by Dario Salvi

The apostolic nuncio in Damascus - who turns 80 next January - is among the cardinals called to choose Bergoglio's successor. Despite the war and violence, he has never left his diplomatic mission or the Christian community. The ‘poverty bomb’, the tragedy of sanctions and the issue of the disappeared, which also affects the Syrian Church.

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - ‘I have tried to live with Christians, I have experienced so much suffering, I have tried to participate in this suffering and share it, a pain that extends to the whole of Syria’ and its people ‘to whom I feel very attached. A catastrophe, an enormous tragedy, what my eyes have seen and my heart has felt, something terrible and profound, impossible to express.’

Thus spoke the apostolic nuncio in Damascus, Cardinal Mario Zenari, a long-time Vatican diplomat, told AsiaNews in July 2022 about his years of mission in Syria, a country ravaged by war but which he never abandoned even in the darkest phase of the conflict.

‘At the same time, I have seen and experienced so much solidarity, I have experienced the suffering of so many children who are the first and main victims of this conflict. Hope remains, hope never dies, that one day or another,‘ he continued, “we will see the end of this tunnel.’

In a country devastated by violence - internal unrest, civil war and regional and global conflict by proxy - and shaken by what the cardinal himself called ”the bomb of poverty, which claims more victims than war,’ millions of people are suffering from hunger. And in a situation of enormous need - almost 90% of the population lives below the poverty line - Christians have experienced ‘what John Paul II called the “fantasy of charity” with various initiatives and projects: from food to water to medical aid.’

One example above all is ‘Open Hospitals’ with two facilities in Damascus and one in Aleppo, which in less than five years have provided free care to more than 80,000 poor patients of all ethnicities and religions. ‘When charity is open to all,’ he said, ‘there is much gratitude among non-Christians, because it becomes a meeting point.’

Cardinal Mario Zenari was born on 5 January 1946 in the province of Verona, in northern Italy, and entered the Scaligero Episcopal Seminary, where he attended middle and high school.

After completing his studies in philosophy and theology, he was ordained a priest on 5 July 1970. He moved to Rome in 1976 for diplomatic training at the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy and a degree in canon law at the Gregorian University.

In 1980, he entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See, serving in Germany (where he witnessed the fall of the Berlin Wall), at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

On 12 July 1999, John Paul II appointed him Apostolic Nuncio to Ivory Coast and Niger, then in 2004 to Sri Lanka; on 30 December 2008, Benedict XVI transferred him to Syria.

Pope Francis elevated him to the rank of cardinal in the Consistory of 19 November 2016 and appointed him member of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches.

In recent years, Cardinal Zenari has been a staunch supporter of peace and the sending of humanitarian aid, raising his voice to denounce the grave suffering of a population reduced to starvation and to call for the entry of humanitarian aid.

The cardinal drew attention to the difficult situation of Syrians, especially children, whom he described as those who ‘pay the highest price for the conflict.’

His repeated appeals, together with those of Pope Francis, who has often mentioned ‘dear and tormented Syria,’ have been a hallmark of his work and mission. In particular, he mentioned the ‘bomb’ of poverty that ‘kills hope.’

Cardinal Zenari also criticised international sanctions since the time of Bashar al-Assad's regime, now in exile in Moscow after the advance of HTS (Hayat Tahrir al-Sham) rebels who seized power in Damascus and now control much of the country.

With regard to the political and institutional crisis, the cardinal has always supported an ‘intra-Syrian’ solution, while recognising the challenges posed by external influences and actors.

Among the unresolved issues, repeatedly raised by the nuncio, is the question of the disappeared, which also affects the Christian community and the Syrian Church.

The most notorious cases, whose fate is still shrouded in mystery, concern Fr Paolo Dall'Oglio, the Roman Jesuit and founder of the community of Deir Mar Musa al-Habashio, and the two bishops of Aleppo: the Syriac Orthodox Yohanna Ibrahim and the Greek Orthodox Boulos Yaziji.

The last traces of Fr Dall' Oglio led to Raqqa, at the time a stronghold of the ‘Caliphate’ in Syria. A charismatic figure in Islamic-Christian dialogue, the priest disappeared on the night between 28 and 29 July 2013 after entering the ISIS headquarters for a meeting and to plead for the release of several hostages, including Christians, held by the jihadists.

A few months earlier, on 22 April 2013, two bishops were kidnapped who, according to some witnesses, were negotiating the release of Fr. Michel Kayyal and Fr. Maher Mahfouz, who had been abducted in February of the same year. When they reached a checkpoint, their car was flanked by armed men who shot and killed the driver.

Speaking of Fr Paolo Dall'Oglio, Cardinal Zenari emphasised that ‘in addition to his memory, he leaves behind a monastery [Mar Musa] that he brought back to life from ruins, restored with great skill and expertise.

And then there is the community he founded: although reduced in number, it continues in his spirit of interreligious dialogue and is still today a destination in the mountains that attracts pilgrims and faithful.’

‘His courageous voice is missing,’ explained the cardinal, “which probably bothered some people.” The issue of “disappeared” persons has been raised repeatedly by the Syrian Church, while the UN General Assembly has approved the creation of an “independent body” with the unfulfilled goal of shedding light on the 100,000 (and more) people who have disappeared.

The prisoners and the disappeared ‘must be freed or their families must be given reliable information. There are almost 100,000 of them, and each one,’ concluded the cardinal, ‘has the right to know what happened to their loved ones.’

• Conclave