Good Wishes for Eid-ul-Adha
To our Muslim Fellow-Citizens
15 October 2013
An Appeal for Arab Unity
And Peace Preservation
On the occasion of blessed Eid ul-Adha,
I send my cordial good wishes to my Muslim brothers and sisters in Syria,
Lebanon and the Arab and Muslim world. I should like this feast to bring the
message of peace and an end to crises for our suffering Arab region and for
everything to return to normality, since it is our right to experience the
feast in peace. Let everyone return to mutual encounter and living in love,
friendship and tolerance for one another.
I wish to affirm that God will
not abandon us in this tragic situation that our countries are experiencing. Every
believer ought to be working for peace, security and reconciliation. All we men
and women ought to state unambiguously that we do not want death, killing, war
and weapons. We accept neither the destruction of our towns, villages, culture
and civilisation nor seeing our citizens killed or forced into homelessness or
emigration…
I pray that Almighty God may
allow love and openness to win every heart. May the value of the Sacrifice or
Redemption, which is the name and meaning of this feast, be the slogan for our
joint progress towards peace. We declare once more that peace can only be
realised from Jerusalem. Otherwise it is useless to speak of perfect, complete
and lasting peace.
To Muslim Arab kings, presidents
and leaders I address my sincere good wishes and greetings, praying for this
feast to be an opportunity for a meditative pause, prayers and concerted,
committed action for the dignity of our countries and citizens, for peace among
our nations and for the preservation of the spiritual value of humans.
As a friend, I tell my beloved
Muslim friends, especially in Syria and Lebanon, in Arab countries and
throughout the world: we ought not to be afraid, because we are children of
faith, hope and love. These difficult, dark times will grow lighter. Hearts
will regain their God-given calmness. Let us all work to show more solidarity
with refugees and displaced persons in order to alleviate their tragedy and
pain.
In conclusion, I appeal to the
international community and to humanitarian organisations to expend their
utmost efforts to bring about peace for nations and enable them to enjoy their independence,
respecting their right to determine their own future.
+Gregorios III
Patriarch of Antioch and All the East
Of Alexandria and of Jerusalem