Patriarch Lahham: Reconciliation in Syria Helps Attaining Arab Reconciliation

DAMASCUS- (ST)- Efforts to attain reconciliation in Syria have a regional  dimension aiming to attain reconciliation among the Arabs themselves, said Patriarch Grigorius III Lahham of Antioch and All East, Alexandira and al-Quds for the Greek Catholic, urging all to take part in the prayers to be held next Saturday for peace in Syria.

During his meeting with a delegation representing the International Committee for Supporting Reconciliation and Solidarity led by the Irish Nobel Prize peace Award winner Margret Maguer, Patriarch Lahham said “peace in Syria, Lebanon and the holy land is a condition to attain the hoped-for global peace.”

 “We pray for the abandoning of violence and war as they contradict human logic and faith and because real jihad is the jihad for peace,” the Patriarch said, urging members of the committee to carry the message of attaining peace and reconciliation in the world.  

“Syria and Lebanon are the cradle of civilizations, religions and cultures and meeting on their lands will echo deeply in the world conscience, he said in reference to the international delegation visiting Syria and Lebanon at his invitation.

 The delegation comprises twenty international figures from Europe, America and Australia acting in the areas of human rights, peace and solidarity among people of the world.

The delegation’s visit is a response to the reconciliation appeal released last August to stress that the logic of reconciliation and peace must control relations among peoples, countries and governments of the world.

For her part, Maguer urged her country’s government and that of the United States to stop sending weapons to the armed terrorist groups in Syria.

H. Mustafa