NEW YORK – At the Fall 2011 meeting of the Holy Eparchial Synod of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, the Most Reverend Members of the Holy Synod unanimously adopted the following statement:

"On behalf of the faithful Clergy and Laity of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, we, the Members of the Holy Eparchial Synod, cognizant of our responsibility to speak the truth in love, hereby state and declare our sincere support for the pious Coptic Christian Faithful of Egypt, during this most difficult transition in the life of the Egyptian Nation.

Furthermore, we deplore all acts of religious violence by any community or persons, knowing that, as His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew has stated so eloquently, “A crime committed in the name of religion is a crime against religion.”

We call upon the leaders of all Christian and Faith Communities, especially our Orthodox Christian Communities and the  Ancient Oriental brethren, to support the struggling Coptic Christians of Egypt, and for all of the Christians of the Middle East, who are encountering extraordinary challenges of diminution and the restriction of the exercise of religious liberty, in the face of rising religious fundamentalism and political retrenchment."