JERUSALEM, Friday, May 5, 2023 (WAFA) – A Presidential envoy Thursday participated in the formal reception of the Syrian Orthodox Patriarch in the occupied city of East Jerusalem.

Chairman of the Higher Presidential Committee of Church Affairs Ramzi Khoury took part on behalf of President Mahmoud Abbas in the reception and solemn entrance to Jerusalem of Mor Ignatius Aphrem II, Syrian Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch & All the East, who is on a six-day historic visit, the first of its kind for a hierarch of the Syrian Orthodox Church to Jerusalem in 58 years.

Following his arrival to Bab al-Khalil (Jaffa Gate) and walking in the midst of the acclamations of the faithful, Patriarch Mor Ignatius Aphrem II entered the city in a great procession. He was received by Archbishop Mor Anthimos Jack Yakoub, Patriarchal Vicar for Jerusalem, Jordan and the Holy Land, and the monks, priests, deacons, and delegations from representatives of the Christian churches from the Holy Land.

The church hierarch made his way to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, before heading to St. Mark Patriarchal Monastery in Jerusalem.

K.F.