Wikipedia

Agnes Mariam de la Croix

Mother Superior Agnes Mariam of the Cross[1] (born 1952), also known as Mother Agnes,[1] is a Lebanese 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 of the Cross, in 2015

Early life

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Born Marie Fadia Laham in Beirut, Lebanon, her Palestinian father had fled Nazareth at the time Israel was created in 1948[3][dead link‍] while her mother was Lebanese.[4] After her education by French nuns, she became a hippie for 2 and a half years[5] while travelling in Europe, India and Nepal. (“Lebanese marijuana is the best in the world,” she said.[6]) While travelling she felt called by God.[5] She then became a nun in the Carmelite order in 1971.[6] She said worked to help displaced families from the Lebanon civil war.[6]

De la Croix 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 establishing a monastic foundation and 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

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De la Croix has been accused by multiple sources of sharing Syrian regime propaganda and disinformation.[2][7][8][9][10][11] According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, she "was clearly pushing the official line that the 'terrorists' were Islamic extremists bent on overthrowing a regime that she described as a protector of Christian minorities in Syria".[12] In 2012, Father Paolo Dall’Oglio, a priest who had lived in Syria for 30 years but was expelled during the war, described de la Croix as "an instrument" of Assad’s government: "She has been consistent in assuming and spreading the lies of the regime, and promoting it through the power of her religious persona... She knows how to cover up the brutality of the regime.”[13]

During the civil war, she used her close relations to the Assad government and connections to Christian circles in Western Europe to host visitors to Syria under the protection of the regime.[12] After French journalist Gilles Jacquier was killed in Homs during 2012 (one of the first journalist casualties in the Civil War[14]), his widow and two colleagues wrote a book in which they alleged de la Croix had been involved in a Syrian government plot to kill Jacquier. De la Croix had been appointed as Jacquier's fixer by the regime, and put him on the bus to Homs the day he was killed,[14][15] while she remained in Damascus with pro-regime journalists.[12][16] De la Croix sued for defamation but lost the case.[6][17]

De la Croix also alleged that the May 2012 Houla massacre, in which the government killed over 100 people, was staged by the opposition and its victims in fact Alawites and Shia converts, a conspiracy theory that was promoted by far right activist Thierry Meyssan and subsequently reached some mainstream media outlets.[18]

The same year de la Croix 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.[19] Interviewed by The Australian in October 2012, she said the rebellion "steadily became a violent Islamist expression against a liberal secular society."[3]

She 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.[20] She said the attacks were staged by rebels and the victims kidnapped pro-government Alawites, a claim rejected by family members of abducted people from that community.[9][21] Her claims were investigated by Human Rights Watch and refuted,[21][1] and the New York Times noted that part of her analysis was based on a misunderstanding of the difference between time zones.[22] 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. De la Croix was interviewed by the Russian RT station about her analysis.[22][23]

She said that in 2013, rebels based near her monastery warned her extremist fighters wanted to abduct her. The rebels helped her to flee.[6]

She acted as government liaison during the evacuation of Moadamiyah (then under siege) at the end of October 2013.[24] According to rebel spokesman Quasi Zakarya, up to 1,800 women, children and others were freed, but about 300 men were arrested by the government and forced to join the Syrian army.[24] 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.'"[20]

In late 2013, De la Croix toured Israel (a country she told Ha'aretz that she "loved"[25]) and the United States, and visited Europe, presenting her version of events in Syria.[20] Organised by the Syria Solidarity Movement, a pro-Assad organisation based in California formed to host her,[26] she spoke at venues, mainly churches, on the US west and east coasts.[27][20] Her US tour was as a representative of the Syrian Mussalaha (“reconciliation”) movement led by Ali Haidar, a minister in Assad’s government and leader of the far right Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP).[26]

In November 2013, she withdrew from speaking at the British Stop the War Coalition's annual conference[28] after two participants, Jeremy Scahill and Owen Jones, decided not to speak at the meeting if it meant sharing a platform with de la Croix.[20]

In 2013, de la Croix 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".[20] After the Russian involvement in the Syrian civil war began in 2015, according to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, "Local voices, such as those of Mother Agnes, were amplified by the pro-Kremlin news outlet RT (formerly Russia Today), as well as by botnets and seemingly fake news websites, to create an appearance of widespread consensus over the Syrian regime’s version of events. This helped to blunt international responses to the conflict."[29]


In 2018, she continued to host pro-government visits to Syria, telling participants that the government of Saudi Arabia, and not that of Syria, was responsible for refugees in Europe, "because it longs for the Islamization of the West".[10]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d 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. ^ a b Kenner, David. "How Assad Wooed the American Right, and Won the Syria Propaganda War". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 2019-08-31.
  3. ^ a b Rowan Callick "Christians 'emptied from Middle East'", The Australian, 6 October 2012
  4. ^ a b Carl Bunderson "Carmelite nun from Syria describes pain of civil war", Catholic News Agency, 21 November 2013
  5. ^ a b c Monica Clark "Controversial nun speaks out on war in Syria" Archived 2017-07-09 at the Wayback Machine, National Catholic Reporter, 14 November 2013
  6. ^ a b c d e Hubbard, Ben (2013-09-21). "A Nun Lends a Voice of Skepticism on the Use of Poison Gas by Syria". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 1 September 2014. 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. ^ a b Lucas, Scott (14 February 2018). "Syria: How Russia and the Chemical Attack Deniers Infiltrated the Mainstream". EA WorldView. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
  10. ^ a b Hayden, Sally (5 April 2018). "Tourist Trap". Newsweek. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
  11. ^ Lebanon, William Christou ــ (26 July 2022). "Regime and opposition trade blame over Hama church attack". The New Arab. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
  12. ^ a b c Adviser, Jean-Paul Marthoz/CPJ Senior (13 January 2012). "Jacquier's killing raises chilling questions on Syria". Committee to Protect Journalists. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
  13. ^ Fitzgerald, Mary (18 August 2012). "Nun on Irish visit accused of peddling 'regime lies' about crisis in Syria". Irish Times. Archived from the original on 18 August 2012. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
  14. ^ a b Jalabi, Raya (5 December 2013). "Critics question Catholic nun's 'alternative story' on Syria civil war". the Guardian. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
  15. ^ Weiss, Michael (19 October 2018). ""The regime killed my husband"". now.mmedia.me. Archived from the original on 15 December 2018. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
  16. ^ East, Dahlia El Zein/CPJ Middle; Associate, North Africa Research (14 March 2012). "In Syria, killing the messenger hasn't killed the message". Committee to Protect Journalists. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
  17. ^ "Syrie: gain de cause pour trois journalistes, dont deux Suisses, dans un procès à Paris". www.lenouvelliste.ch (in French). Retrieved 2019-08-31.
  18. ^ Al-Tamimi, Aymenn Jawad; Smyth, Phillip (21 July 2012). "Assad's Houla Propaganda". nationalreview.com. Archived from the original on 14 June 2012. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
  19. ^ Sengupta, Kim (2 November 2012). "The plight of Syria's Christians: 'We left Homs because they were trying to kill us'". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2012-11-03. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  20. ^ a b c d e f Jalabi, Raya (5 December 2013). "Critics question Catholic nun's 'alternative story' on Syria civil war". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077.
  21. ^ a b "Mother Agnes: Syria's 'detective' nun who says gas attack film faked". BBC News. 1 October 2013. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
  22. ^ a b 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.
  23. ^ Mackey, Robert (13 April 2018). "Russia Says It Has "Irrefutable Evidence" U.K. Staged Chemical Attack in Syria. Let's See It". The Intercept. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
  24. ^ a b Michael Weiss "The Flying Nun and Moadamiyah" Archived 2018-10-29 at the Wayback Machine, Now, 30 October 2013
  25. ^ Levy, Gideon (30 October 2023). "On Visit to Israel, Syrian-based Nun Backs Beleaguered President Assad". archive.is. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
  26. ^ a b "Pro-Assad Lobby Group Rewards Bloggers on Both the Left and the Right". 30 September 2019.
  27. ^ Rosie Gray "Assad Apologist Nun Embarks On U.S. Speaking Tour", Buzz Feed, 24 October 2013
  28. ^ "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
  29. ^ Beals, Emma (27 April 2022). "How the Lessons of the Syria War May Safeguard Lives in Ukraine". Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
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