MESSAGE OF CONDOLENCES FROM THE HOLY & GREAT COUNCIL OF THE ORTHODOX CHURCH TO H.M. KING ABDULLAH II IBN AL HUSSEIN
The Patriarchate of Jerusalem – June 2016
At the Orthodox Academy of Crete, on the 22th of June 2016
His Majesty King Abdullah II Ibn Al Hussein
King of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
In Amman
Your Majesty,
The Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church would like to express its deepest sympathies and convey its warmest prayers to the beloved Jordanian people, having been informed of the horrifying violence that took place on Tuesday, the 21st of June, near the al-Rukban refugee settlement.
It is with deepest sorrow that we the Hierarchs, who have come together at this present Holy and Great Council under our Chairmanship, express our wholehearted condolences for this inhumane terrorist attack. The violence wrought upon these already overwhelmed people, who have been driven from their homes and were seeking asylum and protection, constitutes an offense before the loving and merciful God as well as before the very dignity of human beings.
May God grant rest to the souls of the innocent victims and may He strengthen and heal those wounded, as well as grant comfort from above to their loved ones.
We pray that the Lord and God of mercy will erase the plague of terrorism and violence from the face of the earth and grant to humanity peace, justice and reconciliation.
BARTHOLOMEW of Constantinople
Chairman of the Holy and Great Council
