Wednesday, 17 August 2016, His Excellency Andrzej Duda, President of the Polish Republic met His Beatitude John, Patriarch of Antioch and All Orient – president.pl informs.
Besides the members of the Antioch delegation, Patriarch John was accompanied by His Beatitude Sava, Metropolitan of Warsaw and All Poland, and by His Grace Jerzy, Bishop of Siemiatycze.
Mrs Malgorzata Sadurska, chief of the Chancellery, and Mr Wojciech Kolarski, deputy state secretary in the Chancellery of the Polish President participated on behalf of the Presidential Chancellery.
According to the official website of the presidency of Poland, the discussions were focused on the situation of the Christians in the Middle East, especially in Lebanon and Syria, where many Christians are faced with the danger to leave their country because of the armed conflicts. The situation of the Christians of the Middle East becomes more and more difficult www.president.pl informs. Many of them are forced to migrate because of the conflicts present and of the Islam terrorism.
During the meeting, President Andrzej Duda underlined the fact that the Polish State supports the international initiatives designed to resolve the crisis of Syria, but he is aware that the resumption of the discussions on the theme in Geneva is a must. His Excellency added that the resolution of the situation of Syria can be possible only through political dialogue. All the international initiatives on the future of Syria must take into account the close cooperation with the Syrian people who must personally decide their own future.
Patriarch John of Antioch arrived in Poland Tuesday, 16 August 2016, at the invitation of the Primate of the Polish Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Sava.
Tuesday, Patriarch John was awarded the title of Doctor Honoris Causa by the Christian Theological Academy of Warsaw.
This is the first official visit of His Beatitude John to Poland, since his enthronement as Patriarch of Antioch and All Orient (2012).
