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Last Updated: 19 February 2013

Prot. N° 393/2012R

Good wishes of His Beatitude Gregorios III for
Eid ul Fitr
To their Majesties, Highnesses and Excellencies, the Kings and Presidents
Of Arab Countries
(August 2012)

Affectionate loving greetings and esteem for a blessed Eid ul Fitr, with my blessing and good wishes for God’s holy name to be praised and for Him to grant you and all our beloved Arab countries security, peace, stability, progress and prosperity!

This faithful, cordial and sincere wish for a happy feast comes to you from an Arab Christian Patriarch who loves you, in these difficult, dangerous and possibly fatal circumstances through which our Arab countries and homelands are going, circumstances unprecedented in our history.

A festival brings family members together around the meaning, values and traditions of the celebration. That is why the dearest wish that we make at this blessed Eid ul Fitr is for the unity of our Arab homelands and countries, unity of all citizens in their various denominations, communities, aspirations, parties, inclinations and interests: unity creates strength and guarantees sovereignty and success.

1. Unity of Christians in the variety of their denominations is very important if they are to live out their holy faith and be effective in their service to their country.

2. Unity of Muslims in their various denominations and groups is very important for consolidating the values of true Islam, safeguarding their homelands, ensuring their citizens’ happiness and achieving a flourishing, progressive and bright future, especially for the upcoming young generations, because our Arab countries are indeed young and the aspirations of our young people are very fine.

3. Muslim-Christian Arab unity is another wish at this feast and in these singular circumstances that our Arab countries are experiencing. We have to work very hard to strengthen our Arab Muslim-Christian unity, in order to continue our common path together that we have been following for the last 1433 years. So Christian-Muslim living together in our Arab countries will be a model of communication, mutual help, solidarity, compassion and respect between the faithful of different religions, both locally and worldwide.

Today in the world, fear about this or that religious group is growing and fear especially about the fate of Christians, in the wake of changes that are happening in the Arab world. We would like to affirm this Muslim-Christian unity and the need to consolidate it.
Indeed, this unity is based on joint history, during which Christians have worked with considerable involvement at the development of their Arab homelands in all aspects: language, literature, art and culture in schools, orphanages, hospitals, old people’s homes, clinics and welfare societies, which have always opened their doors to all citizens. Our Muslim brethren still like to come to these institutions and very much appreciate their services as well as the dedication of the monks and nuns who have devoted themselves to the service of God and their neighbour in the context of these institutions. That is the story of Christian devotion.

4. The joint Muslim-Christian role is to fulfil the aspirations of the young Muslim and Christian generations: freedom of worship and conscience, freedom of thought and art, equality between all citizens, human dignity, parity of job opportunities, a worthy standard of living, respect for women and children, the disabled and elderly, etc. All those are common values and goals for which Muslims and Christians have to work together and achieve through shared sacrifices and efforts. That should be especially the duty of the wise, experienced persons who devote themselves to Muslim-Christian dialogue, of enlightened civil bodies and Christian and Muslim religious leaders.

That is their task in the context of schools, universities and municipal bodies, through programmes of religious and moral education. That will be the real Arab spring.

5. Arab unity can resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, though this conflict has been the cause of the wars and crises that have weighed heavily on Arab shoulders and driven millions of our brothers and sisters to emigrate, especially Christians. This conflict has divided and continues to divide the ranks of the Arab and Muslim world.

6. As our Arab world has a great, glorious history, we have to unite all our efforts and abilities to benefit from this historic stage that our Arab countries are going through, in order to ensure a better future for our upcoming young generations, far from fanaticism, violence, hatred, enmity, mutual recriminations, division and dependence on others.

Majesties,
Highnesses,
Excellencies,

I entrust this heartfelt letter, together with my prayer, to your hearts and consciences. Alongside mine, the prayers of our faithful men and women are raised for you, who are the trustees of our countries’ spiritual, national, cultural and humane values.

We pray every day for our governments, all those in public service and the armed forces: “permit them, Lord, to serve and govern in peace that through the faithful conduct of their duties we may live peaceful and serene lives in all piety and holiness.”

May Almighty God grant this feast to be beneficial for everyone and for our Arab homelands; may it bring hearts together for good, unite our goals, grant us peace and security and shower us with good things and heavenly and earthly gifts!

Happy Feast!
With my esteem, affection and prayer,

+ Gregorios III
Patriarch of Antioch and All the East,
Of Alexandria and of Jerusalem

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Last Updated: 19 February 2013

CWN - Escalating violence in Syria is now threatening the people of Aleppo, reports the city’s Melkite Catholic leader, Archbishop Jean Clement Jeanbart.

Archbishop Jeanbart said that the struggle to oust the Assad regime has attracted support from Islamic groups outside Syria, and “we have fundamentalists coming from Libya, from Jordan, from Egypt, from several other countries.”

The Christians of Aleppo have not been involved in the fighting to date, the archbishop reported, and “we made it clear to everybody that we are not part of this fighting.” But militant Muslims—especially those from outside Syria—view Christians with suspicion, he said. Consequently the Christian population could be at risk. The archbishop pleaded with international leaders to help arrange peace talks. “We’d like to see European countries, the West, do something” to stop the violence, Archbishop Jeanbart said. As a first step, he said, Western countries should “try not to send arms and push people to fight,” but instead encourage them toward the negotiating table.

The archbishop insisted that Christians are not supporting the Assad regime, but simply seeking to avoid further bloodshed and chaos in Syria.

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Last Updated: 19 February 2013

CWN - Lamenting the “resurgence of violence currently spreading throughout the world,” the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople--the Eastern Orthodox see that holds the primacy of honor--issued a statement on August 14 denounced “barbaric acts” such as “ethnic cleansing, anti-Semitism, [and] destruction of places of worship,” particularly when these acts “are masked with the veil of religion in an effort to justify them.”

Citing conflicts in Nigeria, Sudan, and Syria, the Patriarchate stated that: "religious leaders should be working together, through dialogue, to affirm God's peace in the world. We, as religious leaders, have a moral obligation to resist war and promote peace as a vital and fundamental necessity for all humanity. Religion cannot and should never be a basis for war and conflict, nor should it be used as an instrument of fundamentalism and fanaticism for purely political motives and ends. With great resolve, we have repeatedly emphasized that any crime in the name of religion is a crime against religion."

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Last Updated: 13 June 2022

Ukrainian Father Mark Morozowich is the first Eastern Catholic to lead CUA’s School of Theology.

by JOHN BURGER 08/13/2012 ncregister.com

There was a time in the history of the Church in America that Eastern-rite Catholics were regarded with some suspicion by the dominant Latin-rite Catholic Church. They were forbidden to continue their tradition of allowing married men to be ordained to the priesthood, and Eastern-rite churches were expected to follow certain liturgical norms, including the installation of kneelers. (Traditionally, Eastern-rite Catholics stand during a good part of the liturgy, even during the consecration).

The demands led many Eastern Catholics in the United States to leave for the Orthodox Church.

But one of the documents of the Second Vatican Council, Orientalium Ecclesiarum, called upon Eastern Catholics to rediscover their authentic traditions, and Eastern Catholic Churches, though still relatively small, are thriving in the United States and elsewhere.

Now, an Eastern Catholic priest, Father Mark Morozowich, has been appointed head of one of the United States’ premiere Catholic schools of theology.

Father Morozowich, associate professor in the School of Theology and Religious Studies of The Catholic University of America, was appointed its dean July 1.

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Last Updated: 19 February 2013

Sloatsburg, NY - Over 3500 pilgrims attended the 58th Annual Dormition Pilgrimage in Sloatsburg, NY, which was blessed by God with beautiful weather. The workshops on Saturday focused on the “Vibrant Parish- a place to encounter the Living Christ” and one could see that happening throughout the weekend as dedicated priests sat for hours in the warm sun confessing thousands of pilgrims. Once again Metropolitan Stefan Soroka, Bishop Paul Chomnycky and Bishop Emeritus Basil Losten graced the pilgrimage with there presence. The pilgrims attending the Pontifical Divine Liturgy on Sunday were nourished by receiving the Holy Eucharist but they were also nourished by the spiritually uplifting homily of Bishop Richard Seminack, Eparchy of Chicago. Young and not so young prayed, talked and enjoyed each other on this weekend at the “holy mountain of Sloatsburg.”

View photo coverage on thier website: Photos of 58th Holy Dormition Pilgrimage

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Last Updated: 19 February 2013

In a letter dated 19 July, the President of the French Republic, François Hollande, thanked Gregorios III, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, of Alexandria and Jerusalem for his good wishes of 15 May last, the day after the French presidential election.

François Hollande expressed his determination to see “France continue to play an active role in promoting peace in the Middle East so crucial to the peoples of the region…I shall also work tirelessly to enable Syria to regain civil peace and for the dreadful current violence to end, and move, I trust, through orderly political transition to democracy supported by the international community.”

He added, “I am convinced that Eastern Christians have their role to play in the changes taking place in the Arab world and that only full and complete citizenship in a state of law will bring them the security and prosperity to which they aspire. In this context, France will ensure that the interests of Christian communities and all minorities are well preserved.”

The President of the French Republic was pleased with the “contribution of Melkite Greek Catholics to [French] national life” and expressed his best wishes for the European Melkite Convention to be held at Aubazine in Corrèze from 1 to 4 November next.

Rabweh, 10 August 2012