HB Patriarch John X meeting with the bishops and…

 

HB Patriarch John X met the bishops and priests of the Archdiocese of Damascus and its countryside, in the presence of the HE Metropolitan of Sao Paulo and All Brazil Damaskinos (Mansour) at the Patriarchate in Damascus.

At the beginning of the meeting, His Eminence Bishop Damaskinos talked about the current situation of pastoral and evangelization work in the Archdiocese of Sao Paulo and All Brazil, mentioning the challenges and difficulties that face the Church overseas.

Then His Beatitude presented the theme of the International Scientific Conference titled "The Antiochian Orthodox Church from the 15th century to the 18th century - towards a proper understanding of history" that is to take place at Balamand on October 16th to 18th. His Beatitude also tackled holiness and the saints, informing about the next Synod at Balmand to discuss the canonization of our Holy Fathers Nicola and Habib Khasheh. His Beatitude stressed the meaning of saints canonization and how to honor the saints and follow their example in our lives. He also highlighted the importance of the family as a small church and a laboratory where we live evangelical love and Christian values amid great challenges, immorality, and principles imposed by the reality of today’s life. The Patriarch commanded to implement the recommendations and decisions issued by the Holy Synod concerning the family in 2019. His Beatitude also intends to prepare a comprehensive pastoral plan to be adopted and applied in view of embracing, protecting and caring for our families in an optimal way to make them a solid basis for Christian education.

The meeting included an open dialogue and an overview of the most important challenges and ecclesiastical and pastoral concerns in the diocese of Damascus and its countryside in light of the difficult circumstances that the church in general and the region in particular are facing. There was a recommendation to be strong in ministry, cohesion and solidarity to preserve the Church's testimony and unity.