Voices were loud and tones were clear in the closed conference held Monday, Sept. 2, in a Christian monastery in Mount Lebanon, about 20 kilometers [12 miles] from Beirut. The participants included representatives of the 11 Christian churches in Lebanon, along with a number of Lebanese Christian intellectuals and politicians, including Al-Monitor’s correspondent.

The hottest topic was about the fate of Syria and Lebanon’s Christians in light of a potential US strike against Damascus. One of the participating bishops addressed his fellow bishops and others with a sharp tone, saying, “Hear my words and take notes; the US strike on Syria has no guaranteed results whatsoever, neither on the military level nor on the political level or any other. The only certain and inevitable result is that the launch of the first rocket on Syria by NATO will be the end of Christians in this country. They will either be slaughtered or displaced.”

The following series of positions expressed by the bishops were in favor of their colleague, opposed to US policy in particular and the West’s policy toward Syria in general. “It is the Iraqi experience all over again,” said another participating bishop. He explained: “Americans entered Iraq under the pretext of overthrowing Saddam Hussein and establishing democracy. Yet, their intervention led to absolute chaos, the emergence of the Islamic State of Iraq [group], endless Sunni-Shiite massacres, and most important, an almost total displacement of the Christians of Iraq.” The bishop, eagerly encouraging a peaceful solution in Syria, stated, “A few weeks ago, and in coordination with concerned Vatican circles, I headed to Europe with a delegation of Syrian and Lebanese Christians. We met with officials from the EU and the NATO leadership.”

The bishop said, trying to hide the agony in his voice, “We explained our situation and the inevitable dangers that lie ahead. Yet, we did not receive any response, not even any understanding of our tragedy. But we will never despair. We decided to convene all of the European churches to a conference in order to discuss our cause. Before the recent deterioration of the situation, in light of talks about the possibility of a US strike on Syria, we had set our mind to hold a conference in Cyprus in October 2013, with the participation of more than 200 representatives of European churches. Now, things have become even more complicated, more dangerous and more urgent.”