In a letter characterised by sincere fraternity and solidarity in Christ,His Beatitude Patriarch John X of Antioch and All the East has rushed to the side of His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew over the recent decision by the Turkish Council of State and President Recep Tayip Erdogan concerning the ancient Hagia Sofia cathedral.His words, deeply touching at this time of manifold crises throughout the world, including the Christian East, will resound in the hearts of all the Orthodox:
Damascus, July 13,2020
Your All-Holiness and Brother,
It is with much regret that we received the news of the Turkish government's decision to convert the Church of Hagia Sofia to a mosque.
We are dismayed by this decision.We strongly denounce and condemn any act that could counterfeit the historical identity of our homeland.
The recent decision aims at marginalising the Christian presence in the East, not to say that it attempts to eradicate the remaining pioneering role and Christian presence in peaceful coexistence with the rest of the religious groups
... This decision comes to undermine all the efforts deployed by the countries of this East to build states of citizenship that respect religious diversity and promote the positive values of secularisation.Yet, here is a decision that opens the wounds and thus, alas,reinforces extremism and eliminating the other.
We stand by you,dear Brother, joining our prayers for your Holy Church and this wounded East.We support every effort of yours to enhance your presence in your own land, the land of your ancestors, the Church of Constantinople, the new Rome to which we are all bonded by brotherhood and unity of faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour.
Greeting your holiness with an embrace in Christ, we convey to you the solidarity of our faithful of the Church of Antioch and All the East, asking the Lord our Saviour to grant you many years of ministry in this holy parish, providing them with the wellsprings of salvation.*
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