One year after the bombing of St. Elias Greek Orthodox Church in Damascus, which killed at least 25 and injured over 100, the EWTN News portal reports on the aftermath through interviews with clergy and community members. The article presents a narrative of resilience, ecumenical solidarity, and spiritual hope—yet beneath this veneer lies a profound theological void, a refusal to confront the root causes of persecution, and a dangerous embrace of the very errors that have weakened Christianity in the Middle East for decades.
The Persecution of Christians and the Silence on Apostasy
The bombing of St. Elias Church is undeniably an act of barbarism, a satanic attack on those gathered for worship. Yet the article, while recounting the suffering of the faithful, omits any serious analysis of why Christians in the Middle East face such persecution. The answer, which the conciliar establishment refuses to utter, is that the ecumenical project—the very one praised in this article—has sowed confusion, weakened doctrinal clarity, and left Christian communities spiritually disarmed before their enemies.
Father Yohanna Shahada, the pastor of St. Elias, speaks of “hope born of prayer, faith, and the solidarity of the Church’s living stones.” But which Church? The Greek Orthodox Church is a schismatic body, separated from Rome since 1054, lacking the fullness of the sacraments and the guarantee of infallibility. The article makes no distinction between true Catholic faith and schismatic “Christianity,” treating all as equal members of a vague “Christian community.” This is the fruit of Unitatis Redintegratio, the conciliar decree on ecumenism, which equated heretical and schismatic communities with the one true Church of Christ.
As Pope Pius XI taught in Mortalium Animos (1928), the Church founded by Christ is one, visible, and identifiable—not a loose federation of competing “churches.” The ecumenical movement, which this article implicitly endorses, is a betrayal of the divine command: “One Lord, one faith, one baptism” (Eph. 4:5). The suffering of Syrian Christians is real, but it cannot be separated from the spiritual catastrophe of ecumenism, which has blurred the lines between truth and error, between the true Church and its counterfeits.
The Cult of “Prayer for Enemies” Without Justice
Father Shahada is quoted as saying: “The miracles we need are not born from anger or hatred. Those only deepen divisions. Prayer for those who harm us, however, opens the door to true transformation.” He invokes the conversion of St. Paul as a model. On the surface, this sounds pious. But stripped of its context, it is a dangerous distortion of Catholic teaching on justice, self-defense, and the duty of Christian states to protect the innocent.
Our Lord Himself drove the money changers from the temple with a whip (John 2:15). He did not “pray for those who harm us” while they desecrated His Father’s house. The Church has always taught that while individuals are called to forgive personal injuries, the state has a divine mandate to punish evildoers: “For he is God’s minister to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, fear: for he beareth not the sword in vain. For he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath upon him that doth evil” (Rom. 13:4).
The article’s emphasis on “prayer for enemies” without any call for justice, protection, or the defense of Christian communities is a hallmark of modernist sentimentalism. It reduces the faith to a passive, therapeutic spirituality, stripping it of its prophetic and militant character. As Pope Leo XIII wrote in Immortale Dei, the state must recognize the reign of Christ the King and govern according to divine law. The absence of this teaching in the article is not an oversight—it is a symptom of the conciliar Church’s abandonment of the social kingship of Christ.
Ecumenical Solidarity as a Substitute for Truth
The article praises the “solidarity” shown by various Christian communities, including the Greek Orthodox Patriarch John X Yazigi, Caritas, and the St. Ephrem Organization. This is presented as a sign of hope. But from the perspective of integral Catholic faith, this “solidarity” is a mirage. It is the solidarity of a sinking ship, where passengers from different decks gather on the same lifeboat—not because they have found the truth, but because they are all drowning.
The Greek Orthodox Church rejects papal infallibility, the Immaculate Conception, and other defined dogmas. It is a schismatic body, and its “patriarch” has no authority in the eyes of the true Church. To present his actions as a model of Christian leadership is to legitimize schism. The article’s failure to distinguish between true and false Christianity is not neutrality—it is complicity in the ecumenical lie.
Moreover, the involvement of Caritas—a post-conciliar charitable organization often entangled with secular and even anti-Christian agendas—raises further questions. Catholic charity must be ordered toward the salvation of souls and the glory of God, not merely the alleviation of temporal suffering. The article’s uncritical praise of these organizations reflects the conciliar Church’s reduction of charity to social work, divorced from the supernatural end of the Church’s mission.
The Restoration of a Schismatic Temple
Father Shahada expresses hope that the faithful will be able to celebrate the rededication of St. Elias Church next autumn. But what is being rededicated? A schismatic place of worship, where the sacraments are doubtful at best, and where the true Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is not offered. The article presents this as a triumph of faith, but from the perspective of Catholic truth, it is a tragedy—a community rebuilding a temple of error, while the true Church, where the fullness of the faith and the true Mass endure, is abandoned or unknown.
The bombing of St. Elias Church is a reminder that the enemies of Christianity do not distinguish between Catholics, Orthodox, and Protestants. They see only “Christians”—and they hate them. The ecumenical movement, by blurring these distinctions, has made it easier for persecutors to target all Christians indiscriminately. The solution is not more ecumenism, but a return to the uncompromising proclamation of the Catholic faith as the only true religion, outside of which there is no salvation (Extra Ecclesiam nulla salus).
The Absence of Christ the King
Perhaps the most glaring omission in the article is any mention of the social kingship of Christ. There is no call for the recognition of Christ the King over Syria, over the Middle East, or over the world. There is no reminder that the root cause of persecution is the rejection of Christ’s authority by states and societies. As Pope Pius XI declared in Quas Primas (1925), the peace of Christ can only be found in the Kingdom of Christ, and as long as nations refuse to recognize His reign, “seeds of discord” will continue to be sown.
The article’s narrative is one of passive endurance, not militant hope. It offers no vision of a Christian society ordered according to divine law, no call for the conversion of Syria to the Catholic faith, no reminder that the martyrs of St. Elias—if they died in the true faith—are seeds of the Church, not mere victims of terrorism. This silence is deafening, and it reveals the spiritual bankruptcy of the conciliar Church’s approach to persecution.
Conclusion: A Call to Return to Tradition
The bombing of St. Elias Church is a tragedy that should move every Catholic to prayer, penance, and action. But the response cannot be the tepid, ecumenical, naturalistic “hope” offered by this article. The response must be a return to the unchanging Catholic faith: the proclamation of Christ the King, the defense of the true Church, the rejection of ecumenism, and the call for the conversion of all nations—including Syria—to the one true faith.
As St. Pius X warned in Pascendi Dominici Gregis (1907), Modernism is the synthesis of all errors. The article’s emphasis on “dialogue,” “solidarity,” and “prayer for enemies” without justice or truth is a manifestation of this Modernist spirit. The suffering of Syrian Christians demands not sentimental platitudes, but the full, uncompromising light of Catholic doctrine. Only then can true hope—supernatural, militant, and ordered toward the salvation of souls—be restored.
“The peace of Christ in the Kingdom of Christ”—this is the only answer. Everything else is a distraction, a deception, or a betrayal.
Source:
One year after St. Elias Church bombing, Syrian Christians find strength in faith (ewtnnews.com)
Date: 23.06.2026