Mary Kenny
Pope Francis greets Syrian refugees he brought to Rome from the Greek island of Lesbos. It has come to my attention – that’s to say, I admit of my former ignorance – that the Church has had a Syrian Pope. He was Gregory III and he came to the seat of Peter in 731, ruling for ten years.
He sounds like a good egg: he was an “able and eloquent priest”, according to Kelly’s Oxford Dictionary of Popes, he restored beautiful churches, deplored iconoclasm, and supported the missions to evangelise northern Europe, notably St Boniface in Germany. He also forbade the consumption of horsemeat.
The last policy was, evidently, not a success in France or Belgium, but it was surely a commendable one. Not all his political decisions were wise, but he was dealing with warring Lombards, Byzantines and Franks.
We are hoping that the Christian community in Syria will be respected under its new regime; its leader Ahmed Al-Sharaa (formerly Abu Mohammed al-Jolani) has promised the experienced the BBC’s Mid-East specialist Jeremy Bowen that their rights will be honoured.
Perhaps this is the moment to point out that the Christian Church once had a Syrian Pontiff. Sometimes an element of national pride helps empathy.