Antiochian Orthodox Patriarch Brings Message of Hope and Peace in North Jersey Visit

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For the leader of the worldwide Antiochian Orthodox Christian Church, beset by worries over his congregation in the war-torn Middle East, it was a night of simple joy in the church’s North Jersey community. On Wednesday night, Greek Orthodox Patriarch Youhanna al-Yazigi of Antioch and all the East celebrated a service at St George Church in Little Falls NJ that drew hundreds of members of the ancient faith from across the region. Eager parishioners, who chanted and held cellphone cameras and video recorders high as he entered the chapel with a throng of clergy, greeted the patriarch… the church’s equivalent of a pope.

During the Vespers, or evening, service… said in English and Arabic… Patriarch Youhanna spoke for about 20 minutes about building unity between the church in the USA and abroad, as well as about peace in the Middle East, notably war-devastated Syria. He said through a translator, “We’re one church, we’re one community, and the distances don’t divide us, don’t separate us. We say to you, ‘We love you’”. According to its website, the Antiochian Orthodox church is the largest Arab Christian church in the world, with about 100,000 members in the USA and Canada. Parishioners hastily arranged the patriarch’s visit, scheduled only a week ago as part of a nearly two-week-long stay in the USA. On Saturday, the patriarch served at the enthronement of Metropolitan Joseph al-Zehlaoui, the new leader of the Englewood NJ-based American archdiocese, who also served with the patriarch at St George. Metropolitan Joseph said, “I’m ready to act, ready to serve you, be with you. I’ll live with you and die with you”.

Rev George Krevorkian, the archdiocese’s hierarchical assistant stated that the patriarch was to meet with national security advisers in the White House today and has a tentative meeting with the US Department of State on Friday to discuss the conflict in Syria, particularly the plight of Arab Christians. The patriarch’s brother, Bishop Boulos al-Yazigi of Aleppo, was one of two church hierarchs kidnapped by Islamic extremists about two years ago.

During his remarks, the patriarch, wearing black vestments and a gold crucifix, asked worshipers to pray for Syria and other Middle Eastern countries torn apart by violence, “We know our homeland is undergoing a very tough situation. We’re still hopeful, in spite of all the difficulty we face. We hope that in this Christmas season, this season will bring peace to the Middle East”. Patriarch Youhanna also spoke repeatedly about his pride in the Little Falls congregation for passing on its faith from generation to generation. St George began in the 1970s, but its original members worshiped for decades before that in Paterson NJ. He said, “We’re proud because, since your ancestors arrived in the USA 150 years ago, the first thing you decided to do was have a church in the community. We’re proud of you, because you carry in your hearts and chests this unshakable faith that holds forever”.

Rev Dimitri Darwich, pastor at St George, said the patriarch’s visit was an honour and a rare occasion for an Antiochian Orthodox church in America. There are two other Antiochian Orthodox churches in New Jersey, in Bergenfield and South Plainfield, but he noted that St George was the venue for the service because it has the largest congregation, with about 500 families. About 40 of those families are recent Syrian refugees whom the church supports with charity, help with immigration paperwork, and in finding jobs.

Darwich said that on Wednesday night, a crowd of about 300 filled the pews and balcony, far fewer than organisers originally anticipated, because a nor’easter dampened the plans of many nearby churches. However, the poor weather didn’t stop people from traveling from as far as Yonkers NY and Bethlehem PA for the special service. Cassia Robert, 17, and her 15-year-old brother, Joseph, called the patriarch’s visit a “grand” event unlike the services of their church in Allentown PA. Julia Kalyoussef, 58, of Clifton NJ, who grew up in Syria and is trying to help her sister immigrate to the USA, said it was important to hear from their leader in a time of crisis, saying, “We’re all looking to him to strengthen us in our beliefs”.

10 December 2014

Jeff Green

NorthJersey.com

http://www.northjersey.com/news/antiochian-orthodox-patriarch-brings-message-of-hope-peace-in-north-jersey-visit-1.1150009

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Antiochan Orthodox Installing New Leader: North American Diocese Celebrates Its Roots

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No one under 50 can remember the last enthronement of a North American leader of the Antiochian Orthodox, a church with ancient roots in the Arab lands in and around Syria. However, today, they’ll experience it in Brooklyn in a service that’d formalise the election earlier this year of Archbishop Joseph al-Zehlaoui as the new metropolitan of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America. Earlier this week, by phone, Greek Orthodox Patriarch Youhanna al-Yazigi of Antioch and all the East, who arrived from Syria earlier this week to preside at the ceremony, said, “This event means to us a lot… joy for the faithful in America and the homeland. We are one family”.

Even amidst the full pomp and splendour of the Orthodox liturgy at the Cathedral of St Nicholas in Brooklyn, worshipers will keep in mind their counterparts in and around Syria, where the self-styled Islamic State and other extremist militants target Christians and other religious minorities. Extremists kidnapped Patriarch Youhanna’s brother, also a bishop, with another bishop near Aleppo in Syria, almost two years ago. The Patriarch said, “It’s not so easy, but … despite all these difficulties and tragedies, we still hope”. His brother remains missing.

The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America (AOCANA) has 266 parishes and missions, with an especially strong presence in Pennsylvania due to historic Arab Christian immigration here. St George Cathedral in Oakland PA is the centre of a diocese spanning five states. Antiochian Village, a summer camp and conference centre in Westmoreland County, is a regional hub of church activity. Fr Anthony Yazge, camp director at Antiochian Village, one of about half a dozen Pittsburgh-area priests headed to the enthronement, said, “[Metropolitan Joseph] is a very pious man who places great value in the youth of the Church. He’s not a person who’s going to take the easy way. He’s going to take the right way”.

Earlier this year, the Holy Synod of the Church of Antioch elected Metropolitan Joseph to succeed Metropolitan Philip Saliba, who died at age 82 in March after a 48-year tenure in which he expanded the church’s appeal to converts and other Orthodox beyond his fellow Arab-Americans. The denomination reported having about 100,000 members and more than 400 clergy. Metropolitan Joseph, 64, was born and raised in Syria, where he began his ministry before working as a priest in Europe and later America. In 1991, he began a tenure as bishop and later archbishop of Los Angeles. He was one of three nominees to replace Metropolitan Philip.

In a phone interview, he said, “The enthronement isn’t only for me. It’s a blessing to the entire archdiocese and the entire Orthodox world”. He plans to continue his predecessor’s outreaches beyond the ethnic Arab community, continuing an emphasis on young people that’s always marked his ministry. He said, “The problem is, whether within the archdiocese or any other jurisdiction, we’re losing the new generation because we don’t have much for them”. He said it’s important to meet with and listen to young people regularly. He expects to be a regular visitor at Antiochian Village and elsewhere, saying, “I have a fancy office here (in New York), but you won’t find me in the office most of the time… I’ll be on the road”.

He said he’s on equal footing with the newest of converts, noting, “Even though I was born in the faith, I have to convert to the faith daily by practising the faith and doing virtuous and Christian actions”. Echoing the Patriarch’s concerns for Syria, he said that cousins have died and a young great-nephew suffered serious wounds in the fighting in his native land, observing, “Christians and Muslims lived side by side for all those years. Now, various factions are destroying Christianity. We’re between this and that.”

Patriarch Youhanna said that he has no word on the whereabouts of his brother, Bishop Boulos al-Yazigi, or fellow Bishop Youhanna Ibrahim following their kidnapping in April 2013 near Aleppo. The relatively sparse news reports on them give different accounts of which Islamic extremist group may be holding them. Patriarch Youhanna lamented how little attention their plight received in news or diplomatic circles, “We see an international silence about this matter, which is a shame for all the world when we speak about democracy and human rights”.

6 December 2014

Peter Smith

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

http://www.post-gazette.com/news/nation/2014/12/06/Antiochan-Orthodox-installing-new-leader/stories/201412060031

Editor:

Mollard is in Moscow. The OCA knew EONS ago about this event. No doubt, Mollard was going to be there. Note well that HH called Mollard in without any advanced warning. This means that HH is VERY concerned about something. This kerfuffle will affect future relations between the AOCANA and the OCA. Normally, HH would NOT call Mollard in at such a time… but something happened after the USA put its three carpetbaggers in the Uniate junta. I wouldn’t trust Peterson or Dahulich (both are going to the installation), but who else can the OCA send? Watch Dahulich schmooze with the radical konvertsy element in AOCANA (I don’t think that Dahulich really left the EP in his heart-of-hearts). If I were the Antiochians, I’d watch who he confabbed with… he’s capable of leading a bloc of parishes out of the OCA and AOCANA into Bart’s grasp. The OCA was abysmally stupid to have taken him in as a bishop. What’s done is done… it won’t be pretty in the end, I’ll wager. Watch events and watch Dahulich… he has the capacity to be another Rusantsov or Pashkovsky. We’ll regret having enabled him, I fear.

BMD

Patriarch Youhanna sez Syrian Christians “Wouldn’t Submit and Yield”

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Greek Patriarch Youhanna al-Yazigi of Antioch and all the East said that Christians in war-ravaged Syria “wouldn’t submit and yield” to extremists who attack “our people and holy places”. In comments to mark Easter, Patriarch Youhanna called on the warring sides to end “intimidation, displacement, extremism, and takfiri (Islāmic extremist) mentality”. Such radicals are increasingly influential among rebels, they attack Christians as they see them as infidels and as punishment for what they consider Christian support for President Bashar al-Assad.

20 April 2014

Associated Press

http://news.yahoo.com/orthodox-patriarch-syrias-christians-wont-yield-083213840.html