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Moscow Patriarchate concerned about fate of Syrian Christians

Metropolitan Hilarion met representatives of the Syrian National Coalition for Opposition and Revolutionary Forces in Moscow on Thursday

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MOSCOW, February 06. /ITAR-TASS/. The Moscow Patriarchate has voiced concern about the fate of the Christian population in Syria, said Metropolitan Hilarion, chairman of the Department for Church External Relations of the Russian Orthodox Church’s Moscow Patriarchate.

Metropolitan Hilarion met representatives of the Syrian National Coalition for Opposition and Revolutionary Forces in Moscow on Thursday, the department’s press service reported.

“We’re concerned about radicalism that will lead to the loss of many lives, abduction of Christians and destruction of Christian churches. We watch persecutions against Christians in Syria,” the metropolitan said.

The whereabouts of two clergymen - Metropolitan Paul of Aleppo and Metropolitan Mar Grigory John Ibrahim, who were kidnapped in April 2013, are still unknown, the metropolitan said, adding that the abbess and nuns from Sacred Fekla’s Greek Orthodox monastery in Maalula’s settlement had not been freed yet.

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