In Remembrance of the Bombing of St Elias Church, Dweilaa

Dear Reverend Fathers and beloved faithful,

With hearts full of sorrow and eyes filled with tears, we received the grievous news of the cowardly terrorist bombing that took place on Sunday during the Divine Liturgy at St Elias Church in Dweilaa, Damascus. This heinous act led to the martyrdom of a great number of innocent believers and wounded many others, as they were lifting up their prayers before the altar of the Lord.

We extend our heartfelt condolences to His Beatitude Patriarch John X, to our brothers in the Holy Synod of Antioch, and to all the faithful of our mother Church, praying that the Lord may receive the martyrs into His infinite mercy, grant healing to the injured, and console the hearts of all those who grieve.

This appalling crime, which struck our faithful during the hour of worship, is yet another page in the long history of suffering and witness written by the people of Antioch since the earliest centuries. At the same time, it is a living testimony to a faith that cannot be conquered and to a hope that does not disappoint, as we hold fast to the words of our Lord: “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:10)

On this sorrowful occasion, and as we approach the Feast of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, founders of the See of Antioch, we call upon all our reverend clergy in this God-protected Archdiocese to offer the Trisagion service for the repose of the souls of the martyrs, on the coming Sunday, 29 June 2025, immediately following the Divine Liturgy.

May this sacred day be one of prayer and spiritual unity with our suffering brethren, and a day of hope, in which we commend the blood of the martyrs into the hands of the Lord, awaiting the joy of the Resurrection.

Let us remain united in prayer, firm in love, remembering always that the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church, and that martyrdom has never departed from the Church of Antioch, but has been for her a crown and a glory.

Mercy to the martyrs, healing to the wounded, and peace to our struggling Church.

Your Father in Christ,

+Silouan

Metropolitan of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of the British Isles and Ireland