His Beatitude John X visits Warsaw- Poland,…

His Beatitude John X visits Warsaw- Poland, August 16 – 2016

 

From Warsaw:

"We carry the wounds of the Antiochian Church in our hearts, with a lump of sadness and distress, from the countries of our homeland".

 

Warsaw August 16- 2016

 

                    His Beatitude John X the patriarch of Antioch and the entire East, left the airport of Beirut, for Warsaw (Poland), presiding over a church delegation of His Eminence Silwan (of British Isles and Ireland), and His Grace Bishop Costa Kayyal. They were received by His Beatitude Sawa, Metropolitan of Warsaw and All Poland, with bishops and priests from the Polish Church, and with the representative of the Syrian embassy in Warsaw Mr. Idris Mia.

                    Upon landing in Warsaw, His Beatitude John X headed to the church of Mary the Magdalene to pray and lift thanks to God. He was received by many people from the Church of Antioch, and from the Polish Church. They all entered the church to lift the thanksgiving prayer. In the end, the Polish Archbishop welcomed His Beatitude praising the good relationships that have existed between the two Churches since the Patriarch Gregorios the 4^thwho had ordained the Archbishop of Warsaw  Dionysius in 1913, then later on met him in 1927. They all prayed for the return of peace to Syria.

                   His Beatitude John X delivered a speech and said:

"We come here from the Church of Antioch, the church of the two apostles Peter & Paul, the church of the vineyard that the right hand of the Lord watered, with the works of the holy Apostles, and was implemented and printed by sanctity and saints. We come here from the Church of Antioch of the saints Luke, Ignatius, Theophilus, Chrysostom, Romanos the psaltist and John the Damascene. We come here from Antioch today, from the first land that was shrouded with the Divine name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and dyed the apostles with the Christian name. The apostles wandered all over the world and bound evangelism to the truth of the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ.

                    We carry in our hearts the wounds of the Antiochian Church, and the lump of the countries of our homeland. We carry in our hearts the concerns of those who had to leave their homes, of the abducted, the orphans and others. We carry the pain of Aleppo who is still waiting for her pastors to come back, their Eminences John Ibrahim & Paul Yazzigi who have been kidnapped for more than 3 years amidst the unjustified silence of the whole world. We carry in our hearts the lump of the whole east; we carry in our hearts the sadness, distress and worries of Syria, Lebanon and the whole east that misses the light of the peace of the Lord Jesus Christ. With you we lay down all these at the foot of the dignified Cross, for we trust the power of the resurrection of the Lord who is capable of removing the weight of the stone from our hearts."

                     After lifting the prayer of thanksgiving to the Lord, His Beatitude John X and his delegation headed to the Christian Theological Academy. There he was granted the honorary doctorate in divinity. And there they met with the dean of the faculty and all the professors, and the ambassadors and all the foreign expeditions in Warsaw. Upon reading the decree and granting the honorary doctorate, besides the speech delivered by the dean of the faculty and the speech of His Beatitude Sawa Metropolitan of Warsaw, His Beatitude John X delivered a speech from which we take the following excerpt:" The crisis in Syria started 5 years ago under different names that have nothing to do with the country. We the Christians, like the other citizens of the country, have been paying a big price ever since the beginning of the crisis, from our blood and children, for a fake matter. Our children have been killed, abducted and forced to leave the country because of violence and blind terror and unsettlement that have pervaded the whole country. Our churches, mosques and buildings are being pulled down. Bishops, priests and elders are getting killed or abducted for reasons that have nothing to do with God. And maybe our two brothers Bishop John Ibrahim & and Bishop Paul Yazzigi form one of the clearest pictures of the suffering of the people in the east. They have been abducted for more than 3 years amidst unjustified international silence. And some powerful states are satisfied with mere condemnation that is similar to silence.

                    We are among you now, but our hearts are in Syria and Lebanon with every other spot of our homeland in the east. We are going to stay in the east no matter what happens. Our country is being destroyed; it is under a heavy burden, but we are deeply rooted where we belong. This is something we take from our faith, because our ancestors also persisted in their land for more than 2000 years. And when they heard the apostles walk here, they took the proclamation of the good tiding (the gospel of Christ), to the whole world.