Bucharest, Romania September 26- 2016

2016-09-24

“In our hearts we have our beloved people the displaced, the over-burdened, besides the wound of Aleppo whose two bishops have been abducted.”

 

 

                    In His visit to Romania, His Beatitude John X the Patriarch of Antioch and the entire east, ßarrived in Bucharest, Romania. Upon arriving at the Patriarchal center with the accompanying delegation, they all entered the church for thanksgiving. His Beatitude headed to the church accompanied by chanting and singing where His Beatitude Daniel the Patriarch of Romania welcomed him with the Georgian delegation presided by His Eminence John who represented his holiness the Catholicos Elia II the Patriarch of Georgia. They all participated in the prayer.

 

                    By the end of the prayer His Beatitude Daniel the Patriarch of Romania welcomed His Beatitude John X and the Antiochian delegation. He also welcomed the Georgian delegation hinting to the deep relationship among these three churches, and prayed for the return of peace to the Church of Antioch. His Beatitude Daniel mentioned the Antiochian Patriarchs who had visited the Church of Romania since the beginning of the 17th century.

 

                      His Beatitude John X responded in a word and thanked the Patriarch Daniel, and spoke on the historic relationships among these three churches. And in relation to the general situation in the Middle East, His Beatitude John X said:

 

“We have come today holding in our hearts the wounds of the Antiochian Church, so as to place them before your love. We ask you to pray for the return of peace to Antioch. We carry in our hearts our beloved people who are displaced and over-burdened, and who suffer from the hardest terror, takfeer, displacement and abduction, in wounded Syria. We have come holding the wound of Aleppo by which I mean the abduction of the two Bishops of the city: His Eminence John Ibrahim and His Eminence Paul Yazigi, and all the citizens of the city who have touched our hearts deeply. The wound of Aleppo has been open for more than three years amidst unjustified international silence, and the inability of those in power.

 

                    We pray today for Lebanon and for its peace and settlement; we call on all to elect a president for the republic as soon as possible. We always pray for Romania and Georgia and the entire peoples of the whole world.

 

                    In Antioch the disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ were first called “Christians”. This is what the Apostle Luke said 2000 years ago in the Acts of the Apostles.

 

                    In the homeland of Antioch, Christians will remain in good relationships with their Muslim brothers. Christianity is the flower of the East and the veins of its civilization.

 

                     Christianity besides others, has built the basis of the eastern civilization, that even time will not be able to eliminate nor will calamities.

 

                    Christians insist on staying in Land no matter what happens to them in the surrounding circumstances.