Damascus - April 22, 2015
A JOINT STATEMENT ISSUED BY THE TWO PATRIARCHATES OF ANTIOCHAND ALL THE EAST: THE ANTIOCHIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH AND THE SYRIAC ORTHODOX CHURCH
On the Second Anniversary of the Kidnapping of the Two Metropolitans of Aleppo: His Eminence Paul (Yazigi) and His Eminence John (Abraham) on April 22, 2013
The Declaration of the Truth in the Iniquitous Trial
“It is for our hope in the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial”
(Acts 23:6)
Our bishops, Paul and John, are on trial; they were once put on trial at the beginning of the Christian kerygma, and now they are put on trial once again, in the same geographical spot, although bearing different names. It is a unique trial, not only in the East, but also in our contemporary world. The convoluted nature of their trial does not strike the terrestrials only, but the celestials also, since it is a struggle, where the Great Judge will prevail, for He has the final ruling in this case, the case of the True Man and of the True God.
Maybe this trial is unequal; most probably, the detainees are not able to plead their case. However, here is their statement, written by their own spirits, by their lives, by their constant witness, that rebounds in the wilderness of this world: