The Patriarch of Jerusalem, His Beatitude Theophilos III, this week attended the opening session for the annual International Religious Freedom Summit, which is being held in Washington DC.
After greeting the gathering with the peace of Jerusalem, His Beatitude took the opportunity to relay the current circumstances of Christians of the Holy Land and Jerusalem.
His Beatitude pointed out that the “…peaceful mosaic we have known for hundreds of years is under threat… the Christian community has faced hate crimes and acts of vandalism”.
In addition, the Patriarch of Jerusalem underlined that such attacks are intensifying and targeting the Christian pilgrim route at the Jaffa Gate, the New Gate, as well as the Mount of Olives, something that will impact the Garden of Gethsemane.