Catholicos Aram I Offers Condolences to Patriarch…

 

His Beatitude John X, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, received His Holiness Aram I Catholicosof the Great House of Cilicia for the Armenian Orthodox Church, at the patriarchal residence in Balamand. The meeting was attended by Bishop Shahe Panossian, Armenian Bishop of Lebanon; Bishop Shahan Sarkissian, Director of the Cilician Library at the Catholicosate; Archimandrite Howakim Banjajian, Head of the Media Department; Archimandrite Sarkis Abrahamian, Head of Ecumenical Relations and Christian-Muslim Dialogue in the Middle East; and Archimandrite George Yaacoub, Abbot of the Patriarchal Monastery of Our Lady of Balamand.

The Catholicos offered his condolences to the Patriarch for the martyrs of Saint Elias Church in Douweila-Damascus, wishing memory eternal for their souls. He also prayed for the healing of the injured. His Holiness affirmed the solidarity of the Armenian Orthodox Church with the Antiochian Orthodox Church, emphasizing the importance of Christian unity and the deeply rooted mission of the Church in the East amid major challenges.

In response, His Beatitude expressed gratitude for the Catholicos’s support and solidarity, highlighting the rich history of Christian witness of the Armenian Church and affirming the deep bonds between the two churches.