Archbishop Ieronymos II of Athens and All Greece met Maronite Patriarch of Antioch and All the East Cardinal Bechara Boutros Raï at the Archdiocese of Athens on Saturday, expressing solidarity with the people of Lebanon and the wider Middle East amid ongoing conflict.
Bishop Barnabas of Christoupolis, Chief Secretary of the Holy Archdiocese of Athens, welcomed the head of the Maronite Church. Bishop Theologos of Talantion and Protopresbyter Emmanouil Papamikroulis, the Archdiocese’s General Archpriest, also attended the meeting.
During their talks, Ieronymos expressed his love and solidarity with the people of Lebanon and other communities across the Middle East. He also highlighted the longstanding presence and contribution of Christian communities to the region’s history and culture.
“Eastern Christians are not strangers to the societies in which they live, nor temporary guests in their ancestral homelands. They are an integral part of the history, culture and collective memory of their peoples,” Ieronymos said.
He also stressed that the Church of Greece followed these efforts with fraternal concern and recognised the Maronite Patriarch’s important role in supporting the Lebanese people and promoting social cohesion and peaceful coexistence.
Raï thanked the Archbishop for his warm words, saying they reflected a deep understanding of the hardships facing Lebanon and genuine feelings of solidarity.
“You give us courage for our mission in the Middle East,” the Patriarch said, adding that “the issue among Christians is love”. He emphasised that these messages extended beyond the Church in Lebanon to encompass the entire Middle East.
Ieronymos then addressed the severe hardships that war had brought to the region’s peoples.
“Your thoughts are intense because they come from the experience of war and the fire you live through every day,” he said.
At the conclusion of the meeting, the head of the Church of Greece delivered a message of peace and Christian unity.
“All weapons shrink in the face of the love of Christians,” Ieronymos stressed.
The Maronite Patriarch was accompanied by Lebanon’s Ambassador to Greece, Kenj El Hajal, embassy officials and representatives of the Maronite Church of Antioch.
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