Melkite Leader Says U.S. Attacks on Syria Would Worsen the Conflict

WASHINGTON — The leader of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church has argued that, despite reported chemical attacks in Syria, foreign military intervention is a destructive option that will only worsen the ongoing civil war.

“I am adding my voice to all the statements made by most of my brother Eastern patriarchs, several episcopal conferences, the archbishop of Canterbury, and especially His Holiness Pope Francis and his representative at the United Nations in Geneva,” said Melkite Patriarch Gregorios III in an Aug. 30 statement.

“I state categorical rejection by Syria’s Catholic Churches, including the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, in Arab countries and those of the expansion, of any foreign intervention in Syria and any attack or intervention of any sort whatsoever.”

Patriarch Gregorios III, a native-born Syrian, is the president of the Assembly of the Catholic Hierarchy in Syria, as well as patriarch of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, an Eastern Church in communion with Rome.

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HT: Blog reader John L.