position they are in today.
Your Holiness, the SUA mission is clear: “We, the Syriac Universal Alliance, shall answer the call to protect and secure the Rights, Liberty and Equality of the Aramean (Syriac) People, safeguard and promote the Cultural Heritage of our ancestors, ensuring Justice, and uniting all our People as an independent and internationally recognized Aramean (Syriac) Nation.”
As You are aware, SUA is the primary worldwide umbrella organization representing the various Aramaic (Syriac) national federations. As shown to You, SUA is a socio‐political and cultural organization that works transparently and on a democratic basis. We are a widely acknowledged voice of the Aramean (Syriac) people. And in fact, SUA is the only Aramaic‐ speaking Non‐Governmental Organization (NGO) in Special Consultative Status at the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. All these qualities place SUA in a leading role in our great Aramaic (Syriac) community. I know that You equally treasure our standing.