Syria: Syriac Orthodox Patriarchate pledges to remains in Damascus

Syria: Syriac Orthodox Patriarchate pledges to remains in Damascus | The Syriac Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch, Patriarch Mar Ignatius Zakka I Iwas, Syriac Orthodox Church

St George’s Cathedral, Damascus

The Syriac Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch has announced that it is remaining in Damascus, “and there is no intention to move it to another place”. In a statement Patriarch Mar Ignatius Zakka I Iwas and all the members of the Holy Synod of the Syriac Orthodox Church rejected rumours of a possible transfer of the patriarchal See to Turkey, because of the civil war.

The statement said that if the patriarchal See was transferred to Turkey it would mean the danger of “extinction” of the Syriac Orthodox Church and its spiritual heritage through a “fusion in melting pot of other communities and other nationalities”.

“We are interested in not only the survival of the See of Antioch in Syria, but also the permanence of our people in every part of Syrian territory” together “with our Muslim brothers and other Christian communities”.

The Patriarchate is based in St George’s Cathedral, in the Christian neighborhood of Bab Touma in the Old City of Damascus.

Source: Fides/ACA
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