Appeal comes before centennial commemoration of crimes of 1915
Yerevan — The primates of the Armenian Apostolic Church and the Syrian Orthodox Church are turning to the whole Christian world and the international community to recognize and condemn the crimes committed against the Armenians and Syriac Christians in 1915, in the current territories of Turkey. This appeal comes on the occasion of of the centennial commemorations of these crimes.
The Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of all Armenians, Karekin II, and the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch, Mar Ignatius Aphrem II, met on Monday, October 13 at the spiritual center of all Armenians, the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, where they signed a Joint Declaration to affirm the unity of faith, and the willful desire to continue cooperation between the two sister Churches, the Armenian and Syriac Orthodox "sister Churches, founded by the Apostles, the same Christology and Apostolic Tradition, patristic heritage and common saints, confessors and witnesses."
After expressing their pastoral concern for what is happening in the Middle East, the two Patriarchs in their statement launched a joint appeal: "We invite the entire Christian world," says the document sent to Fides Agency, "to unite in prayer at the Armenian Genocide and the Syriac Sayfo centennial commemorative events in 2015. We call upon the civilized world to recognize and condemn the crimes committed against the Armenian and Syriac peoples as well as other Christian communities".
