Tbilisi, May 17, 2021
Photo: sputnik-georgia.com
The violence sweeping through the Holy City of Jerusalem and the surrounding areas is a matter of grave concern for Orthodox Christians throughout the world.
According to His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos of Jerusalem, “The Christian character of Jerusalem and the Holy Land is under threat as never before in our lives.”
“There are disturbing political and social unrest, and the Christian presence in Jerusalem and the Holy Land is facing new and growing threats from radical elements seeking to undermine the multicultural, multi-ethnic and multi-religious landscape in which we have lived for centuries,” he said on Thursday.
Against this background, another primate, His Holiness Patriarch-Catholicos Ilia II of Georgia, is calling on his flock to offer special prayers for peace in the Holy Land.
His statement, dated May 13, reads:
The hostilities which have broken out in the Holy Land are the greatest ordeal for the people living in this land and for the entire region; but at the same time, are heartache for millions of other people, including, of course, Georgia, as our spiritual life has always been greatly related to Jerusalem and the Holy Land.
Therefore, it is natural that we are deeply concerned about the tensions which have arisen, and we call on our people to specially implore God, while offering their daily prayers, for peace in Jerusalem and in the entire Holy Land, as well as in Georgia and throughout the whole world.
“The God of peace be with you all. Amen!”
Pat. Theophilos and the heads of other churches represented in the Holy Land issued a statement on Sunday, May 9, condemning the violence in Jerusalem.
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