His Holiness Aram I Visits Syria

On July 28, His Holiness Aram I visited Syria to meet the community and listen to their stories of suffering and internal displacement. (Photo: Armenian Church of Cilicia)

SYRIA (Armenian Church of Cilicia)””During the past five years of the conflict in Syria, the Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia, with the guidance of His Holiness Aram I, has accompanied the Armenian communities in Syria through prayers and messages, while providing humanitarian assistance and raising funds in the diaspora. All assistance to Armenians in Syria through the Catholicosate has been organized in cooperation with the Prelacy of Peria (Syria), the lay leadership and the Armenian Catholic and Protestant churches.

On Thursday, July 28, His Holiness Aram I began a pastoral visit to the coastal region of Syria to meet the community and listen to their stories of suffering and internal displacement; he assured them of the solidarity of the Church. A delegation, included Very Reverend Housig Mardirossian, Director of Ecumenical Relations and Communication Departments, Very Reverend Torkom Donoyan, Dean of the Seminary, and two members of the National Executive Council, Ara Demirdjian and George Shahinian, accompanied the Catholicos.

At the Lebanese-Syrian border, Archbishop Shahan Sarkissian, Primate of the Diocese of Peria (Syria), local officials and community representatives welcomed the Catholicos and his delegation and accompanied them to Latakia.

In Latakia, as the church bells of the historical St. Mary’s Armenian Church chimed, Reverend Ardak Arabian, the spiritual counselor, the parish priests, and the local and internally displaced faithful welcomed the Catholicos. After canonical prayers and blessings, His Holiness addressed the people and reminded them that the Arab Muslim and Christian communities of Syria had welcomed their ancestors during the Armenian Genocide and helped them settle as citizens. In return, Armenians had contributed to the flourishing and welfare of Syria, based on the values of love and respect. “Today,”