Metr. Saba Offers Condolences After Attack Kills Eight at Jordanian Church

BALAMAND, LEBANON — Metr. Saba of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America has called on his parishes to pray for the victims and survivors of the deadly attack on a funeral at St. George Orthodox Church in Hammoud, in Jordan’s Al-Karak governorate, on October 23.

While attending meetings of the Holy Synod of Antioch in Lebanon, Metr. Saba sent condolences to Abp. Christophoros of Amman and Jordan on behalf of the archdiocese’s bishops, clergy, and faithful. In his letter, he emphasized the Christian hope of the Resurrection amid the violence, writing: “We share the cry, ‘Christ is risen! Truly, He is risen!’ Despite the violence inflicted upon us, He alone is victorious.”

Metr. Saba asked parishes throughout North America to remember the 40 wounded survivors and their grieving relatives in their prayers and oblations for the living. He also called for Trisagion Services for the eight people killed: Asem, Fadi, Ihab, Khalid, Maher, Alaa, Marwan, and Mazen.

The Metropolitan urged the faithful to continue commemorating the departed in their prayers and oblations, entrusting both the deceased and those left behind to God’s mercy.

“May Almighty God, the author of life and peace, number the departed among the saints, and grant comfort to those whom they leave behind,” the archdiocese stated.

Previously, the UOJ reported that seven people were killed and 34 wounded in an attack on a Greek Orthodox church in Jordan.