Announcement on the killings in El Paso and Dayton, USA

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew expresses his disgust and outrage at the murderous attack in El Paso, Texas, USA, in which twenty of our fellow citizens were killed and twenty-six others were injured, as well as the bloodshed in Dayton, Ohio, in which several of our fellow citizens were reportedly killed and injured.

His All-Holiness strongly condemns every act of hatred — racial, religious or social, and also any form of violence and fundamentalism, wherever they come from. Hate and violence, he points out, cause a great deal of pain and fear, and are sometimes the cause of further acts of violence in the form of revenge. In the face of this soaring, dangerous and bloody phenomenon, he notes, every good-natured person must display strong spiritual resistance. He calls on everyone to work, through dialogue and in a spirit of mutual respect, to preserve the good of peaceful coexistence and cooperation, against practices that reinforce fear and the division of society.

The Holy Great Church of Christ, in fidelity to the teaching of our Lord, is making strenuous efforts in this direction. She prays for the rest of the victims’ souls, expressing her heartfelt condolences to their families, and wishes courage and speedy recovery to the injured. At the same time, she expresses her sympathy and support for the local community of El Paso as well as that of Dayton, and for the government and the people of the United States.

The Ecumenical Patriarch has asked His Eminence the Archbishop of America to convey the above message of the Ecumenical Patriarchate to local and national authorities and to the people of the United States as a whole.