In
the wake of yet another Syrian massacre of civilians, including families being
shot at close-range in their own houses, the New York Times published a report in 2012 that claimed that Russian priests and theologians commiserated with diplomats
from Damascus at the opening of an exhibition devoted to Syrian Christianity in
a cathedral near the Kremlin. While it is understandable that the Kremlin would
not want to lose its “longtime partner and last firm foothold in the Middle
East,” it is perhaps less palatable for Christian prelates and doctors of the
Russian Orthodox Church to essentially look the other way on atrocities so the
Syrian Christians, many of whom are Orthodox, won’t be pushed under the bus in
a wave of Islamic fundamentalism that could be unleashed should Assad fall from
power. The Syrian Christians were reluctant to join the Sunni Muslim opposition
to Assad for fear of being persecuted by the Sunnis should they gain power.
The full essay is at "Russian Patriarch Helped Assad."
