On Easter Tuesday at 11:00am and at 15:00, 5th/18th April 2017, the Hagiotaphite Brotherhood under its Hegoumen, our Father and Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos, returned the Easter visit of the Franciscan Fraternity and the Custos of the Holy Land.

            At 9:15 on Wednesday, 6th/19th April 2017, our Patriarchate under His Beatitude the Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos visited the Latin Patriarchate on the occasion of Easter. The Patriarchate was also visited by all the Christian Churches on the occasion of their Easter.

            On Thursday 7th/20th April 2017 our Patriarchate visited the Armenians for their Easter.

            On these visits His Beatitude our Father and Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos gave the addresses in the links below:
https://en.jerusalem-patriarchate.info/2017/04/18/32028

https://en.jerusalem-patriarchate.info/2017/04/19/32032

https://en.jerusalem-patriarchate.info/2017/04/20/32199

From Secretariat-General

httpv://youtu.be/M0s3valRcnk

httpv://youtu.be/onANz2C5BDM

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His Beatitude Theophilos III

Patriarch of Jerusalem

19 April 2017

Your Excellency Mr. President,

Your Excellency, Archbishop Pizzaballa,

Your Excellency, Archbishop Lazzarotto,

Your Beatitudes,

Your Eminences,

Your Graces,

Respected Members of the Government and Civil Authorities,

Beloved Monastics,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is an honour for us, Mr. President, that you are here with the Christian communities for this celebration of Easter, and in our turn we would like to express our best wishes to you in this season of Passover. Your festive greetings to us are very important, for by your greetings you make clear that Jerusalem is a holy place common to the three monotheistic religions, and that this Holy City of Jerusalem embraces a multi-religious and multi-ethnic mosaic. Your presence among us also confirms this harmony of our celebrations, especially of Passover and Easter. Jerusalem can be an example to all of harmonious co-existence and a synthesis of traditions and civilizations.

Your visit comes at a time when our region is experiencing despicable acts of violence against the human family and holy places, the latest of which was the heinous attack against our ancient Monastery of Santa Catherina in Sinai. We appreciate your compassion, and your deep respect for human life, which is the image of God, and your sensitivity to human experience.

In these days of our common celebration we see the deep relationship that unites Jews and Christians as the children of Abraham, along with our Muslim sisters and brothers. This coming together of these feasts this year in this way for us all is a wonderful providential sign of hope. This year the entire Christian world celebrates Easter on the same day, and Passover falls over the same time as Holy Week for us all.

We share the same spiritual language, and we celebrate in our feasts the same divine deliverance and salvation, from bondage to freedom. And we understand afresh our common roots in this land that is our shared home and holy to us all.

This is a profound message in a world that is captivated by pride and arrogance, the fruits of which we see in war, persecution, violence, poverty, and other ills in the human family. As we read in the Letter of St. James, “you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil” (James 4:16). We see all around us that human beings have put themselves at the centre of their own little universes, without a care for anyone of anything outside their small circle of concern. Man has, in so many ways, replaced God with himself, and with disastrous consequences both for the individual human person and the whole community.

Here in Jerusalem we have been blessed not to have had any illusions: here we know that the ultimate criterion is God himself, God the compassionate One. The Holy Land is the embodiment of sacred history that is unfolding before our very eyes on a daily basis, whether we are Jews, Christians, or Muslims. And the Holy Land is a living testimony to the ancient traditions that we live and celebrate as Jews, Christians and Muslims, side by side in this land in which we live together.

In our world of confusion and peril, Jerusalem and the Holy Land are the only place where people can take refuge and be renewed by the light of truth and the spiritual refreshment that comes from contact with our sacred history. This has been clear in these holy days as we have welcomed thousands of pilgrims from East and West.

Jerusalem makes us alert to all this. This is the beauty and uniqueness of the privilege of serving this Holy Land, where we have inherited such a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, multi-faith environment, and where diversity is part of the integrity of our shared existence. We all have a place, and we have a moral obligation to guard, sustain, and deepen this integrity for the benefit not only of our people, but for the whole of humanity that longs to drink from the deep, clear spiritual waters that well up in this Holy Land.

We would like to take the opportunity of this festive occasion to congratulate you, Mr. President, and to express our gratitude for all that you do to support these truths and values that give purpose to our lives, values that your mentioned, for example in a speech you gave last year honouring Danielle Sonnenfeld:

“Frequently we minimize the power of touch, of a smile, of a good word, and a listening ear, a compliment, or a small act of caring. But all of these have the potential to change lives.”

These words sum up so much of the meaning of this season of deliverance and salvation, and your presence among us at this holy season is a tangible sign of the peace and reconciliation that must always shine from the heart of Jerusalem. We take the opportunity of this blessed occasion to assure you, Mr. President, that we continue to be form in our commitment to support genuine efforts and work for peace and reconciliation, and we pledge ourselves to this sacred purpose.

May God bless you, Mr. President, your family, the Government, and all the civil authorities, in this joyful season.

Thank you.

His Beatitude Theophilos III

Patriarch of Jerusalem

19 April 2017

Your Excellency, dear Archbishop Pizzaballa,

Your Eminences,

Your Graces,

Beloved Monastics,

Dear Fathers,

Christ is risen!

It is our joy to be here, Your Excellency, to express our Easter Greetings to you on the occasion of your first Easter as the Apostolic Administrator of the Latin Patriarchate. We rejoice today with the Mother of God in these words of one of our Paschal hymns:

Shine! Shine! O New Jerusalem!

The glory of the Lord has shone on you!

Exalt now and be glad, o Zion!

Be radiant, O Pure Theotokos,

In the Resurrection of your Son!

Our joy is made all the more complete this year by the fact that we have celebrated Easter on the same day, and this common celebration emphasizes the importance of our Christian witness, especially at this time when our Christian brothers and sisters in our region and elsewhere are enduring hardship and persecution, particularly in Syria, and Egypt.

The current intolerable climate of violence makes it clear that our pastoral ministry is not limited to the guarding and serving of the Holy Places, but demands a careful attentiveness to all the communities under our diakonia. And by extension our pastoral concern reaches the world-wide Christian family, especially to those beyond our region who are suffering.

Your broad experience for many years as the Custos has given you to understand, defend, and proclaim the significance of the Holy Places – a significance that is inseparable from the indigenous Christian community. We cannot separate the “living stones” from the sacred stones from which the holy sites are built, for holy sites cannot be separated from their communities, or communities from their holy sites. Each gives life and purpose, and reveals meaning to the other.

Your steadfastness in promoting harmonious co-operation is deeply appreciated by all, and we must not forget the pivotal role you played in the restoration of the Sacred Edicule of the Holy Sepulchre – a role that reflects also your authentic instinct for the unity of our Churches.

We are grateful for everything that you have done, and continue to do, both in your role as Custos, and now as Apostolic Administrator of the Latin Patriarchate. We pledge to you our support and complete understanding, so that we may continue in that co-operation and common pastoral mission that Divine Providence has placed upon us, and so that we may be an effective witness of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ in a world that is torn apart by violence, hatred, war, and persecution.

However, we recognize that people expect us to whom leadership has been entrusted not just to raise awareness, but also to support genuine efforts and work for peace and reconciliation. It is our duty to translate the message that we celebrate into effective action. This is how we demonstrate that we are not here simply as moral and spiritual leaders, but as those who put our beliefs into practice. The living witness of the message of the Gospel is to  work for peace and reconciliation between all people, and in our region in particular between our fellow citizens, Jews, Christians, and Muslims alike. This is the true meaning of the resurrection for the life in the world.

May the Light of Christ that shines from the Holy Tomb strengthen and encourage you in the challenging mission that lies before you and all of us, and may God bless your clergy and the communities entrusted to your care.

Christ is risen!

Thank you.

His Beatitude Theophilos III

Patriarch of Jerusalem

19 April 2017

Your Beatitude,

Your Eminences,

Your Graces,

Beloved Members of our respective Brotherhoods,

Dear Fathers,

Christ is risen!

We welcome you, Your Beatitude, and your brethren to our Patriarchate in these bright days of the Easter Feast, and we thank you for your words of greeting. As we welcome you, we recall the moving words of the Easter liturgy:

It is the day of Resurrection;

Let us be radiant for the festival,

And let us embrace one another.

Let us say, o brethren, even those who hate us:

Let us forgive all thins in the Resurrection;

And thus let us cry:

Christ is risen from the dead,

By death he has trampled down death,

And on those in the tombs he has bestowed life.

(Doxastikon of the Praises)

We celebrate this great Feast this year in the happy remembrance of the renovation and re-dedication of the Sacred Edicule just a few weeks ago – a renovation and re-dedication that were made possible by an unprecedented co-operation between our three Communities.

This co-operation has been a profound encouragement to Christians and people of good will throughout the world, and we hope and pray that we may build on this foundation for fresh work in the years ahead.

In this project we have seen reconciliation in action, and we are only too aware of the urgent necessity of reconciliation in our region and in our world. We know that it is only by the patient coming together in dialogue and common endeavor that we grow in unity of purpose, and we also know how closely the eyes of the world watch what we do here in this Holy City.

This feast of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ is the sign to us that nothing – not even death itself – can stand in the way of God’s purposes for humankind and for his creation. We who are called to the spiritual mission of the Holy Places know the power of these Places to encourage and sustain the faithful in their Christian lives of service. May we continue in our God-given diakonia  of the Holy Places in faithfulness and love, so that all who come to worship at them may know the true and eternal Light that enlightens every heart.

May God bless you, Your Beatitude, in your ministry, and may God bless the members of your Brotherhood and all your communities in the Holy Land.

Christ is risen!

Thank you.

On Tuesday, 5th/18th April 2017, the Easter visits among the Christian Communities took place. At 8:5am of that day the Patriarchate received the Franciscan Fraternity of the Roman Catholic Church. At 9:30am His Beatitude and the Hagiotaphite Fathers received the representative of the Apostolic Delegation of the Vatican in Jerusalem.

At 10:00 am His Beatitude and the Hagiotaphite Brotherhood received all the Christian Communities together, the Latin Patriarchate in Jerusalem, the Anglican Church, Lutheran, Syrian, Coptic and other smaller ones.

On Wednesday, 6th/19th April 2017, at 8:30 am the Armenian Brotherhood visited the Patriarchate.

At the Franciscans’ visit His Beatitude gave the following address:
  https://en.jerusalem-patriarchate.info/2017/04/18/31940

At the visit of all the Christian Communities His Beatitude gave the address in the following link:

 https://en.jerusalem-patriarchate.info/2017/04/18/31942

The address of His Beatitude at the visit of the Armenians is in the link below:

https://en.jerusalem-patriarchate.info/2017/04/19/32030

Both the Custos of the Holy Land and the Heads of the other Communities stressed in their addresses the need for the co-operation of the Christian Churches within the spirit of the Cross and the Lord’s Resurrection for the support of the Christian inhabitants in the Middle East and in other areas.

On Wednesday morning, 6th/19th April 2017,  a Delegation of the Armenian Patriarchate in Jerusalem visited the Patriarchate at the Patriarchate Hall on the occasion of Easter.

From Secretariat-General

httpv://youtu.be/xpdsxJeCnS4

httpv://youtu.be/b_krWg6Dg8Q

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His Beatitude Theophilos III

Patriarch of Jerusalem

18 April 2017

Your Paternity, dear Father Francesco,

Beloved Members of our Respective Brotherhoods,

Dear Fathers,

Christ is risen!

We welcome you in the joy of this Paschal Feast to our Patriarchate, as we celebrate the Feat of Feasts, and we thank you for your greetings. This providential coming together of the Eastern and Western celebrations of Easter is especially significant for us this year, for we have just marked the completion of the renovation of the Sacred Edicule.

This joint project, carried out by the co-operation of our three Communities, has been a great sign tot the world of the unity and harmony of our spiritual mission in Jerusalem and the Holy Land, and this unity and harmony of mission have been crowned in our celebration of the Resurrection on the same day.

As we gather together, we repeat the great salutation of the Easter Liturgy:

This is the day that the Lord has made,

Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

In these words we discern the spiritual mission of the Holy Places. Here both faithful pilgrims in our native communities find the peace, love, pardon, faith, hope, light, an joy that are made manifest by Easter. Here all who come are able to drink deeply from the well that springs up to eternal life. Here all who come are refreshed by the fount of immortality.

On Palm Sunday, as Holy Week began, the desperate need of our world for the spiritual mission of the Holy Land was made clear to us in the bombings of the churches in Egypt. Christians as well as those of other faiths are experiencing terrible persecution, and in the face of this suffering the message of light and hope of the Holy Places, and especially of the Holy Tomb of our Lord Jesus Christ, becomes so much more urgent.

May we deepen our co-operation in our spiritual mission, and may the unity of purpose that we have known in the renovation of the Sacred Edicule be an inspiration to all who look to the Holy Land for the assurance of God, who in the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, has brought life and immortality to light.

May God bless you, Your Paternity, the members of your Brotherhood, and the communities that you serve.

Christ is risen!

Thank you.

His Beatitude Theophilos III

Patriarch of Jerusalem

18 April 2017

Your Beatitudes,

Your Eminences,

Your Graces,

Beloved Monastics,

Dear Fathers,

Christ is risen!

We welcome you here to our Patriarchate as we celebrate Easter on the same day this year, and we thank you for your Paschal greetings. The happy circumstance of our common celebration is a providential blessing on the work that we have done in the restoration of the Sacred Edicule that was completed just a few short weeks ago. While the responsibility of this restoration has rested on the shoulders of the three Communities, of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, the Franciscan Custody, and the Armenian Patriarchate, this has been a common witness of all the Churches and Christian communities of the Holy Land.

We celebrate this feast of Pascha in the shadow of persecution in our region. Just last week on Palm Sunday, two churches in Egypt were the target of violence in which many faithful worshippers lost their lives, and when His Holiness the Patriarch of the Coptic Orthodox Church was imperiled. We wish to express on this occasion to Your Eminence, Archbishop Antonius, our condolences and prayers for the dead and injured. This was an act of terrible viciousness against the Church, and it is a painful reminder that even here in the Middle East, the cradle of civilization as well as of Christianity, people are still persecuted for the sake of faith and of conscience.

Nor can we pass over in silence the despicable acts that are happening right now in our neighbouring country, Syria. We cannot remain indifferent to the fact that the divine image in of our fellow human beings is being sacrificed on the altar of conflicting political interests.

These situations on our doorstep are an imperative challenge to us to join together to lay aside the comparatively trivial matters that divide us, and act in concert. We must together raise our voices to do all in our power to appeal to the international community to bring an end to this untold and arbitrary human suffering. We are surrounded by a horrifying unpredictability in the political sphere, and this unpredictability results in terrible instability, danger and vicissitudes for the ordinary people of our region, and especially the poor and vulnerable.

But even in the face of such persecution and danger, we are not bereft of joy. As the Apostle Paul asserts;

Since it is by God’s mercy that we are engaged in this ministry, we do not lose heart…We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed but not driven to despair; persecuted but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies.

(2 Cor. 4:1,8-9)

The Feast of Easter is the fulfillment of the promise of God that death would be destroyed, and that the gate of eternal life would be open to all. This is the ground of our resolve in our spiritual mission, and this is what strengthens us in the face of unparalleled difficulties and challenges in these times.

So we celebrate this Pascha with joy, because life has triumphed over death, light over darkness, love over hate, faith over despair, truth over falsehood. The uncreated Light that shines from the empty Tomb of our Lord Jesus Christ is the testimony of the Incarnate Logos and his victory over death, and so we are able to rejoice with heaven and earth, as Saint John of Damascus wrote:

Now let the heavens be joyful!

Let earth her song begin!

Let the round world keep high triumph,

and all that is therein;

Let all things seen and unseen

their notes together blend,

for Christ the Lord is risen,

our joy has no end.

May the joy of this Easter celebration, which we hold in common this year, renew us in our commitment to the spiritual mission of Jerusalem and the Holy Land, and may God bless all of you to whom the leadership of your communities has been entrusted, and all your faithful.

Christ is risen!

Thank you.

His Beatitude Theophilos III

Patriarch of Jerusalem

18 April 2017

Your Paternity, dear Father Francesco,

Beloved Members of our Respective Brotherhoods,

Dear Fathers,

Christ is risen!

It is with great joy that we greet you in these bright days of the Paschal feast, in which we enjoy the happy event of being able to celebrate Easter on the same day. Our visit to you now, after your visit to us earlier today, is no casual formality. Rather these visits are a part of our moral, spiritual, and familiar obligation to each other in our homes. We say this because our life here in Jerusalem is the life of a family. So like families, we can visit each other on special occasions, even on the same day!

So as a family we can proclaim the Resurrection together with one voice, and say with a full heart together the words of one of the ancient hymns of the Western Church:

Christ, the Victim undefiled,

Man to God hath reconciled;

whilst in strange and awful strife

met together death and life;

Christians on this happy day

haste with joy your vows to pay;

“Christ is risen” today we cry;

now he lives no more to die.

(Victimae paschali 11^th century)

We celebrate Easter this year in the warm remembrance of the re-dedication of the Sacred Edicule, where the mystery of our Easter faith finds its focus, and we wish to take this festive occasion to express once again our gratitude to you, Your Paternity, and to your community, for the full and enthusiastic co-operation that you have given to this work. You have borne even the inconvenience of the displacement of your space in the Holy Sepulchre with patience and generosity.

The entire process of the exploration and renovation of the Sacred Edicule has received world-wide attention. Not only has there been interest in the structure itself, but also in the remains of the cave that it encloses. The eyes of the world have also been attentive to the fresh experience of co-operation between our three Communities in the carrying out of this work. This is the great hope that has arisen from this joint project.

Needless to say, just as we are, the world is looking forward to the completion of the renovation of the remaining parts of the compound of the Holy Sepulchre, including the underground sewage system and the floor of the rotunda.

We celebrate the Easter Feast once again at a time when there is much difficulty and danger in our world, and especially in our region. Syria is of special concern to us in these day, as is Egypt. Faithful people are suffering persecution, millions remain displaced from their ancestral homes, and there is an instability on the world stage that creates great uncertainty.

In these times it is all the more incumbent upon us, to whim Divine Providence has entrusted the Diakonia of the Holy Land and our sacred shrines, to show to the world the truth and power of the Resurrection to bring new and more abundant life. This mission begins, as we as leaders, as well as the communities we lead, take responsibility for our common life. We give thanks to Almighty God that we have been given this opportunity to deepen our co-operation in the spiritual mission of the Holy Places.

May the Light of the Resurrection sustain you, Your Paternity, your Brotherhood, and the communities that your serve throughout our beloved Holy Land, and may the risen Lord crown our joint efforts as an encouragement to all those who look to Jerusalem for the strengthening of their faith in the living God who raised our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead.

Christ is risen!

Thank  you.

On Holy and Great Saturday, 2nd/15th April 2017, the service of the Holy Light was observed by the Patriarchate of Jerusalem. For this service the necessary preparations were made for the coming of the pilgrims of all Orthodox Churches in co-operation between the Secretariat-General and the Status Quo committee of the Patriarchate with the Israeli Police, from the very early morning hours of Saturday.

Once the Orthodox pilgrims and the members of the other Christian Communities had been placed in the designated areas for each Community in the Church, His Beatitude our Father and Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos came at 12:00 noon (13:00pm summer time) down the staircase of the St. James Cathedral to the Catholicon – Holy Altar of the Church of the Resurrection, escorted by Hagiotaphite Fathers and delegates of Orthodox Churches and countries.

Therein, according to the order, the Israeli Police who was responsible for the order and security of the pilgrims came to receive the blessing and the Holy Light, followed by the delegates of the Armenians, Syrians, and the Copts.

After this procedure, there was the litany from the Holy Altar, three times around the Holy Sepulchre while the hymns of the litany of the day were being chanted: “Angels in the heavens, O Christ our Saviour, praise Thy resurrection with hymns…” and “O joyous Light of the holy glory of the immortal…”, by the Choir Leader of the Most Holy Church of the Resurrection Archimandrite Aristovoulos and Mr. George Alvanos with their helpers.

Having completed the litany, the Patriarch took off all his liturgical vestments but the sticharion, entered the Edicule, where the Lord’s Tomb lies, and offered a prayer to the Crucified, Buried and Resurrected our Saviour Jesus Christ. Then he passed on the Holy Light from the south door of the Edicule, which in great speed was transmitted to the Holy Altar of the Catholicon of the Church of the Resurrection. In the meantime, His Beatitude came out at the entrance of the Edicule and gave the Holy Light to the pilgrims who received it in joy and exclamations, placing it to their eyes, hands and faces for their Sanctification by the Resurrected our Lord Jesus Christ.
Almost immediately His Beatitude went to the Holy Altar, and from there, with the pilgrims’ candles lit and bells tolling, escorted, he returned to the Patriarchate. There he received the delegation of the Holy Archdiocese of Athens from Greece, represented by the Most Reverend Metropolitan Athenagoras of Ilion and the Greek Government represented by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Ioannis Amanatidis, with the Exarch of the Holy Sepulchre in Greece Archimandrite Damianos, as well as the delegations from Cyprus and Russia.

To those, the received from the Holy Sepulchre Holy Light was given, so that it be transferred by the special flight for this reason, to the various Metropolis and counties of Greece, for the enlightenment and sanctification of the Greek citizens and Orthodox Christians, and their refreshment for the sufferings of the recession and any other shortcomings.
From Secretariat-General

httpv://youtu.be/UiqVCZuJETo

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On Saturday, 19th March/1st April 2017, there was an Easter Gift Exhibition at the courtyard between the Bishop’s Residence and the Cathedral of the Archdiocese of Qatar.

Among the offers for the event by various companies and the ladies-members of the congregation, was a great variety of delicacies from Arabic, Greek, Serbian, Romanian, Moldavian, Russian and Ukrainian cuisine.

The event was honoured by the presence of the Ambassadors of Georgia, Moldavia and delegates of the Greek Embassy, the Democracy of Cyprus and Serbia in Qatar, as well as delegates of other doctrines in Doha.

From the Holy Archdiocese of Qatar

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