In a statement, His Beatitude Pope and Patriarch Theodore II of Alexandria and All Africa expressed deep sorrow upon learning of the devastating suicide bomb attack at the Greek Orthodox Church of Prophet Elias on Sunday, June 22, 2025, in Damascus Syria, pondering, ‘what is the reason for this hatred between brothers, who have coexisted for centuries in the blessed lands of the historic Damascus?’
Patriarch Theodore II stated, With pain I learned today of the tragic event of the suicide attack by a bomber at the Greek Orthodox Community of the Prophet Elias in Doueilaa, Damascus, which has been repeatedly tested in recent years, which resulted in the horrific death and injury of dozens of our Orthodox brothers.
For this reason, I hasten to support with all the strength of my soul, but also with the power of consoling prayer, both to my Most Beatitude brother, Patriarch John of Antioch and all the East, as well as to the grieving families and the other members of the Orthodox spiritual family of Damascus.
With a heavy heart, I ask myself, what is the reason for this hatred between brothers, who have coexisted for centuries in the blessed lands of the historic Damascus? Why this destruction towards peaceful Christian brothers, who, finding themselves in the same terrible whirlpool of painful moments with all their fellow citizens of the Middle East, regardless of race or faith, of the frightening whistling of deadly missiles and the deafening sounds of murderous bombings, have resorted to the consolation of the Liturgical life and specifically to the Mystery of the Holy Eucharist, on the holy day of Sunday, praying fervently “for the peace of the whole world”? What good do these abominable acts of hatred, blood and destruction do in the already two-and-a-half centuries that humanity has been experiencing with terror?
Prayer to God for Peace and Reconciliation in Damascus and the Middle East
His Beatitude Pope and Patriarch Theodore II, in his statement, further requests every one’s prayers for peace and reconciliation in the Middle East to avoid such atrocities from happening
“Let us pray with all the strength of our souls to the One and Great God of Peace and Reconciliation, that this unjust, horrible and absolutely condemnable event of the tragic end of our brothers, may become the beginning of a unified movement of reconciliation and mutual understanding at the level of the daily life of our fellow human beings of the bleeding Middle East, tortured by the many years of conflicts, so that never again will a fratricidal act of blind hatred be repeated, especially in the name of God.” He noted.
In the name of the Lord, I express once again from the God-believing land of peaceful Egypt the sympathy and sorrow of the holy clergy and the Christ-loving people of the Patriarchate of Alexandria and all Africa and of myself personally to the Greek Orthodox Community of Damascus and to the families of the martyred victims and those injured in the bombing attack, invoking upon the Church of Antioch, Her Most Beatitude Primate and Her suffering Christ-named servant the support and consolation from above and the protective Grace of the Triune God”.
