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GREETINGS TO THE ARMENIAN PATRIARCH ON THE OCCASION OF THE PASCHAL VISIT TO THE BROTHERHOOD OF ST. JAMES.

Jerusalem, 23 April 2014

 

 

Your Beatitude, Patriarch Nourhan,

Your Eminences,

Beloved Members of our Respective Brotherhoods,

Dear Fathers,

 

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!

This blessed Paschal celebration gives us the opportunity to visit you, Your Beatitude, and to be among the Armenian Brotherhood in this spirit of fellowship and Easter joy. We are glad that we are reaping the good fruits of the cooperation and mutual understanding that exist between our communities. This proves so well that dialogue in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ is the most powerful and effective way in which to solve family challenges.

We wish to commend you, Your Beatitude, for the leadership that you have exercised since your election. We to whom the leaders of the Christian communities of the Holy Land have been entrusted to bear a special burden that can only be shouldered with the help of the grace and mercy of God.

As we bring our Easter greetings to you, we are fully aware of the terrible plight of the suffering of our fellow Christians in many countries, and especially in our neighboring region. We know of your own personal connection to the Armenian community in Syria, and we assure you of our prayers for the Armenian people in Syria, in Armenia itself, and around the world.

May the Light that shines from the Tomb of Christ on this Feast of Feasts be a beacon of hope and a source of strength to us all as we seek to be faithful in the spiritual mission that has been entrusted to us in our beloved Holy Land.

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!

Thank you.

His Beatitude

THEOPHILOS III,

Patriarch of Jerusalem