LETTER OF CONDOLENCE FROM THE WORLD FEDERATION OF ORTHODOX AND APOSTOLIC CHURCHES

On the Martyrdom of the Faithful at St. Elias Church, Damascus

June 23, AD 2025

To His Beatitude John X, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, To His Eminence Metropolitan Saba and the Holy Synod, To the Clergy and Laity of the Patriarchate of Antioch, To the Families of the Martyrs and the Wounded, And to all the faithful sons and daughters of the Holy Orthodox Church in Syria:

Beloved in the Crucified and Risen Christ,

Grace, peace, and the compassion of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

With broken hearts and steadfast hope, we write to express the deepest sorrow and unwavering solidarity of the World Federation of the Orthodox and Apostolic Churches upon hearing of the tragic and brutal attack on your faithful during the Divine Liturgy at the Church of the Holy Prophet Elias in Dweilaa, Damascus. We weep with you in your grief; we tremble in awe before the courage and witness of the martyrs now crowned with glory in the heavenly Jerusalem.

To suffer such an unspeakable act on the feast of All Saints of Antioch, when your Church commemorates the apostles, hierarchs, confessors, and martyrs who laid the foundations of faith in blood and tears, is a mystery heavy with sorrow and yet transfigured with divine light. For in Orthodoxy, martyrdom is not the extinction of life, but the confirmation of it. It is not the silence of fear, but the thunder of faith. It is not defeat, but the coronation of eternal victory.

We honor the faithful who perished as true martyrs, who fell while hearing the Gospel proclaimed. These souls are offered up like incense before the throne of God. They join the apostolic ranks of Stephen and Ignatius, of those who have confessed Christ with their blood and have now taken their places among the white-robed witnesses who cry, “How long, O Lord?” (Revelation 6:10). These beloved ones have passed through the veil in the very act of worship, lifted from the earthly Liturgy to the heavenly. Their martyrdom is a homily to the world: that God is not mocked, that the Church is not broken, and that the Gospel is not defeated.

We denounce this vile act not only as a crime against innocent life, but as a blasphemy against the sanctity of worship, against the image of God in man, and against the dignity of a people who have borne so much and yet remained steadfast in their faith. We call upon all people of goodwill, all nations, and every ecclesiastical body to join in prayer, to raise their voices, and to demand justice… not for revenge, but for the sake of peace.

We join our voices to yours in the cry of lamentation, but also in the hymn of defiant hope:

“Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tombs bestowing life.”

We remember the words of St. Paul: “We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair… always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body” (2 Corinthians 4:8–10).

To His Beatitude Patriarch John X, we express our deep respect for your pastoral leadership, your boldness in bearing witness before both Church and world, and your tireless efforts to defend the sanctity of Christian life in Syria and beyond. Your grief is our grief. Your hope is our hope. Your Church is not alone.

To the families of the martyrs and the wounded: you are not forgotten. Your loved ones are not lost. Their names are inscribed in heaven, their sacrifice is sealed with the Spirit, and their memory will be eternal.

We offer the following prayer in union with yours, beseeching the Lord of Hosts to send peace upon Syria, to grant courage to the faithful, and to defend His Church in every land and tongue:

A PRAYER FOR PEACE

O Lord and Master of all, Christ our God, born of a Virgin for our salvation and risen from the dead for our justification: stretch forth Thy mighty hand and still the storm of violence that assails Thy people. Deliver Thy flock from terror, hatred, and bloodshed. Teach the nations to walk in the ways of peace. Let Thy Cross be our banner, Thy Gospel our shield, and Thy Resurrection our eternal hope. For Thou art the King of Peace, and to Thee we send up glory, with Thine unoriginate Father and Thine all-holy, good, and life-giving Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

May their memory be eternal. May Syria know peace. And may the Church of Antioch be ever strong in witness and glory.

With unshakable hope in the risen Christ and unwavering solidarity in this hour of sorrow,

+ On behalf of the Primates of the World Federation of the Orthodox and Apostolic Churches

The Most Reverend Bishop Joseph

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