PREFACE
Ancient Relations
between the Jesuits and the Arab Orient
It is known that Saint
Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556), the founder of the Society of Jesus, knew Arabs
and Muslims very well. Despite the repressive measures taken by Queen Isabel I
of
Spain
, towards the end of the
fifteenth century, by which she made Muslims in her country choose between
converting to Christianity and leaving, many of them stayed in old
Andalusia. In his personal memoirs, Ignatius related that
in one of his journeys, shortly after his conversion, he met a Muslim who
traveled with him for a while. They had a religious conversation that the Saint
did not like at all. Indeed, the Muslim made remarks about the Virgin that were
not appropriate in view of the veneration she deserves.
When the Society of
Jesus was created in 1540, it dedicated a large portion of its activities to
the service of the Arab Orient, Islam and Muslims. For example, in the
Roman
College
that Ignatius founded in 1551 and that, after ten years, became the most
important college in
Rome,
the Society started teaching Arabic and other Oriental languages. The Jesuits
set up a small printing house next to the College to publish a number of Arabic
texts for which Father Jean-Baptiste Eliano was responsible. The first was The
Belief in the Orthodox Faith as Taught by the Roman Church (1566) and the
second was a book addressed to Muslims that Eliano had most probably brought
from
Egypt
during one of his trips. It is entitled Spiritual Friendship
Between Two Scholars, the First
One Named Sheikh Sinan and the Second Ahmad the Scholar. This Friendship that
Started on Their Way Back From the Ka’ba Was Useful to All Muslims (1579). It is known that Eliano
wrote in Arabic or translated into Arabic about 8 other books.
When Pope Gregory XIII
decided to renew the brotherly relation between
Rome and the
Maronite
Church,
he sent Father Eliano as an ambassador who was experienced and had been in
charge of an embassy for the Coptic Patriarch; he was accompanied by Father
Thomas Reggio. This mission took place between 1578 and 1579. Eliano was then
sent to another embassy in
Lebanon
with Father Jean Bruno from 1580 to 1582.
After a few years, the
Jesuits went to
Egypt
and
Syria
where they founded monasteries and schools (1625: the monastery of
Aleppo; 1650: a school in
Aïntoura,
Lebanon
; 1697: a seminary in
Cairo). Ever
since the eighteenth century, they have written Arabic books in different
fields, whether spiritual, linguistic, literary, intellectual or school books. In their many pedagogical institutions, especially in the
university they founded in
Beirut
125 years ago (1875), they educate generations of cultivated people in
sciences, humanities and religion, and they encourage them to experience social
interaction.
Since the Society of
Jesus is a multinational community, its mission in the Orient includes members
from different countries. They all put aside their home countries to be in the
service of their new countries where they live the rest of their life with a
feeling of complete belonging, never leaving until their death.
The war that took place
in
Lebanon
between 1975 and 1990 entailed
the death of seven Jesuits, all not Oriental, in the land of the Cedars, while
they were fulfilling their duties, fearless, having refused to abandon the
country they were dedicated to.
Furthermore, most of
these martyrs worked in the university field and some were devoted to bringing
Islam and Christianity closer.
We shall present short
biographies about each one of these martyrs, these silent heroes, gentle and
faithful to God, to mankind, to the truth and to love.
CONCLUSION
Since the Society of
Jesus was founded in the middle of the sixteenth century to this day, i.e. for
about 465 years, it presented hundreds of its sons as martyrs who died
defending the truth and the faith in several areas, from
Japan
and
China
to Southern, Central and Northern America, through Africa,
Europe
and our Oriental countries. It seems that many of them, if not the majority,
were murdered on the foreign lands they went to, abandoning their most precious
belongings to share with others their living conditions, their sufferings and
their hopes. The best proof is that the seven martyrs that we saw die in
Lebanon
during
the last war were not Lebanese: five were French, one was Dutch and one was
American. The paradox is that none of their Lebanese colleagues was hurt, in
spite of the dangers that surrounded them and the damages encountered by their
institutions. This fact stands as a call for all our sons to be prepared to
give and even to die as a martyr for the others, all the others, wherever they
are. Didn’t the Christian scholar Tertullian (around 155-222) say, “Each
foreign land is a country for them”? Therefore, it is unacceptable to isolate oneself or to hide behind narrow frontiers because all men
are brothers. Our Oriental countries, that God chose to be the cradle of
civilizations and monotheistic religions, have a mission that constitutes the
greatest honor. Can they disregard this trust ?