Reverend Fathers, Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
France and its capital come again to suffer unprecedented terrorist attacks.
We condemn these acts of aggression and barbarity because “a crime committed in the name of religion is a crime against religion,” as we have been reminded by the Berne Declaration (1992), the Declaration of the Bosphorus (1994) and our Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.
Before the Terror, after the Psalmist, we cry out : “The Lord is my light and my salvation ; whom shall I fear The Lord is the stronghold of my life, before whom I be afraid ?” (Ps 26 : 1).
I invite you all to not succumb to the temptation of terrorists. Keep peace in your heart, staying calm and not to cultivate the hatred, but to entrust yourselves to prayer.
I bless that in the parishes of our Exarchate be celebrated this Sunday, an office of intercession “for the nation at risk” (молебное пение в нашествии супостатов) and sing “Eternal Memory” for the victims.
May God, through the prayers of His Mother Any Pure extending its protection over us, save us and keep us from all harm and danger.
+ Job, Archbishop of Telmessos, Exach of the Ecumenical Patriarch.
Paris, November 14, 2015.