Assyrian International News Agency AINA
Jan 24 2009
Demonstration to Be Held in Berlin in Support of Assyrian Monastery
Tens of thousands of Armenians across Europe are preparing for a huge
demonstration to take place in Berlin on Sunday — Women and married
men are to play a bigger role in France’s Catholic Church — A private
high school in Cologne takes special care of immigrant children —
Some ancient laws in Britain concerning inter-religious relations are
up for change
"Save the monastery of Mor Gabriel, save Christendom in Turkey" —
that is the slogan of a huge demonstration planned for Sunday,
Jan. 15, in Berlin. Its aim is to help safeguard the existence of Mor
Gabriel — also known as the Monastery of St. Gabriel — which is the
spiritual center of Syrian-Orthodox Christians in Turkey. Founded in
397, it is the oldest surviving Syriac Orthodox monastery in the
world. It is located on the Tur Abdin plateau in Southeastern Turkey,
the motherland of the Syriac people. Its main purpose is to keep
Syriac Orthodox Christianity alive in the land of its birth by
providing schooling and the ordination of native-born
monks. Throughout its long history, it has also provided physical
protection to Turkey’s Christian minority. The so-called "Action Mor
Gabriel" was founded by S.E. Mor Julius Dr. Hanna Aydin, the
Archbishop of the Syrian-Orthodox church of Antiochia in Germany in
November 2008. It unites six organizations, namely the Archdiocese of
Syrian-Orthodox Churches in Germany, the umbrella organization of Tur
Abdin, the European Syriac Union, the Federation of Armenians in
Germany, the Federation Survoye and the Central Council of Assyrian
Associations in Germany. The managing director of the "Action Mor
Gabriel" is Raid Gharib, a German citizen of Turkish descent. He is a
political scientist working at the university of Tübingen on a
Ph.D. entitled "Nation and identity of the Syriac Christians: The
quest for a feasible societal model."
The President of the French Bishops’ Conference André Vingt-Trois
launched towards the end of last year an unprecedented campaign to
recruit more priests. This must be, said the Cardinal, the daily
preoccupation of French churchmen and women. Even President Sarkozy
has said it is a problem for his country. There were 41,000 French
priests in 1965. There are half that number today. And now mass is
said never or very rarely in most country churches. Although there is
no sign that the Vatican is about to reform the celibacy rule or admit
women to the priesthood, it is allowing women and married men to play
a much bigger role — with potentially far-reaching consequences for
the future.
For young people in Germany with an immigration background, one of the
biggest challenges is preserving their cultural heritage, while still
preparing for life as adults in German society. Over the past few
years, a number of high schools have been set up with just that
challenge in mind. One of them is the Dialogue Private High School in
Cologne, which opened in 2007. Though its students are predominantly
Muslims, the school doesn’t see itself as a religious institution. The
school’s top priority is to give its students the chance to take and
pass the national college entry exams.
In Britain, a new attempt is being made to change ancient laws which
bans the monarch from marrying a Catholic. The Act of Settlement,
introduced by King William III in 1701 states anyone who marries a
Catholic cannot become king or queen. It also gives legal precedence
to male heirs in the line of succession, and it is these two aspects
that a British lawmaker wants to change. Dr. Evan Harris, from the
country’s third political party the Liberal Democrats says this
blatant religious and sex discrimination is outdated and must go.