Rami Elias

Father Rami Elias (Arabic: :arرامي الياس) is a Syrian Jesuit priest specialized in the field of psychoanalysis. He holds a Master's degree in Philosophy,Theology and Psychoanalysis from Centre Sèvres in Paris, France. He has also been working as a psychoanalyst-psychotherapist in Syria since 1985.
People in Syria from different religious denominations, especially the young generation, follow his lectures, because of his concern for issues touching upon human, psychological, spiritual/faith, educational dimensions, as well as those related to marital life in particular and family life in general.
== Philosophy ==
Father Rami Elias has a modern rational outlook to Christian religious scriptures and an openness to this era. He does not shy away from tackling controversial social issues.
He stresses the idea that true Christian thought recognizes the importance and role of Reason with respect to Faith, as Reason protects Faith from falling into naivety, while Faith protects Reason from falling into dictatorship. He sees that no one has the right to impose Faith given that this would make a mockery of both Faith in God and human beings.
He also believes that the hard-line religious stance has contributed to the birth of Atheism, which in its turn helped Christianity and the rest of religions choose its precepts and push it towards a solid ideology built upon Logic and Reason, making it capable of answering some of the questions people wonder about.
Father Rami Elias sees that countries espousing secularism did not really apply its principles, but have subjugated religion to the State, in order to unify a national identity. He believes that the State in turn started to assume a sacred status, replacing the Church, and began revering worldly values which may someday transform into a new religion.
He also considers human beings to be creatures longing for desire and not for need. He thinks that it is possible to fulfill need in a definite way, however it is not possible to wholly satisfy desire as it is a longing for the other in itself, and humans can never be satisfied of the other due to the fact that without it life itself has no meaning. In his opinion, the impossibility of satisfying desire of the other in a complete way is the shortfall that distinguishes human beings and makes them live in a continuous dynamism.
In his view, humans are still being built and created and have not become human in the whole sense of the word. He sees that our knowledge about humans is very limited, given that their truth runs very deep and has not emerged up to now. Elias believes that in their journey, humans strive as much as possible to reach total humanity.
Father Rami Elias sees that the ideas of the Holy Bible are far removed from the predominant Christian belief that the body is the origin of sin: the body is not an external factor that the spirit can substitute, rather a crucial part of the human identity for human beings to be present in the world. At the same time, he believes it is a way for the spirit to discover itself, even though the body may be old, disabled, or sick. 
He does not see that the reason behind homosexuality or sexual orientation is biological, and does not think that sexual orientation is a matter of choice. Instead, it is a tendency discovered by people when sexual interest is born. Through psychoanalytic sessions, he has managed to help many homosexuals live out their sexual preferences without feeling guilty or degrading their worth or status.
== Professional Life ==
Father Rami Elias has held numerous responsibilities :
* Responsible for the Catholic Christian Education Committee in Damascus and its suburbs.
* Supervisor over all Catholic Church educational centres in Damascus and its suburbs.
* Responsible for Jesuit scholars in the Middle East region.
* He has given numerous ‘marriage preparation for couples’ courses to help them plan their married life.
* Lecturer and instructor of many priests, nuns and Catholic laity, towns, monasteries and churches in Syria and Lebanon.
* Teaching psychoanalysis at Centre Sèvres in Paris, France.
* Participated in the founding of the ‘Christian Theological Institute for Laity’ administering and teaching in it for ten years. 
* Founded with some lay people the ‘Joint Orientation’ project aiming to provide the proper preparation to leaders, educators, and persons responsible for the fraternities, Church activities and scout movements in Damascus.
* Supervised the preparation and execution of the ‘Syrian Christian Youth’ encounter with Pope John Paul II during his visit to Syria in May 2001.
* Participated in numerous Radio and TV dialogues, meetings, and lectures regarding education and humanity, as well as numerous varied issues.
* Participated in the preparation of the official Christian education curriculum in Syria with the official concerned ministerial committee.
* Supervised and participated in numerous courses about the Bible in Syria.
* Participated in preparing most of the curricula and programmes of the Christian educational movements and activities in Syria.
* Provided spiritual, educational, and psychological support to several European diplomatic missions in Damascus.
* Practices psychotherapy and psychoanalysis on a daily basis since 1985 in Syria.
== Publications ==
Title	Cover
Book: Who is God? 
Original Title: من هو الله؟
Language: Arabic
Category: Religion
Publisher: Dar Al-Mashreq دار المشرق
2006
ISBN-13: 9782721452054	thumb | Who is God?
Book: Go to the land I am showing you
Original Title: انطلق نحو الأرض التي أريك
Language: Arabic
Category: Religion
Publisher: Petites Soeurs de Jesus أخوات يسوع الصغيرات
2004
ISBN-13: 1000000146547
;	thumb | Go to the land I am showing you
Book co-authored with Nader Michel : Dad gave me everything – Reflections on fathers and children
Original Title: أبي أعطاني كل شيء - تأمل في الأبوة والبنوة
Language: Arabic
Publisher: Dar Al-Mashreq دار المشرق
2012
ISBN-13: 9782721454195	Dad gave me everything
Book co-authored with several writers: Cloning - between Science, Philosophy and Religion
Original Title: الاستنساخ بين العلم والفلسفة والدين
Language: Arabic
Category: Ethics	
Category:Psychoanalysis
Category:Syrian Eastern Catholics