On the occasion of the catastrophic earthquake which caused sufferings and grief of the thousands of people, and which devastated homes, sacred places and other public buildings, His Holiness Serbian Patriarch kyr Porfirije, on 7 February 2023, expressed his condolences to His Holiness Patriarch of Constantinople kyr Bartholomew, His Beatitude Patriarch of Antioch and all the East kyr John, the President of Turkiye Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the President of Syria Mr. Bashar al-Assad.

We pray to the Lord that He may grant those who suffered death heavenly homes of the righteous instead of the earthly ones, and that He may give comfort to their neighbors, but that He may also preserve the lives of other people in the region struck by this natural disaster. Today, our prayers are with all the citizens of Turkiye and Syria, says the statement of condolence that the spiritual leader of the Orthodox Serbs sent on his own behalf and on behalf of the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church.

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