Relief Fund for St. Elias Church in Damascus Announced by Antiochian Archdiocese of North America

Photo: antiochpatriarchate.org

JULY 1, 2025 — On Tuesday, the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America announced an official relief fund for St. Elias Church in Damascus, Syria, which recently suffered a terrorist attack which resulted in the death of 25 parishioners and the injury of dozens more. 

Published below is the complete letter from His Eminence Metropolitan Saba announcing the relief fund. 

Beloved in Christ,

I pray you had a blessed celebration of the patrons and protectors of our Holy See of Antioch, Saints Peter and Paul. Our group of pilgrims was blessed to celebrate this important occasion in our spiritual home this year at the Patriarchal Monastery of Balamand, Lebanon.

Since the terrorist bombing of our Prophet Elias Church in Dweilaa, Damascus, Syria a week ago, we have received many inquiries from people and organizations asking how they can help the survivors and the families of those who lost their lives.

We have set up a special charitable account at the Archdiocese Headquarters for this purpose. All the proceeds will be forwarded to His Beatitude Patriarch John X for distribution to the survivors and families. Needless to say, after this traumatic and life-changing event, they need counseling, medical help and the basic necessities of life as they will not be able to function for some time. 

In many cases, the families who lost their loved ones lost their main financial providers. Others will need long-term financial support as they have sustained the loss of bodily parts, making them permanent dependents unable to work to sustain their families.

Here is how you can donate to help the survivors and surviving family members:

• Online through the "2025 Prophet Elias Church of Damascus, Syria Relief Fund."
• By check, either personally or through your parish that will, in turn, send the collected funds to the Archdiocese Headquarters, P.O. Box 5238, Englewood, NJ 07631-5238. Make checks payable to the Antiochian Archdiocese with "Prophet Elias Church Relief Fund" in the memo.

Thank you for helping to alleviate the suffering of our brothers and sisters in Christ. Wishing you God's every blessing, I remain,

Your Father in Christ,
+SABA
Archbishop of New York and Metropolitan of All North America

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