His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos III welcomed today Friday, July 19, the American Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland in the U.S. who visited the headquarters of the Jerusalem Patriarchate.
The Senator was accompanied by the former Chief of the U.S. Office of Palestinian Affairs at the United States Embassy in Jerusalem, George Noll, and in attendance were representatives of different Churches in Jerusalem including: the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land, the Latin Patriarchate in Jerusalem, the Armenian Patriarchate, the Anglican Archdiocese, and the Lutheran Church.
The meeting intended to highlight the challenges and struggles the Churches of the Holy Land face, especially during the ongoing war in Gaza and the monumental role of the Heads of the Churches in maintaining the multi-cultural and multi-religious character of the Holy City of Jerusalem.
“We receive you here today as an ambassador of peace at a time of great difficulty and challenges for all the people of the Holy Land, and especially for the Christian communities. We wish to express our deep appreciation to you for your moral support and solidarity, and we pray that your visit to us will contribute to avoiding any further escalation of the present violence,” His Beatitude noted at the beginning of the meeting.
“We realize that the conflict in Gaza and the tension throughout our region are not the only conflicts in our world. We are keenly aware of violence and conflict in other parts of the globe, and so we are all the more resolute to find a way to bring the present conflict in the Holy Land to an end for the sake not just of our own peoples, but for the sake of all people of goodwill who yearn for peace in our world today.”
Soon after His Beatitude’s speech, representatives of the Churches took the opportunity to express their feelings and hopes towards a peaceful reconciliation in order to decrease further escalations.
In return, Senator Van Hollen made sure to listen to all the concerns and worries raised by the representatives of the Churches, promised he’ll try his best to raise those issues on a high level and to cooperate with the Churches to maintain the special character of Jerusalem and the Holy Land.
By:jerusalem-patriarchate
