His Beatitude Patriarch of Antioch and all the East John X sent to the Holy Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia Kirill’s message, which thanked for the assistance rendered to the Russian Orthodox Church war-affected people of Syria, reports patriarhiei.
The message reads: “Mindful of the sacrifice of Christ, we cannot forget and overlook the sacrifices of the great Russian people and the Russian Church, and victims of the Antioch Church and its believers on Syrian soil. All these sacrifices were brought in order to save Syria and to save the honor and dignity of its citizens living in this historic and Holy land, which bears his testimony of Christ for over two thousand years.”
“First of all, I want to take this opportunity to thank You for the support that the Russian Church has of the Church of Antioch and all the Syrians for the past seven years, continues his Beatitude Patriarch John. — Thank You for what You sent several delegations to our country to provide various types of assistance”.
Metropolitan Vladimir made a special mention about the last in February 2018, an unprecedented charity event, organized and conducted with the participation of the Russian Orthodox Church inter-religious working group of the Council for cooperation with religious associations under the President of Russia. “I want to let You know that our Church will always be grateful for this action; with special appreciation I acknowledge the effectiveness of joint efforts”, — said the Patriarch John.
With gratitude noting the willingness of the Russian Church to support a number of projects of the Patriarchate of Antioch to help the victims of Syria and to facilitate the return of refugees, His Beatitude said, in particular, about the plans for the restoration of churches and recovery homes of parishioners who have lost a roof over your head.
“I attach great importance to Your views and therefore hope that the tradition to maintain frequent and honest communication between our churches will continue to be based, as before, on the ideals and principles of particular value, for connecting us ties have their roots deep in history,” reads the letter of the Primate of the Orthodox Church of Antioch, sent his Holiness Patriarch Kirill.