{"id":14236,"date":"2016-05-18T06:25:00","date_gmt":"2016-05-18T06:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/the-suffering-of-syrias-christians-taught-him-how-to-be-a-priest-26980\/"},"modified":"2016-05-18T06:25:00","modified_gmt":"2016-05-18T06:25:00","slug":"the-suffering-of-syrias-christians-taught-him-how-to-be-a-priest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/05\/the-suffering-of-syrias-christians-taught-him-how-to-be-a-priest\/","title":{"rendered":"The suffering of Syria’s Christians taught him how to be a priest"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

<\/p>\n

Madrid, Spain, May 18, 2016 \/ 12:25 am (CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- Father Rodrigo Miranda is a priest from Chile. But it was in Syria, among the oppressed Christian community, that he learned what it really meant to be a priest.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey wake us up to the essential and important things in life,\u201d he told the Spanish daily ABC. The witness of the persecuted Christians in Syria is \u201can antidote for the mediocre and decadent world of our societies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fr. Miranda is a member of the Institute of the Incarnate Word. He lived in Aleppo, Syria from March 2011 until late 2014, when he was forced to leave the country. Hundreds of thousands of people have died in the country\u2019s ongoing civil war, while millions have been displaced from their homes.<\/p>\n

The war has affected church attendance in the outlying areas.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the weekends we used to have between 250 and 300 people, now we have 15,\u201d the priest said. \u201cMore people go to the churches in the center of town because they\u2019re more protected. Since we\u2019re a minority, we all know each other. We know by first and last name those who have been killed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though the war has changed life for Syria\u2019s Christians, their faith endures.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn all the years I was in Syria, I never heard one person complain against God. Just the opposite. They thank God every day,\u201d Fr. Miranda said. \u201cWhen they tell you the most terrible stories they always finish by saying \u2018But thanks be to God we\u2019re alive, we can come to church.\u2019 The Christians in the Middle East have a different temperament. Every time there\u2019s a bombardment, the church is filled up. I don\u2019t see sad faces, although that doesn\u2019t mean they\u2019re not suffering.\u201d<\/p>\n

He sees a contrast with the experience of Christianity in the West.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the West you\u2019ve got to put on a whole Hollywood style pastoral ministry to attract young people to the parish,\u201d he said. \u201cIn Aleppo many times the young people sat down to talk about what would happen if the Islamic rebels came into their neighborhoods to kill them. They asked me: \u2018Father, is it true that you\u2019ve got to give your life for Christ?\u2019 These were the things they talked about. I learned to be a priest in Syria.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Father Miranda, the Christian population in Syria has gone from 10 percent to just 2 percent because they\u2019re targeted not just by the Islamic State group, but also by the Syrian opposition.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Church in Aleppo continues to be very fervent, very devoted, with a lot of activity. We of the Latin Rite are a minority within the minority,\u201d the young priest said.<\/p>\n

The Catholic Church\u2019s different rites continue to supply aid, the priest said. And this is not just material aid, but rather, they act \u201ccontinually to offer hope.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Madrid, Spain, May 18, 2016 \/ 12:25 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- Father Rodrigo Miranda is a priest from Chile. But it was in Syria, among the oppressed Christian community, that he learned what it really meant to be a priest.<\/p>\n

“They wake us up to the es…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14236","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-middle-east-africa"],"yoast_head":"\nThe suffering of Syria's Christians taught him how to be a priest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Madrid, Spain, May 18, 2016 \/ 12:25 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- Father Rodrigo Miranda is a priest from Chile. 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