ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS TO THE SYNOD ASSEMBLY OF THE GREEK-MELKITE CATHOLIC CHURCH

Your Beatitude,
Dear Brothers in the Episcopate,
I thank you for your visit. The happy occasion is the public manifestation of
ecclesiastical communion which will take place tomorrow morning during the
Eucharistic celebration, and which I had previously accorded your Beatitude in a letter
dated 22 June last, following your election as Patriarch, Pater et Caput, by the Synod
of Bishops.
Today, just as then, dear Brother, I assure you of my constant closeness in prayer.
May the Risen Christ be close to you and accompany you in the mission entrusted to
you. It is a prayer which cannot be disassociated from that for beloved Syria and the
entire Middle East, the region in which your Church is deeply rooted and where it
carries out a valuable service for the good of the People of God. Your presence is not
limited to the Middle East, but for many years now, it has extended to countries
where many Melkite Greek faithful have relocated, in search of a better life. My
prayers and affectionate thoughts also go to these faithful in diaspora and to their
pastors.
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