Syria is exposed to unprecedented terrorist attack
Greek Orthodox Archbishop of Sebastia, Archbishop Atallah Hanna called on Orthodox Churches in the world and all Christian Churches to immediately move in advocacy for Syria, which is exposed to an unprecedented terrorist attack with the aim of destroying all factors of the state and blowing up the close brotherly relations between the people.
Dec 12, 2013
Occupied Jerusalem, SANA
Occupied Jerusalem, SANA
Receiving a delegation from the Bulgarian Orthodox Church on Wednesday, Archbishop Hanna said what have happened recently in Ma’loula and other places shows the nature of the maneuver aiming at destroying the civilized, humanitarian and historical dimension in the Middle East.He renewed the call on Orthodox, Catholic and Evangelical Churches in the world to take feasible steps to stop bleeding in Syria.“It is the duty of Christian Churches in the world to work for peace in Syria, stopping the violence and resorting to dialogue, fraternity and amity language and to move for releasing abducted nuns, bishops and other kidnapped people.Bishop Hanna stressed that Syria is not in need for denunciation and condemnation statements but there is a need for feasible positions to thwart terrorist plot aiming at striking the distinctive form of its society and components.
Archbishop Hanna : World churches should take feasible steps for deterring terrorists’ supporters
In the same context, Archbishop Hanna, said that world churches should take feasible measures for pressuring governments and sides which are supporting terrorists in Syria so as to deter them.
Archbishop Hanna called for a universal Christian move for solidarity with Syria which “is bleeding and undergoing an unprecedented terrorist attack” that targets it people, unity, history and religious amity.
“We hope that world churches do not only express condemnations and denunciations, as feasible stances should be taken to pressure governments and sides that support the criminal terrorists and supply them with funds and weapons,” he clarified.
The Archbishop considered that the acts of terrorism and killing the Syrian Christians are facing by extremist groupings, which have streamed into Syria from abroad, aim to scare the Christian component out of it so as to blow up the Islamic-Christian unity and destroy the country.
Hanna appealed to the world churches for releasing Maaloula nuns and Aleppo Metropolitans Yohanna Ibrahim and Paul Yazigi who have been kidnapped by armed terrorist groups.
Christians should take up arms in Syria
![A destroyed church in Syria.]()
A senior Orthodox Church official has urged Christians to take up arms in Syria and defend themselves against extremists, condemning the international community for not stopping flow of arms to Syria militants.
Speaking to the Iraqi newspaper Az-Zaman, Bishop Luca al-Khoury said “we have many young men who are asking us [to take action], and there are those demanding that we take immediate action.”
“I call on every young man who can take up arms to come forward,” Khoury said, adding that the initiative was meant to allow the community’s members to engage in self-defense and protect Christian holy places, which have come under attack recently.
“Our young people are ready; their fingers are on the trigger and they’re ready to fight for the sake of Syria and for the sake of self-defense,” said Khoury, the patriarchal assistant at the Antioch Diocese, based in Damascus.
Asked about the 13 nuns and several orphanage workers who were seized last week by al-Qaeda-linked militants and taken away from Maaloula to the nearby town of Yabroud, Khoury indicated they were unable to discuss their situation freely.
The women appeared in video footage broadcast Friday by Al-Jazeera television and said they were being treated well after being forced to leave Maaloula due to heavy shelling. The militants who have taken the nuns away say they haven’t ‘kidnapped’ them.
Khoury said that some 40 churches had been damaged during the war in Syria and blamed the international community for accepting the opposition’s version of events, like “the government is killing its people – they are seeing things with only one eye.”
Khoury urged leading countries to instead make efforts to stop the flow of weapons into the country.
In Lebanon, caretaker Energy Minister Gebran Bassil said the events in Maaloula, where the Syrian army has been trying to secure against al-Qaeda-linked attacks, have been locked in a fierce campaign for the last several weeks, were having an impact on Christians in Lebanon and the rest of the world.
Bassil told a news conference that it was time to act in order to halt “the series of attacks on Christians.”
“Reactions in Lebanon, the Levant and the world haven’t been sufficient,” Bassil said, adding that a similar disappointing response followed the kidnapping of two Orthodox bishops in April.
The minister proposed both prayer and large-scale peaceful demonstrations to express outrage over the targeting of Christians in the war in Syria.
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ALALAM
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by Alexandra Valiente