News from Syria
Statement from Their Holinesses and Beatitudes the Patriarchs of Syria
11 5 2012
We: Ignatius IV Hazim,Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, Mar IgnatiusZakka I Iwas, Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, and GregoriosIII Laham, Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, of Alexandria and Jerusalem, condemn the cowardly criminal act that took place in the Qazaz district of Damascus on the morning of Thursday, 10 May 2012, and condemnall acts of terrorism that have targeted different regions of the beloved Syrian land, claiming the lives of many innocent victims and wounding both civiliansand military personnel, the children of this great nation.
In view of this grievous loss, we pray to God to heal the wounds of Syria and Syrians, and to restore the children of the one homeland to one another in love, opennessand reconciliation, tolerance, mutual assistance and wisdom, preferring alwaysthe interest of the country to any other interest, distancing themselves from violence in all itsforms, aiming for the good of our beloved country and buildingit again on the basis of civilized, humane, firm justice and goodcitizenship, co-existence and peaceful freedom of expression; all that is related toserving the nation and citizens.
With one mouth and one heart weraise our prayer to Almighty God to give rest to the souls of thehomeland’s martyrs, comfort the hearts of the bereaved, preserve Syria and bring it to a haven of safety, peace, sovereignty and prosperity.In a spirit of pastoral responsibility we call on allthe children of this country, both Muslims and Christians, to join us in prayer to Almighty God to protect Syriansfrom all danger and harm, trusting in the Lord’s saying to us: “Behold, I am with youalways, even to the end of the age.”
May the name of the Lord be forever blessed. Amen.