Agnes Mariam de la Croix

Mother Superior Agnes Mariam de la Croix[1] (born 1952), also known as Mother Agnes,[1] is a Christian nun. She is mother superior of the monastery of St James the Mutilated in Syria, a Melkite Greek Catholic monastery in the town of Qara in the Homs diocese. She is outspoken in regard to the Syrian Civil War and, according to Foreign Policy is "one of the most prolific defenders of the" government of Bashar al-Assad.[2]

Agnes Mariam de la Croix, in 2015

Early life

Born Marie Fadia Laham in Beirut, Lebanon, her Palestinian father had fled Nazareth at the time Israel was created in 1948[3] while her mother was Lebanese.[4] After her education by French nuns, she became a hippie for 2​1⁄2 years[5] while travelling in Europe, India and Nepal. While in Nepal she was overcome by God's unconditional love, and a revelation in which "God gave me a glimpse of the glory he has reserved for those who are saved."[5] She then became a nun in the Carmelite order in 1971,[4] and worked to help displaced families from the Lebanon civil war.[6]

Mother Agnes gained the consent of the religious authorities to work with the Melkite Greek Catholic Church in 1992, and moved to Syria about two years later with the objective of restoring a monastery.[4] Mother Agnes said at an event in San Francisco during her American tour in 2013: "I used to hate Syrians who came to Lebanon to bomb us every day" during the country's civil war, but "then the Lord called me to Syria to a blessed adventure to restore an ancient monastery that was in ruins" and she underwent a "conversion" after which she "learned never to hate anyone".[5]

Syrian Civil War

Mother Agnes has been accused by multiple sources of sharing Syrian regime propaganda.[2][7][8]

After French journalist Gilles Jacquier, lost his life in Homs during 2012, his widow and two colleagues wrote a book in which they alleged Mother Agnes Mariam had been involved in a Syrian government plot to kill Jacquier. Mother Agnes sued for defamation but lost the case.[6][9]

The same year Mother Agnes stated that, in Homs, 80,000 Christians were displaced by opposition groups, and that the majority of fighters were from outside Syria. The latter claim was disputed by among others, an anti-Assad group named Syrian Christians for Democracy, reported The Independent.[10] Interviewed by The Australian in October 2012, Mother Agnes said the rebellion "steadily became a violent Islamist expression against a liberal secular society."[3]

Mother Agnes attempted to prove that Syrian opposition activists fabricated the videos showing victims of the Ghouta chemical attack in Damascus on 21 August 2013.[1] She had no formal training in analysing video evidence or the use of chemical weapons, and compiled a 50-page report.[11] Sergey Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, cited her analysis when he claimed there were "serious grounds to believe" the Ghouta attack "was a provocation", staged by Syrian rebels. Mother Agnes was interviewed by the Russian RT station about her analysis.[12] Peter Bouckaert, emergencies director of Human Rights Watch, said that her claims are entirely false, and that HRW found no evidence that the videos were staged.[1]

Mother Agnes said that in 2013, rebels near her monastery warned her that extremist fighters wanted to abduct her, and helped her flee.[6]

She acted as government liaison during the evacuation of Moadamiyah (then under siege) at the end of October 2013.[13] According to rebel spokesman Quasi Zakarya, up to 1,800 women, children and others were freed, and about 300 men were arrested by the government and have been forced to join the Syrian army.[13] According to Raya Jalabi in The Guardian: "Asked whether she considers Hezbollah and Iran – entities which supported the Assad government – to be complicit in the fabric of foreign sectarian forces inside Syria, she said no, as 'Hezbollah isn’t coming in as a religious force, and is not committing crimes of a religious nature.'"[11]

In late 2013, Mother Agnes toured the United States and visited Europe presenting her version of events in Syria.[11] Organised by the Syria Solidarity Movement, a non-profit organisation based in California, Mother Agnes spoke at venues, mainly churches, on the west and east coasts of the United States.[14][11]

In November 2013, Mother Agnes withdrew from speaking at the British Stop the War Coalition's annual conference[15] after two participants, Jeremy Scahill and Owen Jones, decided not to speak at the meeting if it meant sharing a platform with Mother Agnes.[11]

Mother Agnes said she does not support the Assad government and describes herself as part of the liberal opposition to Assad. She said she supports the "civilian population who is suffering purely at the hands of foreign agents".[11]

References
  1. Galpin, Richard (1 October 2013). "Mother Agnes: Syria's 'detective' nun who says gas attack film faked". BBC News Online. BBC News. Archived from the original on 1 October 2013. Retrieved 4 January 2016. Mother Superior Agnes Mariam de la Croix claims she has evidence that rebels faked the 21 August gas attack footage – but much of it does not stand up to scrutiny.
  2. Kenner, David. "How Assad Wooed the American Right, and Won the Syria Propaganda War". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 2019-08-31.
  3. Rowan Callick "Christians 'emptied from Middle East'", The Australian, 6 October 2012
  4. Carl Bunderson "Carmelite nun from Syria describes pain of civil war", Catholic News Agency, 21 November 2013
  5. Monica Clark "Controversial nun speaks out on war in Syria", National Catholic Reporter, 14 November 2013
  6. Hubbard, Ben (2013-09-21). "A Nun Lends a Voice of Skepticism on the Use of Poison Gas by Syria". The New York Times. Retrieved 2013-12-18.
  7. "L'association France Israël accueille un soutien du régime syrien". L'Obs. 18 March 2013.
  8. Fitzgerald, Mary. "Nun on Irish visit accused of peddling 'regime lies' about crisis in Syria". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2019-08-31.
  9. "Syrie: gain de cause pour trois journalistes, dont deux Suisses, dans un procès à Paris". www.lenouvelliste.ch (in French). Retrieved 2019-08-31.
  10. Sengupta, Kim (2 November 2012). "The plight of Syria's Christians: 'We left Homs because they were trying to kill us'". The Independent. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  11. Jalabi, Raya (5 December 2013). "Critics question Catholic nun's 'alternative story' on Syria civil war". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077.
  12. Mackey, Robert (17 September 2013). "Russia's Foreign Minister Cites Questions Raised by Nun in Syria on Chemical Attacks". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
  13. Michael Weiss "The Flying Nun and Moadamiyah", Now, 30 October 2013
  14. Rosie Gray "Assad Apologist Nun Embarks On U.S. Speaking Tour", Buzz Feed, 24 October 2013
  15. "Statement: Mother Agnes and the International Anti-war Conference on 30 November 2013" Archived December 20, 2013, at the Wayback Machine, Stop the War Coalition, 16 November 2013
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