Patriarch al-Rahi : There is a dire need to halt violence in Syria

SAO PAULO, (ST) – “There is a dire need to halt violence in Syria .Nations which are involved in triggering violence in Syria must give the helping hand to put an end to the crisis,” said Cardinal Mar Bechara al-Rahi, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East of Maronite Church.

Al-Rahi’s remark was made during a ceremony held by the Maronite Charity in his honor in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

“It is time to recognize  that we are the victims of arms trade,” Patriarch al-Rahi underscored, adding that God has given humankind enormous treasures to live in cultural development, not to live in war.

In the same context, Patriarch al-Rahi called on the countries involved in kidnapping Greek Orthodox Metropolitan of Aleppo and Iskenderun, Bishop Paul Yazigi, and the Syriac Orthodox Metropolitan of Aleppo, Bishop John Ibrahim to work for releasing  them.

R.S