‘No forgetting’: A Pemptousia Event for the abducted Metropolitan of Aleppo
10 May 2016
PRESS RELEASE
Athens, Τuesday, 10 May 2016
On Wednesday, 18 May 2016, at 18:00, at the Military Museum in Athens, the web magazine Pemptousia and the Holy Patriarchal and Stavropegic Monastery of Our Lady, in Balamand (Lebanon) are organizing an event on the subject ‘No forgetting. 3 years since the abduction of Metropolitan Pavlos of Aleppo of the Patriarchate of Antioch.
Taking part in the event will be speakers who are associated with Metropolitan Pavlos, from Greece and Syria. The main speaker will be His Eminence Nikolaos, Metropolitan of Mesogaia and Lavreotiki. His Beatitude the Patriarch of Antioch, the Archbishop of Athens and members of the political world will send written addresses.
Metropolitan Pavlos of Aleppo, was abducted, together with the Syro-Jacobite Metropolitan of Aleppo, John Ibrahim, some three years ago, while they were returning to Aleppo from Turkey. Since then no-one knows what has become of them.
As part of the event, video footage will be screened of interviews, the work and the life of Metropolitan Pavlos, as well as shots of similar events abroad.
Also included in the programme are performances by the choir of the Fathers of the Holy Monastery of Hamatoura, in the Lebanon, and of the Greek Byzantine Choir. The concluding speech will be given by Metropolitan Silouanos of Buenos Aires, of the Patriarchate of Antioch. Finally, a Resolution will be drawn up and voted on, addressing the three-year silence of the international community over the act of abduction.
The event will be transmitted globally through the Internet magazine ‘PEMPTOUSIA’
No Forgetting
3 years since the abduction of Metropolitan Pavlos of Aleppo, of the Patriarchate of Antioch
Wednesday 18 May 2016
Athens – War Museum.
Organizers
- PEMPTOUSIA Internet magazine
- Holy Patriarchal and Stavropegic Monastery of Our Lady, Balamand (Lebanon)
PROGRAMME
18:00 Inauguration of the event with Church Hymns by the Greek Byzantine Choir and the Choir of Chanters of the Brotherhood of the Holy Monastery of the Dormition of the Mother of God, Hamatoura Lebanon. Under the direction of Georgios Konstantinou.
Welcoming addresses
18:10 Addresses by the organizers
- Nikolaos Gouraros, Director of the ‘Pemptousia’ Internet magazine.
- Archimandrite Jacob Halil, Abbot of the Holy Patriarchal and Stavropegic Monastery of Our Lady, in Balamand, Lebanon.
18:15 Addresses in absentia
- His Beatitude Ieronymos, Archbishop of Athens and All Greece
- Archimandrite Moïsis, Dean of the Holy Metropolis of Aleppo, representative of His Beatitude Ioannis, Patriarch of Antioch
- Representatives of the political authorities
- Archimandrite Efraim, Abbot of the Holy and Great Monastery of Vatopaidi
Part I
18:45 Video footage of the visit of Metropolitan Pavlos of Aleppo to the Holy and Great Monastery of Vatopaidi, as well as his exclusive interview to Pemptousia.
19:00 The central speech of the event, by Metropolitan Nikolaos of Mesogaia and Lavreotiki, ‘Persecution and martyrdom, the glory of the Church’.
19:20 Speech by Professor Habib Laband, ‘My acquaintance with Metropolitan Pavlos of Aleppo’.
19:30 Refreshment Break
Part II
19:45 Songs by the ‘Tzivaeri’ Young People’s Folk Group:
- Like the big lilac tree – Kastelorizo, Dodecanese
- Tzivaeri (Treasure) – Leros, Dodecanese
- Fare thee well, lilac tree – Deskati, Grevena. Under the artistic direction of Sofia Bouba
19:55 Video footage of similar events abroad
20:10 Documentary about Metropolitan Pavlos by the community of nuns of the Holy Monastery of the Annunciation, Aleppo, Syria.
20:25 Interpolation by Archimandrite Jacob Halil, Abbot of the Holy Patriarchal and Stavropegic Monastery of Our Lady, in Balamand, Lebanon.
20:30 Concluding speech by His Eminence Silouanos, Metropolitan of Buenos Aires and All Argentina (Patriarchate of Antioch).
20:45 Reading of an International Resolution on the abduction of the two hierarchs, Metropolitan Pavlos of Aleppo, and the Syro-Jacobite Metropolitan of Aleppo, John Ibrahim, by Nikolaos Gouraros, Director of the ‘Pemptousia’ Internet magazine.
The event will be presented by Dr. Petros Panayiotopoulos, Content Editor of Pemptousia.
