As reported, on March 8, 2025, the leaders of the main Christian denominations in Syria, including the Patriarchate of Antioch, issued a joint statement in connection with the religious and ethnic cleansing carried out in Syria by radical Islamic groups. In a joint statement, the heads of the Syrian Christian churches strongly condemned the impunity of the violence taking place in the country’s cities, calling on the interim government to stop the bloodshed and return to the fragile peace in Syria. The statement was signed by His Beatitude Patriarch John X of Antioch and All the East, the head of the Syrian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Ignatius Ephraim II of Antioch and All the East, and Patriarch Youssef I Absi of the Melkite Church.
ROC issues statement in connection with mass killings of civilians in Syria
The Russian Orthodox Church’s Synodal Department for Church Relations with Society and the Media has issued a statement in connection with the massacres of civilians in Syria. The Russian Orthodox Church expressed solidarity with national and religious minorities who are being persecuted by radical Islamists for no reason. This is reported by the website Patriarchia.ru.
“On the Syrian soil, where a lot of blood has been shed in recent years as a result of many years of civil confrontation initiated and supported from the outside, the suffering of the civilian population continues. Armed groups of individuals who have arrogated to themselves the right to use weapons without legal grounds and without any control by the authorities have launched mass persecution and killings of ethnic and religious groups, including Alawites, Muslims and Christians. Accusations of disloyalty and threats to the new Syrian government are being put forward as grounds for terror. Such arguments lose their credibility in a situation where numerous cases of killing of unarmed people, children, and the elderly are recorded. There is every reason to believe that the persecution is carried out on religious and ethnic grounds,” – the statement reads.
The Russian Church called on representatives of the international community to influence the current situation and stop the reckless bloodshed in Syria, which is taking place under the auspices of the new government.
“The public space is filled with video footage showing the reckless killing of innocents, carried out with particular cynicism and mockery. Christians all over the world, as well as believers of other traditional religions, are raising their voices against the lawlessness being committed. The Russian Orthodox Church expresses its solidarity with representatives of religious minorities who have been targeted by extremists from different regions of the world, many of whom have come to Syrian soil to commit acts of unprecedented cruelty, murder, robbery and terror. We call on world leaders, international organizations, and heads of religious communities to take joint action to end the suffering of innocent people and return the long-awaited peace and harmony to Syria,” – the Russian Orthodox Church added.
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