The Patriarch of Antioch talks about the role of the Church in Syria in light of the pope’s Apostolic Exhortation ‘Gaudium Evangelii’. Thanks to the suffering of war, Christians have rediscovered their faith and their role, which is to bear witness to Muslims fighting each other of a different way of life. Papers have been submitted to the Vatican for the beatification of the three young martyrs in Ma’aloula.
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Rome (AsiaNews) – “The Mission of Christian Syrians is to proclaim and bear witness to a new way of life among their Sunni, Shia and Druze brothers. This is the task God has entrusted to us. This hope of reconciliation gives meaning to our presence in Syria devastated by war,” said Mgr Gregorios III Laham, patriarch of Antioch and All the East, of Alexandria and Jerusalem of the Melkites, as he spoke about Pope Francis’ Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium.
On 30 November, the prelate chaired a meeting titled ‘Syria today, the voice of an eyewitness to refute lies and report on facts that really happened’, held in Rome’s Basilica of Santa Maria. Gregorios noted that “if Christians tried to preserve their identity without being open to the world in which they live, they would close themselves in a ghetto that could only breed isolation and suspicion. Through their presence in Syria, Christians bear witness to the Gospel in their daily life, and this is our ‘mission’ among the Muslims.”
Read the full report on the update from His Beatitude: