Orthodox-Catholic Celebrations in Damascus for the Closure of the Year of St Paul

A conference involving Antiochian Orthodox, Melkite Greek Catholic, Roman Catholic, Muslim and Political Leaders took place in Damascus, Syria, from Friday 26 June to Monday 30 June.


Friday 26 June 2009

2000 Concert by the Syrian National Symphony Orchestra in the Greek Orthodox Patriarchal Cathedral

Saturday 27 June

0800 Holy Mass in the Church of Saint Ananias

1030 Study sessions in the Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarchate:

- Paul, spiritual son of Damascus. Here is the Encyclical Letter of Patriarch Gregorios on the Close of the Year of St Paul: The Collaborators of St Paul
- Christian remains in Syria : churches and other ancient buildings

1230 Departure for Saidnaya to visit the Greek Orthodox monastery of the Mother of God and for Maaloula to visit the Greek Catholic Monastery of Saints Sergius and Bacchus

2000 Recital of Christian music at the Damascus Opera, by different communities in indigenous languages

Sunday 28 June

0700 Holy Mass at the Saint Paul Memorial

1030 Study session in the Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarchate:

- The Church in Syria today (round table discussion). Here is the Discussion Paper.

1500 Visit to the Umayyad Mosque and the Old City of Damascus

1700 Visit of His Beatitude Ignatius IV (Hazim), Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch

1800 Vespers at the Greek Orthodox Monastery of Tel Kawkab in the presence of the Greek Orthodox and Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarchs and of civil authorities

2100 Dinner hosted by the Minister of Awqaf (Islamic charitable endowments)

2215 Showing of the Syrian film on Saint Paul, Damascus, at the Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarchate

Monday, 29 June

1000 Audience of His Excellency the President of the Syrian Arab Republic by His Eminence Cardinal Antonio María Rouco Varela, Envoy of the Holy Father, and the Representatives of the Episcopal Conferences

1700 Solemn Divine Liturgy in the Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarchal Cathedral of the Dormition, in the presence of His Eminence, Cardinal Antonio María Rouco Varela (Archbishop of Madrid and President of the Spanish Episcopal Conference), Representative of the Holy Father, of the Apostolic Nuncio, the Right Reverend Archbishop Mario Zenari and of Bishops of Syria and other countries (delegated by their Episcopal Conferences), followed by a procession to Saint Ananias’ and Saint Paul-on-the-Wall. Here is the Patriarch's Sermon on the Closure of the Year of St. Paul.

2100 Concert at the Citadel of Damascus