2 November 2016

Your Eminence Cardinal Dziwisz,

Your Eminences,

Beloved Fellow Religious Leaders from the Holy Land,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

This morning we have paid a visit to Auschwitz, the place which, above all others has come to be the symbol of Nazi terror as well as a horrible reminder to us even in our own day of the depths to which man’s inhumanity to man can plummet. Here unspeakable atrocities were committed; here a policy to eradicate an entire people was implemented. Here Christians and others also died, for the ravages of Nazism were indiscriminate. In the face of what happened here, and what Auschwitz represents, there is a sense in which any and all words are inadequate.

Yet Auschwitz must continue to speak, and we must struggle to find the necessary words. We must find those words, because the evils that Auschwitz embodied remain alive in the world today.

Anti–Semitism is on the increase in many parts of the world, including Europe. Persecution of peoples on the basis of their ethnicity or their religious convictions is on the rise, especially in the Middle East, where ancient communities face extinction. Millions of people are displaced from their homelands at a level unknown since the Second World War. Untold damage to individuals, families and indeed to our human civilization is being done every day.

At the end of the Second World War, someone found a sign that had been put up on a barbed-wire fence in one of the concentration camps. It read “Where was God?” Beneath that was written in a different hand, “Where was man”? We who profess the historic Abrahamic faith traditions understand God to be deeply involved in and concerned with our human life. God is our creator and our sustainer. In our Christian tradition especially we understand God to be so committed to our humanity that God became a human being like us in order to restore us to our proper dignity.

We know that God does not abandon us in our need. God is always present among us. But we also know that we human beings sometimes fail in our vocation as those who are made in the image and likeness of God to be those who take our stand against violence, injustice, prejudice, and persecution. The human family has the chief responsibility to ensure that the evils to which Auschwitz is a silent, but damning, witness are eradicated from our world. The commandments of God are clear: It is our response that must be equally clear.

We who are the Religious Leaders of the Holy Land have a special responsibility in this regard, not least because some of the worst atrocities that are being committed in our world today are happening on our own doorstep. There is no rest from vigilance; there can be no excuse for denial.

Any inhumane act of one human person against another is not just a crime against a fellow human being; It is an insult against God. One might go so far as to say that such acts amount to a denial of the Creator. Violence dehumanizes all concerned, both perpetrators as well as victims. It is the moral imperative of all who desire to build a new future for the human community, based on mutual respect and peaceful co-existence, to do all in our power to break cycles of violence wherever they manifest themselves.

This must be the resolve of all who are committed to mutual respect, to peace and to reconciliation. Those who perished here so tragically and unnecessarily at Auschwitz are our inspiration. We pray that Almighty God in his infinite mercy and philanthropy, may give rest to the dead who bear such a clear witness still. May their memory be blessed and eternal. And may we, the living, learn a new commitment to resistance to persecution and prejudice, as well as a new commitment to forgiveness and reconciliation, for these are the firm foundation of our human society.

Thank you.

His Beatitude

THEOPHILOS III

Patriarch of Jerusalem

31 October 2016

Esteemed Dr. Ioannides,

Esteemed Professor Moropoulou,

Beloved Fellow Religious Leaders,

Respected Representatives of all Organizations dedicated to the preservation of Cultural and Religious Heritage Sites,

Distinguished Participants,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

We are delighted to be present at this significant conference that is focused primarily on the protection and preservation of sites, that are of cultural and religious significance and we bring greetings to you from the Holy Land, a region that is rich in such sites, and where for many generations peoples of many faiths, ethnicities, languages, and cultures have lived together and formed a unique tapestry of civilization.

The work before this conference us urgent. The current situation of change and disruption in the Middle East has already resulted in the destruction of precious and irreplaceable historic and religious sites, even to the extent of almost eradicating the communities that have lived by and worshipped in these sites for centuries. The barbarism of these actions is extreme and the damage that is being done may prove to be irreversible.

We, in the Middle East understand the importance of our uniquely diverse cultural and religious heritage. This diversity is at the heart of our identity and the preservation both of the physical and spiritual witnesses of this diversity as well as of our diverse communities themselves, is absolutely necessary for any truly peaceful future for our region that will be founded on mutual respect and reconciliation. With each act of persecution against a particular religious or ethnic group, with each act of destruction of a holy place, such a peaceful future for the human family is profoundly threatened.

In this situation, the Rum Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem is a beacon of hope. The Patriarchate has always been, and remains, committed to spreading the message of peaceful co-existence mutual respect, and fruitful reconciliation. As our long history has proven, most especially the Church is a beacon of hope that embraces so many nationalities and cultures in the Middle East.

Ladies and Gentlemen, why are we here?

This gathering itself, by being truly international, and especially by representing the principal national authorities and cultures of our region, including the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the State of Israel, the Palestinian Authority, and Egypt, along with so many others, in a major initiative for peace in the Middle East. We know that peace will only be established through such international co–operation and collaboration and this conference is a major step in this direction.

Most importantly this conference recognizes the centrality of the role of religion in human society. Religious sites are not simply cultural artifacts of archaeological curiosities. Religious sites are the living testimony to sacred history, and are signs of the deepest human longings and aspirations. While religious sites can and have been places of division, they are properly and in the Holy Land often are, places of unity, where peoples of different traditions find common ground. We, who are the servants and guardians of Christian sites, for example, are often moved by the devotion and respect that those of other faiths show, when they come to these sites.

As you know, we are currently engaged in the most significant joint venture in the Holy Land to have been undertaken in many years. The three Communities of the Patriarchate, the Franciscan Custody and the Armenian Patriarchate have established a joint project for the restoration of the Sacred Aedicule of the Holy Sepulcher. This work is being supported by the three Communities jointly, and the work is being carried out by a team of experts under the supervision and direction of Professor Moropoulou of the National Technical University of Athens, who is with us here.

Once again in this work of technical renovation and reconstruction we see more than simply a feat of extraordinary engineering and scientific accomplishment. For here, in this renovation, we see a new venture in reconciliation. The Holy Sepulcher has been one of the most keenly contested religious sites in history: and today it is being restored on the basis of an innovative and fresh co-operation. This is significant beyond words and we consider it to be a sign of real hope for our Holy Land and for the world. We look forward to the successful completion of the project before Easter next year, and we hope very much that this has laid the basis for other such projects in the Holy Land and around our region.

We have said at similar gatherings that those who engage in the necessary physical restoration of sacred buildings and sites exercise an important role as structural engineers. We, who serve those buildings and sites exercise that complementary role of

of being spiritual engineers– the spiritual engineers not simply of the religious lives of individuals, but of the religious identities of our cultures and our civilization. As you give yourselves to the protection of sites, so we who are spiritual leaders give ourselves to the oversight of those who worship in them, and whose identity has been shaped by them.

There is a deep symbiosis here between our roles and work. Without communities that practice a living faith, religious sites are one- dimensional. Equally, communities of a living faith, especially the communities of the Abrahamic traditions that all have deep roots in both the land and in history are diminished when they are unconnected to the sites of their sacred history.

We wish to commend the deliberations of this body, now holding its sixth conference. This shows a proper commitment to the issues at stake, which are both immediate and long term. It is of special importance that you recognize the role and power of religion with respect to the protection and renovation of cultural and spiritual sites, as well as in dynamics of the difficulties that currently affect the Middle East and other parts of the world. Not to do so is to misunderstand the nature of the human community.

We also wish to acknowledge and thank our dear brother, His Beatitude Chrysostomos, the Archbishop of Cyprus, for his commitment to the Church and the peoples of the Holy Land and for the support he gives to efforts at peace–building, co-existence and reconciliation.

May God bless the work that you are doing at this conference, do that generations to come may continue to enjoy and be renewed by the cultural and religious sites that have for centuries nurtured and sustained the human spirit.

Thank you.

His Beatitude

THEOPHILOS III 

Patriarch of Jerusalem

Between Monday the 18^th/31^st of October and Saturday the 23^rd of October/5^th of November 2016, the 6^th Biannual Euromed Conference takes place in Nicosia, Cyprus, at the “Filoxenia” Conference Centre. Participating in the Conference are distinguished representatives of international foundations, organizations and institutions, i.e. UNESCO, examining ways of protection, conservation and restoration of national and religious monuments that make part of global cultural heritage.

The speakers, activities and purposes of the Conference appear in detail on the invitation forwarded by Dr Marinos Iacovides, Conference Chair, and Professor Antonia Moropoulou of the National Technical University of Athens, Co-Chairlady; also on the programme of deliberations, attached here below:

programme

invitation

The opening of the Conference was blessed by His Beatitude Theophilos, Patriarch of Jerusalem, on the morning of Monday the 18^th/31^st of October, with a speech on the emblematic restoration project of the Holy Sepulchre, conducted by the NTUA. See link:

https://en.jerusalem-patriarchate.info/2016/10/31/27427

The Co-Chairwoman of the Conference, Professor Antonia Moropoulou, made an on-screen presentation of the restoration works and the significance of the participation of religious dignitaries in EuroMed 2016, see link:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/pznnbcy08atm08r/05_EUROMED_Antonia%20Moropoulou_v2.pdf?dl=0

At noon of Monday, the 18^th/31^st of October, His Beatitude Archbishop Chrysostomos of Cyprus hosted lunch for Patriarch Theophilos and His Entourage, Metropolitan Timotheos of Bostra, Archbishop Aristarchos of Constantina, Ms Moropoulou and Hierodeacon Markos.

Also in the framework of the Conference, a reception was hosted by the Most Reverend Timotheos, Metropolitan of Bostra, on the evening of Monday, the 31^st of October.

From the Secretariat-General

On the morning of Friday, the 15^th/28^th of October 2016, Doxology was held at the katholikon of the All-holy Church of the Resurrection, on the national day celebrated in commemoration of the 28^th of October 1940.

Doxology was performed as gratitude to God for His help to our nation for liberation from the 1940-1944 German occupation, and as supplication for the atonement and repose of all departed fathers.

The service was led by His Beatitude Theophilos, Patriarch of Jerusalem, having as concelebrants Prelate and Hieromonks of the Hagiotaphite Brotherhood, in the presence of the Greek Consul-General to Jerusalem, Mr Christos Sofianopoulos, praying members of the Greek parish and local Jerusalemites.

After Doxology, participants were hosted at the Patriarchate, where His Beatitude Theophilos addressed guests in Greek.

The anniversary of the 28^th of October epos, said the Patriarch, is undoubtedly a turning point not only for the history of the Greek nation but also for the history of the world.

“The struggle against the forces of Fascism and Nazism”, Patriarch Theophilos added, “the face of which has already appeared in different form and shape in our days and within the limits of our own region, namely the Middle East, has admittedly been a miracle of patriotism yielded from the magnificence of the Greek soul and its Christian faith”.  

The significance of the anniversary of “No” to the Axis forces must not be ignored, the Patriarch pointed out, “neither should it be construed as a conventional fact of our historical memory, but rather as a call for alertness in the face of merciless persecutions committed before our very eyes, displacement and murderous crimes against our innocent fellow humans, especially children”.

The Patriarch’s address was followed by a speech by Greece’s Consul-General.

“No”, Mr Sofianopoulos said, represented the Greeks’ unanimous refusal to cede their freedom and national honour. “It was their refusal to repudiate their history and live insignificant and subdued. It was their reaction against the darkest political forces that had attempted to subjugate Europe and the world”.

“Hellenism”, the Consul-General added, “fought with strength, self-denial, patriotism and heroism for the integrity of their homeland and for liberation, demonstrating the Greek virtues, dedication to traditions and resilience, inviting the admiration of the international public opinion”.

Today’s anniversary, concluded Mr Sofianopoulos, urges us to “contemplate the significance of the symbolism of the 28^th of October 1940 for Hellenism on this present day. The unbreakable unit and patriotism shown by people who fought for peace, freedom, dignity and social justice, reminds us that “our ability to bounce back and triumph was and still is endless. A great responsibility weights upon us, to understand this message, convey it to the younger generations and move on united as then, with decisiveness”, the Greek Consul-General concluded.

From the Secretariat-General

httpv://youtu.be/zPzwhR0Wpko

On the evening of Friday, the 15^th/28^th of October 2016, the National Day of the 28^th of October 1940 was celebrated at the events halls of the Holy Sion Patriarchal Hieratical School.

His Beatitude Theophilos, Patriarch of Jerusalem, honoured the ceremony with His presence. He was accompanied by the Chairman of the School Board, Elder Sacristan, Archbishop Isidoros of Hierapolis, and the Acting Dragoman, Archimandrite Mathew; the Patriarchal Commissioner, Metropolitan Isychios of Kapitolias, the Elder Secretary-General, Archbishop Aristarchos of Constantina, Metropolitan Joachim of Zambia and other Hagiotaphite Fathers; the Greek Consul General to Jerusalem, Mr Christos Sofianopoulos, and members of the Greek Consulate; NTUA Professor, Ms Antonia Moropolou and members of the Greek parish.

The ceremony was organized by the Principal, Mr Nikolaos Souliotis, who opened the event with an address. Mr Andreas Demetriou, on behalf of the teaching staff, delivered the panegyric speech for the day.

In addition to the speeches, the programme of the event included an essay titled “The contribution of the Church to the struggle for liberation” by student Constantinos Stamou; a message by Archbishop Damascene of Athens on the occasion of the anniversary, songs, poems and the National Anthem.

The overall content of the programme conveyed the message of the self-sacrifice and unanimity of the Greek people, the bravery of our ancestors who fought during the period between 1940-1944 in order to support the “No” proclaimed by Metaxas, and rid the nation of the Italian and German occupation, allow it to live by the principles of its national and religious tradition, democracy and Orthodoxy, heal its wounds and create structures of life that touch on prosperity, fit for human life.

On the conclusion of the ceremony, Patriarch Theophilos and the Greek Consul praised teachers and students alike on paying tribute to the message of the day, a message of hope, resurrection and progress, made possible through our ancestors’ sacrifice and bravery.

From the Secretariat-General

httpv://youtu.be/v0_lf2LEKRg

On Wednesday, the 13^th/26^th of October 2016, the Patriarchate celebrated the return of the relics of hosios Savva the Sanctified to his Monastery.

On this particular feast-day, the Mother of Churches celebrated the translation, in 1965, of the relic of hosios Savva from Venice to Jerusalem, and then to his Monastery, where it is kept to this day. The saint’s relic had been transferred by the Crusaders to Venice, and returned by the Roman Catholic Church upon request by the Church of Jerusalem after the meeting between the Pope and Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras in Jerusalem and the lifting of the anathemas.

The feast was initially led, during Vespers, by His Eminence Theophanes, Archbishop of Gerassa; then, during an all-night vigil, by H.B. Theophilos, Patriarch of Jerusalem, having as concelebrants Archbishops Theophanes of Gerassa, Aristarchos of Constantina and Metropolitan Joachim of Zambia. Archimandrite Aristovoulos sang in Greek on the right and Archimandrite Philotheos sang on the left, in Arabic, with Sabbaite Fathers. In attendance were pilgrims from Greece, locals from Bethlehem, Beit-Jala and Beit-Sahour, praising the Lord for the presence of the hosios’ consecrated relic.

During Communion, His Beatitude delivered a sermon in Greek, saying that Hosios Savva had realized that his body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, according to the teachings of St Paul, who said: “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own” (1 Corinthians 6, 19). “This divine light of the Holy Spirit”, His Beatitude added, “is provided by our blessed Father Savva through his lantern, namely this sacred relic, attesting the transfiguration and resurrection of Christ, our Saviour. And it is precisely this transfiguration and resurrection in Christ that incessant prayer aims at, prayer not only by monks but by all those wishing to save their souls”.

“The venerable members of our Hagiotaphite Fathers are workers of the Lord’s pedagogy, these monks trained here with their spiritual Fathers under the protection of the Most Blessed and Ever-Virgin Mary, and under the guidance of Father Savva the sanctified, whom we honour today”, added Patriarch Theophilos.

From the Secretariat-General

httpv://youtu.be/-ptcqJpXaWE

Address to the Delegation to the Holy Land of the Catholic German Bishops’ Conference and the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany

at a Reception at the festival Hall Augusta Victoria Hospital

His Beatitude Theophilos III

Patriarch of Jerusalem

21 October 2016

Your Eminence Cardinal Marx,

Your Grace Bishop Bedford-Strohm,

Your Eminences,

Your Graces,

Dear Fathers,

Christ is in our midst!

We welcome you, dear friends, to the Holy Land on this historic pilgrimage of members of the German Bishop’s Conference and the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany. Your pilgrimage takes place as the Christian world prepares to commemorate the beginning of the Reformation in Europe next year, and for which both Roman Catholics and Lutherans have been making important plans together.

Your joint pilgrimage is a sign to the world of this new relationship between Roman Catholic Church and the Lutheran Church, and this is a development that all who look to the unity to all Christians welcome warmly. You are here to recall together the common roots of our shared Christian faith, roots that are set deeply and firmly in this Holy Land and in the Church of Jerusalem, the Mother of all Churches and the cradle of Christianity.

 More than this, your pilgrimage is a sign to the world of our awareness for the healing of the divisions of the entire Christian world. The Christian awareness must always be one of unity; a unity that we believe is the will of our Lord Jesus Christ for the Church. Every step in overcoming prejudice, every effort in creating mutual understanding, every opportunity for joint witness is a step towards that fuller unity that is our universal vocation.

Your pilgrimage comes not long after the Great and Holy Council of the Orthodox Church in Crete last June. This Council was also an important sign of the unity of the Church for a world that looks to Church for light and hope in a time of darkness, confusion and despair. We must always remember that our unity is not for ourselves, but for the purpose of the effective witness and service – martyria and diakonia – of the Gospel.

The Church of Jerusalem, the Mother Church of all the cradle of Christianity, takes great joy in hosting such a pilgrimage as yours to the Holy Land City, and we are realizing among ourselves the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, who said:

“How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings.”        (Mt 23:37)

Such great events like your pilgrimage and the Council, signal a new future for reconciliation. Furthermore, such events at this time in the current difficulties of the persecution of Christians and others in the Middle East sends a particular message of resolve and hope.

Your pilgrimage is living witness of the mission of the church in the Middle East and in the world of our common martyria of the crucified love of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is this message of reconciliation, so eloquently lived out in your pilgrimage that is the only way for the future of our unity in Christ and the only way for the unity of the human family in our common human destiny.

May God richly bless your pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and in your journey to the common witness of the Gospel of love of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Thank You.

On the evening of Friday, the 8^th/21^st of October 2016, one of the meetings of the joint visit of Roman Catholic and Evangelist church officials to the Holy Land took place on the site of the historical hospital of the Lutheran Church in Jerusalem, on the Mount of Olives, on the occasion of the 500^th anniversary of Lutheran Reformation.

Invited to attend the meeting were the leaders and representatives of Churches in the Holy Land. The invitations were sent by Propst Wolfgang Schmidt of the Lutheran Church in Jerusalem.

At the meeting, His Beatitude Theophilos, Patriarch of Jerusalem, addressed attendants in English, see link: http://www/jp-newsgate/en/2016/10/21/27030

From the Secretariat-General

On Monday, the 4^th/17^th of October 2016, the Heads of the three major Christian Communities, namely Patriarch Theophilos of Jerusalem, f. Francesco, Custos in the Holy Land, and the Armenian Patriarch in Jerusalem, H.B. Nourhan Manougian, and their entourages, met with the President of the Palestinian State, His Excellency Mr Mahmoud Abbas Abu-Mazen. During the meeting, Patriarch Theophilos addressed the President on behalf of the Patriarchate and the other two Communities. In Arabic, the address may be reached here: http://www.jo-newsgate.net/ar/2016/10/17/24794  

In his reply speech, the President expressed his joy over the meeting and for the peaceful coexistence between Christians and Muslims within the Palestinian State. He also posited that Christians are not considered a majority in this State, but its integral part, that they in fact preceded Muslims in the Holy Land, and that Christian Churches are considered by Muslims as holy sites, just like their mosques. Therefore, Mr Abbas added, the Palestinian Authority offers 150.000 euro as contribution to the restoration project on the Aedicula of the Holy Sepulchre.

The Heads of the three Communities thanked the President for his donation and wished him every success in his efforts to complete the recognition process of the State of Palestine.

From the Secretariat-General

On the morning of the 23^rd of September/6^th of October 2016, on the conclusion of the divine Liturgy at the monastic church of Sts Constantine and Helen, His Beatitude Theophilos, Patriarch of Jerusalem, accompanied by Hagiotaphite Fathers, read the prayer on the disturbance of the Holy Altar at the adjacent chapel of St Thekla the Great Martyr and Equal to the Apostles. The Altar had been moved because of restoration works by the subvention of Archimandrite Alexios. Vespers and the divine Liturgy commemorating St Thekla are scheduled to take place on the 23^rd of September.

On the occasion of this event, His Beatitude addressed attendants in Greek, referring to the completion of restoration works on the church within the most ancient Monastery that makes part of the Patriarchal Monastery of Sts Constantine and Helen, founders of the Church of the Resurrection of Christ our Saviour.

“The Holy Shrines”, added the Patriarch, “as well as the Monasteries and Churches adorning the Holy Lands, especially the Holy City of Jerusalem, have been preserved as sites of veneration, sanctification and blessing, owing to the sacrificial care of Hagiotaphite Fathers”.

The restoration and beautification of St Thekla church, Patriarch Theophilos said, is essentially a continuation of the earlier restoration of Sts Constantine and Helen Church, on the initiative and subvention of Archimandrite Alexios, Typikaris and Cantor at the aforementioned church, whom His Beatitude warmly thanked.
From the Secretariat-General

httpv://youtu.be/bPArkLQzwEE