The Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Antioch, during its consultative session held on Monday, 11 January 2016, in Balamand, discussed on the works of the Pan-Orthodox Synod that is to take place later this year. His Beatitude John X, Patriarch of Antioch and all East, chaired the meeting, to which bishops of Syria, Lebanon and the Diaspora attended. During the meeting, the preparation of the Synod, and Antioch’s approach towards the various principles and mechanisms of decision-making and the participation at the Synod were addressed to.
At the end of the meeting, His Beatitude Patriarch John delivered a speech in which he emphasized the importance of peace in the region, especially in Syria. His Beatitude Patriarch John remembered the kidnapped persons, among whom are the Orthodox Metropolitan Paul Yazigi of Aleppo and the Jacobite Syrian Metropolitan John Ibrahim of Aleppo. The Patriarch of Antioch also stressed on the importance of finding a solution regarding the absence of a president in Lebanon.
Nevertheless, Patriarch John of Antioch conveyed good wishes to everyone on the occasion of the Holidays. His Beatitude noted the importance of maintaining the unity of the entire Orthodox Church, facing the challenges of the modern man, and underlined the importance of issuing a common statement related to the life of today’s world, at the end of the Pan-Orthodox Synod.
Source: antiochpatriarchate.org
Transl. by Rev. Fr. Gheorghe Costea
