Syrian Catholic leader angry after Rome covers nude statues

The leader of the Syrian Church has criticised Italy’s decision to cover nude statues during the visit of Iran’s president, saying it pains persecuted Christians in Syria who feel forgotten, reports the Religion News Service.

Feb 04, 2016

SYRIA: The leader of the Syrian Church has criticised Italy’s decision to cover nude statues during the visit of Iran’s president, saying it pains persecuted Christians in Syria who feel forgotten, reports the Religion News Service.

“This is our culture. If you don’t want to see it, close your eyes!” an exasperated Patriarch Youssef III Younan told journalists in Rome.

The head of the Syriac Catholic Church was speaking two days after ancient nude statues were covered by staff at Rome’s Capitoline Museums in a bid to avoid offending the Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani.

The move by officials in Rome to cover the statues during Rouhani’s visit sparked an outcry in Italy and was viewed as a step too far to accommodate the leader of Shiitemajority Iran.

The Syrian patriarch’s criticism took on a religious and international dimension as he argued the decision by officials in heavily Catholic Italy troubled by Christians trying to survive in war-torn Syria.

“This gives a lot of pain to us Christians who have remained … seeing our brothers, who are ready to forget everything for reasons of humanitarian interests, or opportunism,” he said during a talk in Rome about the persecution of Christians in the Middle East.-- RNS

Total Comments:0

Name
Email
Comments