In a telephone call with His Excellency Minister Dr. Ramzi Khoury, His Beatitude Ignatius Ephrem Joseph III Younan, the Syriac Catholic Patriarch of Antioch, praised the efforts of the Presidential Committee in facilitating and coordinating his visit to the State of Palestine, during which he met with President Mahmoud Abbas, saying, “We encourage all heads of churches in the Arab and Western world to visit Palestine and our holy sites, because of the impact of these visits. It is important to support and consolidate the Christian presence in the Holy Land.”
His Beatitude thanked Dr.Khoury for coordinating his meeting with the President, and for the presence of Ambassador Issa Kassissieha representative of the committee, in the mass of the inauguration of His Eminence Bishop Mar Yacoub Ephrem Semaan on the occasion of his ordination as the Patriarchal Vicar of the SyriacCatholic of Jerusalem, Holy Land and Jordan. His Beatitude continued to praise the committee for the continuous support it provides in the service of the Church and Christians in Palestine, and invited Minister Dr.Khoury to meet at the Patriarchate in Lebanon.
Dr.Khoury expressed his gratitude and joy for the call and the Patriarch’s visit to Palestine. He stressed the committee’s readiness to do everything it can to serve all churches, which works to strengthen and stabilize the Christian presence in Palestine.
His Beatitude laid a wreath at the tomb of the late martyr President Yasser Arafat, accompanied by Dr. Ali Muhanna, advisor to the president, and committee member Mr. Musa Hadid, mayor of Ramallah, and the director general of the committee, Ambassador Amira Hanania.
