{"id":25932,"date":"2010-11-09T22:07:14","date_gmt":"2010-11-10T02:07:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/2010\/11\/melkite-patriarch-calls-for-un\/"},"modified":"2010-11-09T22:07:14","modified_gmt":"2010-11-10T02:07:14","slug":"melkite-patriarch-calls-for-un","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/2010\/11\/melkite-patriarch-calls-for-un\/","title":{"rendered":"Melkite Patriarch calls for unified talk & acting to build better future"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

A friend sent me this letter of His Beatitude, Patriarch Gregory III addressing the killing and violence inflicted on the Syrian Christian community on October 31 (there’s discrepancy in the letter). His Beatitude is known for straight-talking and this letter indicates that sensibility. Let’s pray for peace in all of our hearts and minds as we pray for our enemies.<\/i><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Patriarch<\/a><\/p>\n

Rabweh, 8 November 2010<\/p>\n

Christian bloodbath in the Cathedral
\nof Our Lady of Deliverance, Baghdad<\/b><\/p>\n

The carnage which took place on Sunday,
\nNovember 1, 2010 in the Syrian Catholic Cathedral of our Lady of Deliverance in
\nBaghdad was of an unprecedented cruelty and barbarity. It was an attack capable
\nof undermining the good will of genuine bridge-builders between cultures, brave
\nheroes of inter-religious dialogue, as well as the optimism of the Special
\nAssembly of the Synod of Bishops for the Middle East.<\/p>\n

I offer my sincere
\ncondolences and the assurance of my prayers and those of our Church to His Beatitude
\nPatriarch Ignace-Joseph III (Younan), to His Eminence Cardinal Emmanuel III
\n(Delly) and to all those who are broken-hearted at this crime.<\/p>\n

We know that
\nthis criminal act is not the work of authentic Islam, and cannot be based on
\nit. Despite that, we hold Muslims in Iraq and in all Arab countries to be
\nresponsible for Christian security, since they have power, and control the army
\nand police force.<\/p>\n

We urge Arab countries to study the reality of fundamentalist
\nterrorism and the trends that feed on it. This is a global Islamic
\nresponsibility, because showing Islam under that guise is a disfigurement of
\nauthentic Islam. The real enemies of Islam and Muslims are neither
\n“Islamophobia” nor “Christian Europe,” but rather these fundamentalist organisations
\nand trends.<\/p>\n

They are also the enemies of Christianity and of every Christian
\nand Muslim social and human value, whether Arab or not.<\/p>\n

Christians are
\npeaceable, patriotic, loyal, faithful to their homeland and countries, tolerant
\nand naturally inclined to forgiveness. But they are not passive, cowardly,
\ntimid, any more than they are inclined to be humiliated. They are not sheep,
\ndesigned to be slaughtered by fundamentalists. Christians are builders of
\nvalues, nations and cultures, including Islamic culture itself.<\/p>\n

If Muslims do
\nnothing to safeguard this creative strain represented by Arab Christians in
\nIraq and throughout the Middle East, the prosperity and drive of Islamic
\nculture will be in danger of collapse, and Muslims will then be their own worst
\nenemies, enemies of their faith and of their countries.<\/p>\n

Dear Muslim and
\nChristian Arab brothers, let us adopt a unifying way of talking and act
\ntogether to build a better future for all our children and compatriots!<\/p>\n

<\/blockquote>\n

Gregorios
\nIII<\/p>\n

Patriarch of Antioch and All the East of Alexandria and of Jerusalem<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A friend sent me this letter of His Beatitude, Patriarch Gregory III addressing the killing and violence inflicted on the Syrian Christian community on October 31 (there’s discrepancy in the letter). His Beatitude is known for straight-talking and this letter indicates that sensibility. Let’s pray for peace in all of our hearts and minds as … Continue reading Melkite Patriarch calls for unified talk & acting to build better future<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[1712,1844,2477,2562,1931],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25932"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25932"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25932\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25932"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25932"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25932"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}