By CatholicVote | Created at 2025-01-17 22:16:09 | Updated at 2025-01-18 00:47:36
2 hours ago
CV NEWS FEED // In a recent interview with AsiaNews, Bishop Aldo Berardi shared insight from his perspective as Apostolic Vicar of Arabia on the interconnected and shifting political landscapes in Syria, Israel, Gaza, and Lebanon, as these countries have seen dramatic changes within recent months and even days.
AsiaNews reports that Syria is now under the rule of Abu Mohammed al-Jolani and the group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, which the U.S. designates as a terrorist group, as CatholicVote previously reported.
Bishop Berardi noted that the organization’s rise and the Bashar al-Assad regime’s fall in Syria created resounding effects throughout the Middle East.
He also stated that both al-Sham’s rise to power and Joseph Aoun’s election as President of Lebanon benefit Saudi Arabia.
Bishop Berardi stated that the Gulf monarchies, which consist of the countries of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), also see the fall of Assad as a positive development because it means a weaker Iran.
He also noted that many countries are pleased to see the weakening of Iranian proxy military group Hezbollah, which is located in Lebanon and has been involved in the Gaza-Israel conflict. The military group’s decline helped make it possible to unblock the stalemate in Lebanon.
The Bishop stated that it will be difficult to establish relations between Lebanon and Israel if Israel “continues to attack Gaza and suffocate the local population.”
He described Israel’s response to Hamas’ shocking attack as “brutal,” stating that it was “exaggerated and unacceptable,” and that Israel’s population is suffering from the conflict.
Bishop Berardi then commented on the newly reassumed relations between Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, and Tehran, the capital of Iran, which followed tension that occurred after a mob attacked the Saudi consulate in Iran in 2016.
Bishop Berardi stated that President-elect Donald Trump “will definitely [and soon] come to the region, as he did before to mend fences with Riyadh after the years of crisis with his predecessor Barack Obama.”
He also commented on the continued dialogues between Christians and Muslims in the Middle East, noting that Bahrain is an example of religious diversity and dialogue, which does not exist to the same extent in other countries.
“In the north we do not have the Abrahamic House (like in Abu Dhabi), but in Bahrain dialogue between faiths has been taking place for some time, promoted by the ruler himself, who wrote a piece on coexistence,” the Bishop noted.
He added that Bahrain is home to established places of worship for Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, and Buddhists, “a sign that there is room for other faiths.”
