St Ephrem, the Syriac Confirmed Syrian Presence, Adherence to Homeland

NEWJERSY, (ST) _ Patriarch Ignatius Ephrem II, of Antioch and All the East, and Supreme Head of the Syriac Orthodox Church in the world opened today St. Ephrem Syriac Center in New Jersey, with official and popular presence and the participation of several bishops representing the Syriac Church in the USA.

Patriarch Ephrem II told SANA that no one can displace the Syrians from the land of their ancestors and will be victorious, pointing to the importance of the Syriac Church for the Syrian community in America and Europe, where it has become a center of information about the conspiracy Syria has been experiencing and in confrontation of the vast amount of misinformation.

The Patriarch stressed that “the Holy See of Antioch has a single headquarters in Damascus, capital of beloved Syria and will not have another headquarters elsewhere,” noting that the opening of the center in New Jersey aims to deepen the bonds of communication between all Syrians and the esteemed Patriarchate in Damascus.

Patriarch Ephrem II explained that ” the Patriarchate will have other offices in Europe, India, and Latin America,” hoping that security and peace will prevail throughout Syria and the region, which suffer from extremist and terrorist organizations attacks and good news to come about the two kidnapped Bishops John Abraham and Paul Yazigi.

For his part, member of the Syrian-US Forum Ghias Moussa noted the importance of the opening of this center in the Syriac Church, in proving that “the Syrians are able to come together in a civilized way and express their opinion very clearly, so that Syria will remain steadfast, despite all the attempts of murder, deportation and displacement perpetrated against them by terrorist organizations”.

Syrian expatriate Lewis Hadaya expressed pride over building the center, pointing out that the participation of more than thousand people in the opening of this event is but a real expression of the Syrian community link to their homeland Syria.

Worthy mentioning that St. Ephrem Syriac cemter in New Jersey, is the first of its kind for the Syriac Orthodox church in the US and Europe.

It includes a chapel that bears the name of St. Ephrem the Syriac, a patriarchal office, a headquarters for the diocese bishop, offices and institutions for teaching the Syriac language and religious sciences, a paper and electronic library, and a Museum of icons and manuscripts.

Noteworthy that Syria is the only country in the world which has the largest number of native speakers of Aramaic “Syriac” language, spoken by Jesus Christ, who are residents of the villages of Maloula, al-Sarkha and Jab’adeen.

Tomader Fateh