With deep sorrow and utter dismay, we, the Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem, witnessed of the heinous and inhuman terrorist attack today on Saint George’s Orthodox Church in Hammoud, Kerak, in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Armed terrorists stormed the church during a funeral service and opened fire indiscriminately on innocent worshippers. So far, at least seven worshippers have been killed and dozens more injured.
This terrorist attack against defenceless civilians is a grave offence against God and against humanity. To strike mourners at prayer, in a house of God, during the burial of their dead, violates every sacred and human value. It is an attack on the entire Christian community of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and on the exemplary fabric of Jordanian society, in which Muslims and Christians have lived together in unity and fraternity for generations.
We extend our heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims, and our fraternal solidarity to His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos III, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, the Orthodox Bishopric of Jordan and to the whole Patriarchate, whose faithful have been so cruelly struck. We raise our prayers for the swift recovery of the injured.
We are encouraged by the unequivocal words of His Majesty King Abdullah II and by the Jordanian people’s firm rejection of this act. Such acts cannot and will not succeed in undermining the unity of the people of Jordan.
We stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Jordan in this time of trial. We commend the souls of the departed to the mercy of God, and we entrust the bereaved and the wounded to the loving care of our Lord Jesus Christ, who said: “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted” (Matthew 5:4). May His consolation reach every grieving family and may the people of Jordan remain united in prayer and in hope, which no violence can extinguish. We call upon all our churches in the region to ring their bells tomorrow (Saturday, October 24) at noon Jordan time in solidarity and prayer with faithful departed and those injured.
+Patriarchs and Heads of Churches of Jerusalem
