Alexandria, October 10, 2025
Photo: romfea.gr
The Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Alexandria, under the presidency of Patriarch Theodoros, issued a statement calling for peace following extensive discussions on military conflicts in Africa and the Middle East.
The statement, published by Romfea, was prompted by a letter from Bishop Timothy of Goma and Grand Kivu describing the war situation in his diocese in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the difficulties facing the faithful.
The appeal begins by noting that despite the world having experienced “two catastrophic World Wars with millions of human victims and incalculable material damage” in the previous century, along with “countless civil conflicts, genocides and displacements,” humanity has not “fully realized the urgent need for the prevalence of peace and reconciliation.”
“The African Continent has bitter experience of the previous evils, as well as of brutal colonialism and merciless economic exploitation, which left deep wounds and continue to torment our African brothers to this day.”
Citing the council held in Crete in 2016, the letter quotes: “The peace of Christ is the mature fruit of the recapitulation of all things in Him, of highlighting the value and greatness of the human person as the image of God; of promoting the organic unity in Him of the human race and the world.”
The Patriarchate specifically mentions ongoing crises including “persecutions against Christians in Nigeria by fanatical Islamists, crimes against civilians in Congo, civil conflicts in Somalia, Sudan and Mozambique, clashes of armed groups in Ethiopia and South Sudan, bloody anti-government demonstrations in Madagascar and so many others.”
The Synod also expressed concern for situations “outside the boundaries of the pastoral responsibility of our Patriarchate, namely the massacres of Christians in the Middle East and discrimination against them (e.g. Syria) as well as the bloodshed and genocide in Palestine and the Gaza Strip.”
The statement declares: “Violence against the human person constitutes a modern form of blasphemy, rather theomachy, since man, according to Biblical teaching, is created ‘in the image and likeness’ of his Creator.”
The Patriarchate issued “an agonizing appeal to political as well as spiritual and religious leaders, both on the African continent and throughout the world to work for the prevalence of peace, the immediate cessation of fire in war zones, the repatriation of the displaced, economic assistance and the reconstruction of destroyed infrastructure and homes and full respect for the human rights of all people, everywhere on earth without discrimination and footnotes.”
The letter concludes with a stark warning: “We are now at a critical point. It is time for deeds and not words, for actions and not vague and hypocritical expressions of goodwill, and everyone must face their responsibilities before God, history and the least of the brethren of the Lord.
The statement was signed by Pat. Theodoros and the gathered hierarchs following the Holy Synod’s meeting from October 6-9.
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