New York, June 26, 2025
Photo: assemblyofbishops.org
The Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America issued a statement on Tuesday condemning the deadly terrorist attack that occurred at an Orthodox Church in Damascus on Sunday.
His Beatitude Patriarch John of Antioch and All the East and the Syrian hierarchs of the Antiochian Patriarchate prayed at the funeral for several of the new martyrs yesterday.
Condolences and condemnations of the brutal attack, which killed at least 22 and injured dozens more, have come in from the entire Orthodox world, including the Assembly of Bishops, which stated:
Mourning the loss of at least 25 lives and lamenting the suffering of more than 60 wounded faithful Orthodox Christians violated during the Divine Liturgy at Mar Elias Greek Orthodox Church in Dweil’a on June 22, 2025, we, the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America, condemn the terrorist attack on the innocent parishioners as a cowardly display of extremism. As many leaders of various religions have expressed over the past half century, we promulgate the sentiment that violence in the name of any religion is violence against all religions and God Himself.
We pray fervently for the entire community of Mar Elias. We pray for the full recovery of those who survived the heinous attack, both bodily and spiritually, including their mental wellbeing. For those who lost their lives, we pray that they rest in the bosom of Abraham, in a place of light, in a place of green pasture, in a place of refreshment, from where pain, sorrow, and sighing have fled away.
We reiterate our condemnation of violence, and, as we stated at the conclusion of our 2024 annual meeting of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops, “violence can never solve violence, and peace should be pursued at all costs.”
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