Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Damascus (Agenzia Fides) - Dialogue, reconciliation, unity in the country is the appeal launched by the Melkite Patriarch of Antioch, Gregorios III Laham, who spoke at a prayer meeting held yesterday in the church of St. Cyril, in Damascus, where leaders of different religions prayed for the victims of conflict and terrorism. As local sources told Fides, the Patriarch called on the Syrians to pray God to preserve Syria and its people, hoping that "Syria can continue the process of renewal and change through dialogue, for the good of the country ".
Patriarch Laham also stressed the importance of listening to the demand for reforms that come from the people, saying that "the new Constitution is a step forward," and expressing confidence that the Syrians can "work themselves for democracy, freedom and human dignity, with the participation of all groups of society". Laham said he referred to the Pope "some ideas to eliminate violence", noting that the role of Christians in Syria, "in these difficult circumstances, is to preserve the unity of Syria, which is needed for the stability of the Arab world".
The Muslim scholar Sheikho Ahmad, one of the leaders present, remarked that Syria has been and will always be "the house where all religions live together" and that "prayer intends to spread the values of love and peace, contrary to hatred and violence". (PA) (Agenzia Fides 22/3/2012)
