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Oldest Christian monastery in the world under threat
by Scott Gilbreath ~ January 26th, 2009
Saint Gabriel Syriac-Orthodox Monastery, located in Tur Abdin, south-east Turkey, is the oldest functioning Christian monastery in the world. It was founded in 397, but its survival is now imperilled by a series of lawsuits launched by Muslim neighbours who are seeking to have the monastery closed or deprived of its land.
[T]he future of the monastery and the Christian minority is threatened by a series of lawsuits against the monks and the prestigious religious institution. In August of 2008, the leaders of three Muslim villages around the monastery accused the community of proselytism, for having students to whom they can hand down the Christian faith and the Aramaic language. Their case has not yet been accepted by the Turkish court. But the village leaders are also asking that the monastery’s land be appropriated and divided among the villages; that a wall be knocked down that was built during the 1990’s (when the monastery was on the front of the conflict between the Turkish army and the Kurdish communist party (PKK)). According to the Muslim leaders, there used to be a mosque on the land where the monastery was built. “The accusation is absurd,” says David Gelen, leader of the Aramaic Foundation, “the monastery dates from 397 A.D., about 200 years before the prophet Mohammed and the construction of any mosque whatsoever. And yet the court has considered hearing the case.”
In the 1960s, about 130,000 Syriac Christians lived in Tur Abdin. Intimidation and persecution have caused most to flee to Europe. Today, only some 3,000 remain.
Nina Shea of the Hudson Institute’s Center for Religious Freedom sees the monastery as an example of the Muslim world’s increasing religious intolerance.
“An ideology of extreme intolerance is sweeping the Muslim world today. Even moderate Western allies, such as Turkey and Iraq, have turned an unwelcoming, indeed hostile, face to the Christians and other non-Muslims in their midst and driving them out. This is a problem, not only for the ancient churches but for Western geopolitics. It is an ideology of religious intolerance that undergirds jihadism. All of our leaders — East and West — need to recognize this and work to end it.”
Assyrian International News Agency has regular updates on the progress of the lawsuits, as well as a page of beautiful photographs of the monastery, whence the photo below.
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January 28th, 2009 at 09:39 PM
[...] you have a unique series of crimes against humanity and history. Ancient churches and graveyards and monasteries? Gone. Down to the foundations and beyond. We’re talking standing things, made to vanish by [...]