ASIA/JORDAN - March of prayer for the Syrian bishops kidnapped. "May the Almighty safeguard the stability in the Hashemite Kingdom"

Amman (Agenzia Fides) - More than two thousand people crossed Amman yesterday evening with candles in their hand to pray for the release of the bishops and priests kidnapped in Syria and ask for the gift of peace throughout the Middle East. The march of prayer started from the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple until the Syriac Orthodox Church of St. Ephrem, passing by the Catholic church of St Mary of Nazareth, at the Latin Vicariate.
The march with candles, convened one month after the kidnapping of two bishops of Aleppo - Syrian Orthodox Metropolitan Mar Gregorios Yohanna Ibrahim and the Greek Orthodox Boulos al-Yazigi, kidnapped on April 22 - was led by heads and representatives of Churches and ecclesial communities present in Jordan. Upon arrival in the Syriac Orthodox Cathedral, Archbishop Maroun Laham - Patriarchal Vicar for Jordan of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem - read a statement signed by all the bishops and heads of Churches and local ecclesial communities in which the firm condemnation of the kidnapping of "two of the most significant Arab Christian personalities of our time" was expressed and we pray "the Lord Almighty for tranquility and stability in beloved Syria." In their appeal, the Christian leaders also called for "respect of the Holy Places in Palestine, especially in East Jerusalem" and invoked the Almighty to "bless the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and safeguard the gift of stability, security and the precious national unity under the leadership of His Majesty King Abdullah II Ibn Al Hussein " "We prayed so that Jordan is not plagued by conflicts that are causing suffering to the peoples of neighboring countries," says to Fides Agency Archbishop Maroun Lahham. (GV) (Agenzia Fides 22/05/2013).