A statement on the situation in Syria was made today by Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and All Greece. The Primate of the Greek Church stresses that “The situation in the long-suffering Syria is once again extremely volatile. The internal warfare has again worsened with dramatic consequences for the civilian population. The advance of extremist armed elements and the occupation of Aleppo endangers the inter-religious composition of the population of the region, which has, among other things, a long-standing Greek and Greek Orthodox population – under the Pan-Hellenic and Presbyterian Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East – as well as Christian populations of Syro-Jacobites, Armenians and other Christians. Due to the years of warfare and its tragic and terrible consequences, there is now a danger of the total elimination and disappearance of Greek Orthodoxy and Christianity from the wider region, with all that this would inevitably entail for the future of the region itself.”

In addition, it notes. John I, but also to His Eminence Metropolitan Ephraim of Aleppo and the long-suffering Greek Orthodox of Syria, as well as to the Christian brothers and sisters of the Christian prefects of the Christian churches of Syria, and to all those who are persecuted and in danger. It encourages the Greek government and especially the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to take diplomatic and other humanitarian initiatives to normalize the situation and to ensure the presence of the Syrian Orthodox and Christians in Syria. It calls on international organizations and the international community to contribute in every possible way and effectively to the end of the long and destructive conflict, to the pacification and reconstruction of the region, and the preservation of its precious and unique inter-religious coexistence and diversity in terms of mutual respect and cooperation”.