The Maronite Patriarch, Bechara Rai (on the left in the photo), and the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch, Youhanna X Yazigi, in Balamand, in Koura, northern Lebanon, on July 3, 2025. (Credit: Michel Hallak.)
BEIRUT — Maronite Patriarch Bechara Rai visited Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch, Youhanna X Yazigi, on Thursday at the monastery where he resides in Balamand, in Koura, Northern Lebanon.
During this meeting, Rai expressed his condolences to the head of the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch for the June 23 attack on an Orthodox church in Damascus that killed 25 people. The Maronite patriarch condemned this attack, calling it a "catastrophe and massacre."
“We stand by your side and offer our sincere condolences to the Orthodox Church and the families of the martyrs,” said Archbishop Rai during the meeting. The two prelates also discussed the situation in the region and its “impact on the situation of Christians” in various countries.
The attack, on Saint Elias Church in the Dwelaa neighborhood of Damascus, was claimed on Tuesday by a little-known extremist Sunni group, Saraya Ansar al-Sunna, while Syrian authorities attributed it to the jihadist group Islamic State (IS).
Syria's Christian population has decreased from one million people before the war in 2011 to less than 300,000 today, due to exile and forced displacement, according to experts. The Vatican has expressed concern about a new exodus of Christians from the Middle East following this attack.
