A Joint Statement Issued by the two Patriarchates of Antioch and of All the East:
The Greek (Roum) Orthodox Church and the Syriac Orthodox Church
On
the occasion of the second anniversary of kidnapping the two
Metropolitans of Aleppo: His Eminence Paul (Yazigi) and His Eminence
John (Abraham) on April 22, 2013
Damascus April 22, 2015
“It is for our hope in the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial.” (Acts 23:6)
Paul
and John are on trial; the Christian persecution for Evangelization of
the first century has now returned to this land. Such persecution is not
common in the East or in modern times. The consequences of this trial
are not only earthly but heavenly. In this struggle, the Great Judge
will prevail, for His judgement is both the case of True Man and True
God.
Maybe
this trial is unfair, most probably because the kidnapped are not able
to plead their case. But their testimony resounds ceaselessly by their
spirit and life, and echoes in the wilderness of this world.
O brethren of the Word,
you are our children in Aleppo; in you and among you we planted the
seeds of the true word, the word of witnessing and of ministry. Behold,
the plant is growing! We see this growth in you and we are proud of its
fruit. We are astounded by your perseverance, which strengthens our
perseverance. We exalt your steadfastness which sustains us. We esteem
your patience, which recompenses our patience. How not? You are the
crown of our glory and pride (1 Thess 2.19,20) in this trial against evangelization.
O brethren of Faith,
we are on trial because of what we believed in and evangelized and we
served by the hand, heart and conscience. We live today on earth so that
we can live thenceforth in Heaven. Man has the right to believe in the
True God, and to faithfully minister with this faith his neighbor as
himself. Our belief in the True Man, leads us to serve Him anywhere we
are, but we will continue to be citizens where we are today. We will not
deviate one iota from this determination. It deserves every sacrifice
in defense of human dignity. Man is oppressed and dehumanized by the
contemporary human market which offers people as a commodity in a wicked
commerce. The sting of dehumanization shall be broken in thistrial against dignity.
O brethren of hope,
be not oblivious to the fact that we are on trial “ for our hope in the
resurrection of the dead”. (Acts 23:6) St. Paul attested once, and we
declare it out loud: they want to eradicate the future at the expense of
the present! However, they do not know that the Lord of heaven and
earth, Who created them both, also provided that we may traverse the
distance separating the two in spirit through Faith, and may attain the
future with God-given hope toward achieving His promise to us. The
present life is transient, but the future one is permanent.
We all look forward in great expectation,
remaining steadfast with this hope in the face of death, crouching close
to destroy your bodies and souls. However, our hope in the resurrection
of Christ has broken the sting of death in this trial against endurance.
O brethren of love,
it is undeniable that when facing such a trial one must confront it
with his true identity and faith. If we betray the love of Christ
towards us, our hearts and consciences grow dim. When we see you strong
and consistent, brethren, our hearts rejoice with the sight of your love
among the wreckage of fallen humanity, whose self-centeredness has
truly reached the gates of Hades. By your love we conquer everything,
and by it you overcome all forms of death, so that you may enter into
the Kingdom of the God of Love. Amongst devastation, death and foul
play, the evidence of your love will be built as a final judgment in the
trial against conscience.
O brethren of blood,
you have been judged, or you will be judged. Some of you have received
the favorable judgment of God to be martyrs and confessors, and some of
you live the testimony of unsurpassed hope, in silence or under threat,
in weakness or in agony. However, by your perseverance you muzzled those
who lay a wager for your betrayal, apostasy, and feebleness in the face
of weakness, enticement, or threat. Your blood, whether still pulsating
or shed, is a balm to your families and to your brethren, and a seal of
victory in the trial against immortality.
O brethren of truth,
be assured that anyone who has declared victory over truth and hidden
falsehood is silenced. We see them through the eyes of the heart, and
fathom what is noticeable in them, in their words (media) and actions,
as well as in their secret intentions, and consciences. No truth will
supersede the truth of God and man, regardless of their sins. This is
the cry of John in all of us: “He that loveth not his brother abideth in
death. Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer.” (1 Jn 3:14 to 15).
We will not compromise when it comes to human beings, and we will not
yield to anything except to the truth. We proclaim it with you, at the
heart of your suffering, struggle, steadfastness, and courage. By this,
you have disclosed their evident error in the trial against truth.
O brethren and compatriots,
your wounds are our wounds, and your pain is our pain, your suffering
is our suffering, and your tears are our tears, and your life is our
life. Our hands are extended to you, and our hearts have room for all of
you. Let us shake hands, talk to each other, have peace,
reconciliation, mutual understanding, cooperation, and integration. A
solution is not achieved by violence, but by multiple forms of dialogue.
Let’s act now. Fear comes when human civilization perishes and
disappears, and when this trial is prolonged. With you we raise the flag
of thepartnership in the trial against unity.
O brethren of fate, our East; we are the sand of its deserts, dirt of its fields, rocks of its mountains,
water of its rivers, roots of its trees. If they vanish, life will no
longer exist or it will have no meaning. Our East has become an open
arena for all evils. The bargain of this trial is to demolish life in
its cradle, shatter civilizations, remove the rudiments of its
landmarks, conceal its characteristics, displace man, destroy history,
and disfigure the identity of God. Our victory of truth on earth is
derived from heaven, but not by calling upon God to be exploited, as
impulses of passions, of which heaven is completely acquitted! We are
devoted to stay in the East, to which we belong, of which we are, in
which we bear witness to our faith, from which our witness starts out,
and on which we build our humanity. The one God was not for us a subject
of dispute, and reason for fighting, or cause of division. We learned
to address Him as “Our Father” (Matthew 6.9), so we are all, “Brethren.”
We can speak to everyone in truth and love, and “to lay down our lives
for them” (1 Jn 3:16); and so we are able to confess that we share a
common destiny. Either we all hold tight together, or we all lose! No
believer or nonbeliever, whether from the East or outside it, can bear a
false witness, blinded to what is going on here. With you we raise the
banner of brotherhood, confounding the false witnesses the trial against human and religious.
O brethren in humanity,
our cause is beyond one group or nation, and wider than one region. Our
ordeal is a test for all humanity in the contemporary world, which is
distorted by its enslavement and various distractions. We are thankful
for all those who are aware of these perils, and for those who are
striving to contain them, treat them, and prevent them. We will not
become a cause to be resolved and decrypted. We are not like this, for
you are our cause! We are vigilant, from our dwelling place, over the
consciences of those who willingly continue to eradicate our cause: the cause of the true human and the true God.
Is it not unreasonable for roles to be exchanged, so that the sentenced
might become a judge, even if he was in a cell, and the judge might
become sentenced, even though he is sitting on the judgment seat?
O brother in completeness,
He Who was incarnate for us, carried our nature, endured unjust
sentence, ascended on the Cross, went to Hades and then rose to heaven,
has taught us that we are your “brethren”, unworthy though we be, and
that “your Father is our Father and your God is our God” (Jn 20:17). Our
peace and joy in you have reached to a level whose height and depth is
unattainable in our spiritual life, and whose length and width is
immeasurable in our material life! It is a joy, and peace, according to
the measure of the giver: “My Peace I leave with you, My joy I give unto
you… no man taketh from you.” (Jn 14:27; 16:22). You have determined to give us your joy and your peace! How great is our victory, and how benevolent is God’s judgment!
These are the ten categories of the brethren,
and the “book” of our complete defense, which we “took out of the right
hand of Him that sat upon the throne.” (Rev 5:7). This is our good news
to you; “Listen to them” (Acts 2:14), so great is our consolation in
you. We are all aware that the trial is not over yet, as we have yet
many rounds, according to the will of the Holy One. “What shall we say
then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid… What if God,
willing to show His wrath, and to make His power known, endured with
much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: and that
He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy,
which He had afore prepared unto glory… “(Romans 9:14; 22-23).
This
is a victory of the right hand of the Most High, accomplished through
you and through us! As our unceasing encounter is sustained in prayer
for all, we lift it up to Thee, O Lord, for unto Thee belongs, glory,
power, worship, and dominion forever! Amen.
Translated by Archdiocese Office
