BEIRUT — Commemorating the second anniversary of the kidnapping of two Syrian bishops, the Greek Orthodox patriarch lamented the indifference of the international community about their fate.
“We hope that the bishops are alive, but unfortunately the world is silent and nobody has provided physical evidence,” Greek Orthodox Patriarch John X of Antioch said in a statement he read at the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy April 19 at Our Lady of Balamand Monastery in northern Lebanon, near Tripoli.
The bishops — Syriac Orthodox Metropolitan Gregorios Yohanna and Greek Orthodox Metropolitan Paul, both of Aleppo, Syria — were kidnapped April 22, 2013, in the province of Aleppo. Metropolitan Paul is the brother of the patriarch.
Patriarch John called for “the whole community and international organizations to mobilize” to inquire about the fate of the missing bishops.
“We tried to negotiate with those who can help in this matter, but unfortunately there was total silence,” he said.
In a joint statement recognizing the second anniversary of the bishops’ kidnappings, Patriarch John and Syriac Orthodox Patriarch Ignatius Aphrem II of Antioch said, “Your wound is our wound, and your pain is our pain, and your tears are our tears and your life is our life.”
