Jerusalem’s Christian leaders issue joint Easter Message

April 10, 2017

In a joint Easter message, the Christian leaders of Jerusalem have proclaimed that “pain, suffering, and death do not have the final word, it is God—who has the first word and the last.”

The patriarchs and other leaders of Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant groups in Jerusalem said: “The Resurrection inspires the resolute steadfastness in the living stones (local Christians) as living witnesses in the Holy Land.”

In their statement the Christian leaders recalled the ecumenical ceremony that marked the re-opening of the Edicule—the shrine at the site of Christ’s tomb, inside the basilica of the Holy Sepulchre—after extensive renovations. “The completion of this challenging work,” they said, was a testimony to ecumenical cooperation as well as to the support received from all around the world.

The Easter message was signed by:

• Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theopilos II
• Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Patriarch Nourhan Manougian
• Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzabella, apostolic administrator of the Latin-rite Catholic Patriarchate of Jerusalem
• Father Francesco Patton, the Franciscan Custos of the Holy Land
• Archbishop Anba Antonious of the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem
• Archbishop Swerios Malki Murad of the Syrian Orthodox Patriarchate
• Archbishop Aba Embakob of the Ethiopian Orthodox Patriarchate
• Archbishop Joseph-Jules Zerey of the Melkite Catholic Patriarchate
• Archbishop Mosa el Hage of the Maronite Catholic Exarchate
• Archbishop Subeil Dawani of the Episcopal Church of Jerusalem and the Middle East
• Bishop Munib Younan of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land
• Bishop Pierre Malki of the Syrian Catholic Exarchate
• Msgr. George Dankaye of the Armenian Catholic Exarchate

 

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Further information:

• The Easter Message of Patriarchs and Head of Churches in Jerusalem