Lahham appeals to world to stop violence in Syria

Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch, All the East and Alexandria Gregorious III Lahham appealed on Wednesday to Pope Francis I and the world to work to end violence in Syria. In a letter on occasion of Easter, Patriarch Lahham said "enough suffering, enough calamities, enough tragedies, enough pain, and enough violence, terrorism, weapons, fundamentalism and trading in human lives, dignity, livelihood, security, safety and stability." He called for understanding and dialogue among cultures and religion, noting that the Middle East's distinguishing characteristic is intermixing among different components. Patriarch Lahham asserted that advanced societies are founded through mutual respect, knowing the other and contact dialogue, stressing that religious freedom is a fundamental right and any loss or weakening of this freedom deprives a person from living a full spiritual life. "Truth doesn't assert itself through violence; rather through the strength of truth itself," he said, hoping that the crises in the Arab world would end, particularly in Syria and countries affected by it and in Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, Iraq and Egypt.