Armenian Catholic Church Reopens in Aleppo

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The Armenian Mirror-Spectator
ALEPPO (Panorama.am) —  The Armenian Catholic Cathedral of Our Mother of Mercy was reopened on Saturday, December 7, in the  al-Telal neighborhood of Aleppo after restoration and renovation works to fix the damage caused to the cathedral by terrorism had been completed, the official Syrian news agency SANA reported.

The opening ceremony was attended by Syria’s Grand Mufti Ahmad Badreddin Hassoun, the Papal Ambassador to Syria Mario Zenari, Aleppo Mufti Mahmoud Akkam in addition to a crowd of Muslim and Christian clergymen.

The head of the Armenian Catholic Community in Aleppo, Archbishop Boutrus Mrayati, stressed the importance of celebrating the reopening of the cathedral, which was built in 1840, as a spiritual occasion that aims at preserving Syria’s history, pointing out that renovation works were carried out by national expertise.

The Grand Mufti Badreddin Hassoun said that reopening the cathedral is a message to the world that “we are rebuilding what terrorism had destroyed of churches, mosques and factories.” He stressed that terrorism tools have destroyed the churches and mosques but they won’t be able to destroy Syria.

Other speeches hailed the reopening of the cathedral, emphasizing that it indicates the Christians’ insistence to stay in Syria and contribute to rebuilding what the terrorist war has destroyed.

Armenian Catholic Church Reopens in Aleppo