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THE MARONITES OF CYPRUS:
FROM ETHNICISM TO TRANSNATIONALISM
Areti Demosthenous* ÖzetMaruniler ve Kıbrıs: Etnisizmden Ulus-Ötesiciliğe Bu makalenin amacı, tüm dünyaya yayılmış birçok ülkede çoğunluk nüfus ile birlikte yaşayan, fakat kendi ülkelerine sahip olmayan Marunileri tanıtmaktır. Buna ek olarak, makalede ulus-aşırı nitelikli bu topluluklar hakkında yapılan çalışmaların, Avrupalı ve diğer milletlerde var olan bölgesel çatışmalar ve milliyetçilik tarafından tetiklenen savaşlara karşı, milletlerin bir küresel köy oluşturması amacında alternatif bir arada yaşama modelleri yaratma ve kapalı ulus devletleri aşma yolunda örnek teşkil etmesi de amaçlanmaktadır. Bu çalışma, Marunilerin kimlikleri, özgün Maruni kültürü ile olan iletişimleri ve kimliksel ötekileri ile kültürlerarası çatışmaları hakkında bilgi vermeyi amaçlar. Ayrıca, modern Marunilerin göç yolları, yeni kültürlere adaptasyon yöntemleri ve sorunları da tartışmaya açılacaktır. Son olarak, makalede üzerinde durulacak diğer konu ise azınlık topluluklarının kendi sivil toplumlarını nasıl organize ettikleri ve birer üyesi olmadıkları çoğunluk gruplarının vatandaşlık tartışmalarına nasıl katkıda bulundukları olacaktır.
Anahtar Kelimeler: Maruni, azınlık, sivil toplum, kimlik
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Abstract
This article intends to introduce the Maronites, a nation which although spread all over the world, co-exists with the majority population groups in many countries, without having their own state. Moreover, it aims at presenting the research regarding the transnational characteristics of these communities, who might well, be of example for European and other nations, which at a time where regional conflicts and wars instigated by increased nationalism take place, look for alternative models of coexistence and models of transition from the closed nation state to the world global village. This study will shed light on the identity these people have, show their connectivity to the original Maronite culture and present current tensions of intercultural relations with the others. In addition, this article will address the reasons of how modern Maronite migrations took place, and discuss methods and problems of adaptation to new conditions. Besides, it will shed light on how small communities organize their civil society and contribute to the development of the country of citizenship even without belonging to the majority group of people. Key Words: Maronite, minority, civil society, identity Introduction: Initially a Religious Community
The Maronites got their name from Saint Maron (350-410 A.D.) who lived near Mount Taurus situated in the region of Apameus in
"Syria Secunda", an administrative division of the Byzantine Empire.1
Great crowds were attracted by Saint Maron’s gift of healing and many of them joined him, seeking to lead a life of prayer and mortification under his spiritual guidance. St Maron’s sainthood became known throughout the Byzantine Empire. St John Chrysostom sent him a letter around 405 A.D. expressing his great love and respect, and asked St Maron to pray for him. After his death in 410 A.D., a church was built and dedicated to his memory. His disciples formed the nucleus of the Maronite Church and they founded a monastery named after him. This monastery grew rapidly
1 Guita Hourani, “A Reading in the History of the Maronites of Cyprus from the
Eighth Century to the Beginning of British Rule”, Journal of Maronite Studies, vol. II, No 3, 2f. Also see Nicholas Coureas, The Latin Church in Cyprus 1313-1378, Texts and Studies in the History of Cyprus, vol. LXV, Cyprus Research Centre, Nicosia, 2010, 19f.
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and became the head of a body of monasteries, which spread over Syria and Lebanon. "Maronitism" meant the Christian movement inspired by St Maron, his disciples and his monasteries, which were a source of edification for many of the faithful. “Maronitism” was not a political movement; it was a group of people united under the same religious values.
Maronite Exodus to Cyprus
Between the eighth and the thirteenth centuries Maronites moved to Cyprus from the ancient territories of Syria, the Holy Land and Lebanon in four principal migrations. According to the tradition, the first group immigrated to Cyprus simultaneously with the Maronite migration to Lebanon in the eighth century. This exodus took place mainly due to the Islamic conquest and the inter-Christian
rivalries between the Jacobites and the Byzantines.2 The second
major migration followed the destruction of Saint Maron ’s Monastery on the Orontes River in Apameus around the year 938 A.D., which led to the transfer of the Maronite patriarchal residence to Mount-Lebanon. The third Maronite migration occurred upon the purchase of Cyprus by Guy de Lusignan towards the end of the twelfth century. The fourth occurred at the end of the thirteenth century with the defeat of the Crusaders in Tripoli and the Holy
Land.3 Available historical documents confirm that the Maronites
were an active community in Cyprus before 1192 A.D. According to Hourani (op. cit., 3) the oldest manuscript accessible in this regard dates to the twelfth century and it is the Syriac Manuscript Vat. Syr.
118 fo 262 r of the Vatican Library. This manuscript contains a
handwritten inscription in Syriac, which gives information about Maronite monks living in Cyprus on that time.
Maronites in the World. Ethnographic data.
In the mediterranean region most Maronites (Syriac Marunôye; Arabic Mawarinah) are to be found in Syria, Palestine, Cyprus, and Egypt. Those living in Lebanon, form nearly five-eighths of the population of that vilayet and the main constituent of the population in four out of seven kaïmakats, viz., those of Batrun, Kasrawan,
2 J. Cirilli, Les Maronites de Chypre, Cyprus 1898, pp. 4-6.
3 P. Dib, History of the Maronite Church, translated by Seely Beggiani, Detroit,
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Meten, and Gizzin (the Orthodox Greeks predominating in Koura, the Catholic Greeks in Zahlé, and the Druses in Shûf). They are of Syrian race, but for many centuries have spoken only Arabic, though in a dialect which must have retained many Syriac peculiarities. In the mountain districts manners are very simple, and the Maronites are occupied with tillage and cattle-grazing, or the silk industry; in the towns they are engaged in commerce. Bloody vendettas, due to family and clan rivalries, are still kept up in the mountain districts. The population increases very rapidly, and numbers of Maronites emigrate to the different provinces of the Ottoman Empire, to Europe, particularly France, to the French colonies, but most of all to the United States. The emigrants return with their fortunes made, and too often bring with them a taste for luxury and pleasure, sometimes also a decided indifference to religion, which in some instances, degenerates into hostility.
The exact worldwide Maronite population of today is not known, although it is at least 3 million according to the Catholic Near East
Welfare Association.4 Based on a 2007 report, approximately there
are 930,000 Maronites in Lebanon where they constitute up to 22% of the population. According to an agreement between the various political and religious leaders of Lebanon, the president of the country must be a Maronite. Syrian Maronites total 51,000 and they follow the archdioceses of Aleppo and Damascus and the Diocese of Latakia. There is also a Maronite community in Cyprus, which speaks Cypriot Maronite Arabic. They are a recognized religious minority on the island and the community elects a representative to sit in the House of Representatives to voice their interests. They are descended from those Maronites who accompanied the crusaders, although more recent Lebanese immigrants are often included as part of the community, which numbers 10,000. A noticeable Maronite community exists in northern Israel, numbering 7,504. The two residing eparchies in the United States have issued their own "Maronite Census", designed to estimate how many Maronites reside in the United States (215,000). Many Maronites have been assimilated into Western Catholicism as there were no Maronite parishes or priests available. The "Maronite Census" was designed to locate these Maronites. There are also eparchies at São Paulo in Brazil (550,000), in Argentina (750,000), Australia (150,000),
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Canada (85,000) and Mexico (160,000).5 In Venezuela there are
around 25,000 Maronites, and in Cyprus 6,500. Besides, there are organized Maronite communities in Italy, Germany, United Kingdom, Egypt, Belgium, Sweden, and Jordan.
Maronites, Crusaders, Ottomans and the British in the Middle East
It was late in the 11th century when the Crusaders made their way to the lands of the Levant to overthrow Islamic rule; on their way, they passed through Lebanon, where they came across the Maronites. The Maronites had been largely cut off from the rest of the Christian world for around 400 years. The Church in Rome had been unaware that the Maronites were still in existence. The Crusaders and Maronites established ties and from this point on they provided
each other with mutual assistance.6 However, with the Latin Rule of
Cyprus (1191-1571), they must have sustained many natural and man-made disasters, as evidenced by the fact that between 1224 and the Ottoman conquest of 1571, the number of their villages was reduced from 60 to 33. The reasons behind the degeneration of the Maronite presence in Cyprus could be many including the greed and oppression of other religious orders of the time, plus the recurring natural and epidemic disasters. With the Ottoman conquest of Cyprus, the Maronites had 33 villages and their Bishop resided in the
Monastery of Dali in the district of Carpasie.7
By 1596, about 25 years after the Ottoman conquest, the total number of Maronite villages had been reduced to 19. The Ottomans, after annexing Cyprus, imposed increasingly high taxation on the population, including the Maronites whom they treated badly, accusing them of treason, abducting their wives and forcing their children into slavery. Many Maronites had died during the defense of the island, many more had either been massacred or taken as slaves, many others had dispersed throughout the island to escape persecution, and those who remained in their villages found themselves in a pitiable condition. Consequently, a group fled to
5 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maronite_Church#cite_note-annuario-19
6 Matti Moosa, The Maronites in History, Gorgias Press, Piscataway, New Jersey
2005.
7 A. Palmieri, Chypre, Dictionnaire de Théologie Catholique, Tome II, Paris
1905, col. 2462ff. Also see Cirilli, op. cit., pp. 12-13. Also
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Lebanon and another group accompanied the Venetians to Malta. All this led to the reduction in the Cypriot Maronite population and subsequently in the number of their villages, as well as the transference of the seat of the Maronite Church from Cyprus to
Lebanon.8 By 1636, the situation for the Christians in Cyprus had
become intolerable and the conversions to Islam began. Palmieri (op.
cit., col. 2468) wrote about this as following:
"Since not everyone could stand the pressures of the new situation, those unable to resist converted to Islam and became crypto-Christians. They were called Linobambaci - a composite Greek word that means men of linen and cotton, a metaphorical term referring to the dual nature of their religious beliefs. The Maronites who adopted Islam lived mainly in Louroujina in the district of Nicosia”.
However, these Maronites who had converted in despair did not fully denounce their Christian faith. They kept some beliefs and rituals, hoping to denounce their 'conversion' when the Ottomans left. For example, they baptized and confirmed their children according to Christian tradition, but administered circumcision in conformity with Islamic practices. They also gave their children two
names, one Christian and one Muslim.9 Under Ottoman rule
(1571-1878), and especially from 1750 onward, the Maronite Church in Cyprus was under the jurisdiction of the Greek Orthodox Church. In 1840, however, the Maronite Patriarchate in Lebanon was successful in obtaining a firman removing the Maronites from the rule of the Orthodox bishops and restoring them to the rule of the Maronite bishops. The French Consul serving in Cyprus at that time had greatly assisted in the efforts to obtain the change. In a census carried out in 1891, the Maronites were estimated at only 1.131 out of 209.286 Cypriots and were mostly in four villages. This constitutes a massive reduction in population when, according to the historian Palmieri, there was, in the thirteenth century, an estimated number of 50.000 Maronites living in sixty villages. The regression of the Maronite community had begun with the Latin Rule and received its final blow
under the Ottoman Rule.10
8 Cirilli, op. cit., 20. Dib op. cit., p.177.
9 J. Hackett, A History of the Orthodox Church of Cyprus, New York, 1972, 535.
10 G. Hill, A History of Cyprus, vol. 1-4, Cambridge 1972, 383. Hackett, op. cit.,
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Under British Rule (1878-1960), the Maronite community saw a great economic and cultural development, together with an increase in population. They consolidated their religious and political rights, and built their own churches and schools. With the first census carried out by the newly established Republic of Cyprus in 1960, there were approximately 2.752 Maronites living in Cyprus, mainly in the four remaining Maronite villages of Kormakitis, Karpashia, Asomatos and Agia Marina, but also in other areas of Cyprus. Following the displacement of 1974 and the partition of the island, the inhabitants of these villages, who were mainly an agricultural community owning considerable areas of land, were obliged to move to the south. The four villages are now practically unpopulated but for a few elderly persons. In spite of some difficulties the Maronites are working hard to maintain their religion, language and culture. They have their own schools, their cultural associations and their
social networks.11
The Maronite identity: Global citizenship or one nationality with variety of citizenships? Transnational characteristics of Maronite communities
In 1860 the Druses, impelled by fanaticism, massacred a large number of Maronites at Damascus and in Lebanon. As the Turkish Government looked on at this process of extermination, France intervened with an expedition led by General de Beaufort d' Hautpoult who restored order. This is only an example of the sufferings Maronites had during last centuries. However, as Todd Endelmann has written about the Jews in modern Europe,
persecutions “actually perpetuated their survival as a group”.12
Benedict Anderson suggests the idea of “Imagined Communities” arguing that the rise of national communication leads to the belief that, somehow, individuals in one nation state, which may count tens or hundreds of millions who will never meet each other have the
11 For further information please visit the website by Antonis Haji Roussos,
current parliamentary representative of the Maronite community in Cyprus: http://www.maronitesofcyprus.com/upload/20080806/1218031838-06188.pdf
12 Todd Endelmann, Radical Assimilation in English Jewish History, 1656-1945,
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same interests, in contrast with people outside that nation state.13
Scholars such as Panikos Panayi, an authority on the history of migrants and ethnic minorities, argues that despite some peculiarities, such as the presence of a sizeable Maronite minority, the evolution of this community mirrors the wider European
experience, with the ubiquitous diasporas of Jews and Romanies.14
As Majid Al-Haj notes in his “Immigration and Ethnic Formation in a Deeply Divided Society”, integration involves identification with and adoption of components of both the original and the new
cultures.15 Although a great deal of literature addresses the
relationship between culture and nationality, it cannot be said that the interaction of minority-group aspirations and related government policies is well understood. If we take as an example the Maronite community of Cyprus, it is considered as a minority by all international standards and they match perfectly the definition for national and ethnic minorities adopted by the United Nations and the
Council of Europe.16 Recently, it has been asserted that Arab
Christian migrants from Asia Minor also arrived in Cyprus,
contributing to the evolution of modern Cypriot Maronite Arabic.17
Over the centuries the Maronites faced persecution. Guita Hourani, chairwoman of the Maronite Research Institute, emphasizes that in Cyprus the Maronites faced Latinization, Greek schismatic abuse, and
Islamization.18 Despite all, they maintained a presence and persisted
in their faith. They try still nowadays to maintain their cultural heritage. However cultures are not static. Every identifiable culture is historically rooted and changes over time but retains a distinct
13 See his very interesting book, (Benedict Anderson) Imagined Communities:
Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism, London, 1991.
14 Andrekos Varnava, Nicholas Coureas, Marina Elia, ed., The Minorities of
Cyprus: Development Patterns and the Identity of the Internal-Exclusion, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2009.
15 Majid Al-Haj, Immigration and Ethnic Formation in a Deeply Divided Society.
The Case of the 1990s Immigrants from the Former Soviet Union in Israel, International Studies in Sociology and Social Anthropology, Leiden-Boston, Brill 2004.
16 Chrystalla Tsoutsouki, “Continuity of National Identity and Changing Politics:
The Maronite Cypriots”, in: The Minorities of Cyprus: Development Patterns and the Identity of the Internal-Exclusion, Andrekos Varnava, Nicholas Coureas, Marina Elia, ed., Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2009, p.193.
17 A. Borg, A Comparative Glossary of Cypriot Maronite Arabic (Arabic-English),
Leiden, 2004, Introductory Essay.
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identity. The World Commission on Culture and Development speaks of 10,000 distinct ethnic groups or ethnies, based mainly on linguistic differences living in roughly 200 States (Our Creative Diversity, Report of WCCD, Paris, UNESCO, 1995). At any given time, in any given area, there may be majority and minority, dominant and dominated, hegemonic and subordinated cultural groups.
Cultural wars can take the form of ideological tension or cultural conflict over cultural issues as in the case of Serbo-Croatian conflict over linguistic and religious issues, or as political conflicts over cultural issues. The way societies handle cultural differences among their populations may become highly politicized and these problems
are often resolved at a political level.19 Individuals depend on
socio-political structures as well as their willingness to tactically mobilise different aspects of their identity.
Transnational Maronite civil society. Transition from the closed nation state to the world global village
Difference in values (national, ethnic, linguistic, religious or racial) does not create always conflict or war. However, peace is hidden by historiography through emphasis on wars and national victories over neighboring countries rather than on long periods of peaceful coexistence. Nearly all world-religions preach and adopt the fundamental principles of love and understanding among peoples. Comparatively, “cosmopolitans” appear to be “extravacant” (i.e. going beyond). They go beyond the traditional borders. They are people who have just decided individually to neglect their links to the nation and the region they come from. According to Wolfgang Berg, there are different sources of identity and ways of constructing collectives: a common origin; a common challenge, even enemy; and a catalogue of values. National states used to provide themselves with legitimacy by all three of them. In contemporary Germany, for instance, with regard to national identity, the third approach is dominating, called patriotism by constitution: “People are committed to their country because of the values which constitute the political system: human
dignity, liberty, equality, solidarity, property, etc.”20 Greece is a
19 Tsoutsouki, op.cit., p.197.
20 Wolfgang Berg, “Transnational Civil Society”, in: Proceedings from the
international conference Citizenship, Multiculturalism, Cosmopolitanism, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, 3-4 November 2007, vol. I, p. 64.
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further example of the third approach with a dominating catalogue of values, necessary for the definition of national identity.
If we come to cultural or national groups without a state, like the Maronites, distributed all over the world, but still keeping their own cultural identity, then the first approach is to be adopted. Maronites and other groups like them, have the common origin as constitutive element of their national identity. This identity is not in conflict with their citizenship, in any country they might live and work. Correspondingly global citizens could be the Maronites, no matter whether, there might be specific lack of continuos common experience, albeit there exist in their memory shared myths and common religious background.
Berg defines civil society as that part of society which is beyond family, relatives and the private sphere, but not economy and not the state, “civil society is in the centre of the triangle built on family, market and state. It is a common activity of people who are not relatives, who do not work (only) for their own benefit, who have no means to govern and direct. It is just their activity which works. Civil society is a kind of self-organization of society, but nobody can be obliged to take part and everybody can leave this organization” (op. cit., 67). Maronite civil society is transnational in this regard. It exists in many countries, organizes itself under possible realities, is global and at the same time Maronite. For other minorities, possibly looking via non-peaceful ways towards the establishment of their own state, Maronites manifest a good example to study. The question of course, which comes up is the next: Could Maronites be an example of global peaceful citizens without a state? To our own understanding, “definitely, yes”! As soon as people interact in daily life, in business, in institutions, on behalf of their cultural identity, they cooperate and make agreements. To make sure that these interactions and agreements do work, one has two options: either regulations and control or trust. Trust is necessary for any network and it grows the more the more the network functions. Maronite civil society grows in Cyprus and all over the world through trust and cultural silent adherence, something very precious and unique in our global village, the planet earth.
Conclusions
Maronites have been committed to keep their common origin as a valuable connecting feature during centuries, and in all places they might be found, as well as the virtues of their shared religious origin.
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No question, there is a lot of transnational mobility and transnational communication. Maronites moved to many countries: Brazil, Argentina, Australia, Canada, Italy, Germany, etc. They have developed a peaceful system of demanding their rights and co-exist in most places as minority groups. Well integrated they have civil society cultural institutions, which resist to any kind of assimilation, like own schools, cultural associations, their linguistic dialects and other cultural symbols. This nation without a state is intercultural orientated and so well organized that it could provide necessary social, religious and political structures in order to avoid a possible future emergence of the so-called Clash of Civilizations of Samuel
Huntington.21
Sources
Al-Haj, M., Immigration and Ethnic Formation in a Deeply Divided
Society. The Case of the 1990s Immigrants from the Former Soviet Union in Israel, International Studies in Sociology and
Social Anthropology, Leiden-Boston, Brill 2004.
Anderson, B., Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and
Spread of Nationalism, London 1991.
Berg, W., “Transnational Civil Society”, Proceedings from the
International Conference Citizenship, Multiculturalism, Cosmopolitanism, University of Cyprus, 3-4 November 2007.
Borg, A., A Comparative Glossary of Cypriot Maronite Arabic, Leiden 2004.
Cirilli, J., Les Maronites de Chypre, Cyprus 1898.
Coureas, N., The Latin Church in Cyprus 1313-1378, Texts and Studies in the History of Cyprus, vol. LXV, Cyprus Research Centre, Nicosia 2010.
Dib, P., History of the Maronite Church, translated by Seely Beggiani, Detroit 1971.
Endelmann, T., Radical Assimilation in English Jewish History, 1656-1945, Bloomington and Indianapolis, 1990.
Hackett, J., A History of the Orthodox Church of Cyprus, New York 1972.
21 Samuel Huntington The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World
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Hill, G., A History of Cyprus, vol. 1-4, Cambridge 1972.
Huntington, S., The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World
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Palmieri, A., “Chypre”, Dictionnaire de Théologie Catholique, Tome II, Paris 1905.
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Varnava, A.- N. Coureas- M. Elia, (ed. by), The Minorities of Cyprus:
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