October 15, 2013. (Romereports.com) The primates of the increasingly fragile Greek Orthodox Churches in the Middle East plan to meet in Cyprus to talk about their future in the region.
The meeting is still being planned out, but the main topic of discussion will be the instability in Syria and Egypt. But more importantly, they will decide what their Church’s should do about it.
THEODOROS II — Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria:
“The big question is what is going to happen the next day? Are the Christians going to move out of the Middle East? Is it what we want? is it the right thing to do?”
During a visit to Rome, Theodoros II, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria, said their Churches are going through very difficult times.
The Egyptian leader, along with the Greek Orthodox Patriarchs of Jerusalem and Antioch, and the Archbishop of Cyprus, will also discuss the development of a campaign to meet with world leaders and explain the hardships their Churches face in the Middle East.
“First we’ll visit the European Union, we’ll visit also President Putin of Russia, very soon we will visit President Obama.”
The expected outcome of those meetings with world leaders is still unclear. But Patriarch Theodoros II has found strong support from another leading figure: Pope Francis. The two religious leaders met for the first time during the Patriarch’s visit to Rome.
“Pope Francis knows well the issues that are affecting us. He’s worrying a lot about the situation.”
Pope Francis has continually made appeals for peace in Egypt and Syria. He has also called on the responsibility of all Christians worldwide to look after and help fellow Christians in the Middle East.
The message resonates well with Patriarch Theodoros II, who thanked the Pope for his promotion of peace.
