Prayer in absentia In the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Dormition in Damascus for the souls of the martyrs of Palestine to rest in peace

Damascus (ST) – The Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarchal Cathedral of the Our Lady of Dormition Sunday evening held a prayer in absentia for the souls of the martyrs as a result of the Zionist terrorist attacks on the Palestinian people to rest in peace and for the speedy recovery of the wounded in occupied Palestine.

Patriarch of Antioch and All the East of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, Youssef Absi, condemned the massacres committed by the Zionist enemy, which does not respect international laws, decisions, charters and treaties, and which has been oppressing, killing and displacing the Palestinians for seventy-five years without deterrence.

“What the Zionist enemy is doing, is happening in full view of many leaders, presidents, and influential people of countries who are turning their attention to what is happening in Gaza today, as if they have lost all human feeling and all human conscience,” Patriarch Absi. He indicated that these people are possessed by selfishness, greed, and cruelty; they speak of human rights, justice, and humanity, and are the first to violate and revoke them; they have no means of persuasion other than threats, violence, weapons, killing, and imposing punishments.

Patriarch Absi called on the UN, international organizations and authorities to stop Israeli crimes in Gaza, stressing that: “it is not enough and does not calm our conscience to bury the dead and treat the wounded, but rather we must prevent killing and harm.”

The Minister of Information, Dr. Boutros Al-Hallaq, the Papal Ambassador to Damascus, Cardinal Mario Zenari, a number of representatives of Christian communities in Damascus, the President of the Supreme Constitutional Court, Jihad Al-Laham, and a number of members of the diplomatic corps accredited to Damascus, participated in the prayer.

Najla Khoury