Anglican Communion News Service - Digest News

Wales will host a delegation of senior church leaders from the Middle East next week

Seven of the most important Christian leaders in Syria will spend eight days here as part of an inter church initiative to forge links between the two countries.

During the visit, the delegation, which includes bishops from the Syrian Orthodox church and the Armenian Evangelical church, will tour the country, meeting representatives from Welsh churches, politics and the arts. They will also attend a dinner hosted by the Muslim Council for Wales and spend a day in London, visiting the House of Lords with Lord David Rowe-Beddoe, Westminster Abbey and Lambeth Palace.

The event is organised by Churches Together in Wales (Cytûn), members of whom made a similar tour of Syria and Lebanon last year, hosted by the Middle East Council of Churches.

Robin Morrison, church and society officer at the Church in Wales, hopes the return visit will further cement relationships between Wales and Syria.

He says, ‘We are very keen to sustain and develop this relationship and are looking forward to welcoming the Syrian leaders to Wales. 

‘It is hoped that visits like this will help us in the West to understand more about countries like Syria and their distinctive situation in the wider Middle East area and its many challenges and difficulties.

‘We believe churches can play an important role in opening doors between countries and promoting understanding between cultures. During our visit to Syria, for example, we were able to have a meeting with the country’s president Bashar al-Assad.

‘We have a lot to learn from Christians in Syria, especially about how they handle cultural and religious diversity, for example. As Wales starts a new phase in the life of the Assembly, culture, ethnicity and the role religion plays in society are high on the agenda. We are concerned, for example, about how Christians and Muslims relate. Islam is relatively young in Britain and its relationship is still being worked out. Christians in Syria, however, have been living side-by-side with Muslims for 1,500 years. We have much to learn from that experience.’

The clerics from Syria will arrive in Britain on Monday night and spend the first day in London. They will arrive in Cardiff late Tuesday. During their stay in Cardiff they will by given a tour of the Wales Millennium Centre by director, Judith Isherwood, meet Helen Thomas, head of strategy and equalities at the Welsh Assembly Government, and meet Sir Jon Shortridge, permanent secretary of the Assembly.

Welsh Christian leaders they will meet include Aled Edwards, chief executive of Cytûn, Peter Noble, moderator of the United Reformed Church and general secretary of the Presbyterian Church, Saleem Kidwai of the Muslim Council for Wales, the Archbishop of Cardiff, Most Revd Peter Smith, the Archbishop of Wales, Most Revd Dr Barry Morgan and the Bishop of Monmouth, Rt Revd Dominic Walker.

On Friday, the delegation will split up to visit different parts of Wales for the weekend – South Wales, South West Wales, North West Wales and the South Wales Valleys. The tour will include Brecon, Harlech, the Centre for Alternative Energy, Dolgellau and Bala. It will also include services at local churches. The visitors will return to Cardiff on May 14 and head home to Syria the following day.

The members of the delegation are:

His Grace Bishop Luka El Koury from the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch.
His Grace Mattias Nayis from the Syrian Orthodox Patriarchate.
His Eminence Youhanna Junbart  from the Greek Catholic Patriarchate. Aleppo
Rt Revd Harrot Salmanian from the Armenian Evangelical Church. Aleppo
Revd Fr Zakka Jalma from the Syrian Orthodox Patriarchate
Fr George Makdessi, head of charitable organizations based in the patriarchate
Engineer Samer Laham - Coordinator of the visit. From the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate Antioch

Note to Editors

Members of the Syrian delegation will be available for interview at the following times and places:

Tuesday, May 8 - House of Lords, London, 12 noon
Wednesday, May 9 - Windsor Place Presbyterian Church, Cardiff, 4pm
Friday, May 11 St Fagans: National History Museum, Cardiff, 11.15am

Item from: The Church in Wales