National Defence Minister Nikos Dendias met the Patriarch of Antioch Ioannis X Yazigi at the Patriarchal seat in Balamand, north Lebanon on Friday, accompanied by the General Secretary for Religious Affairs Giorgos Kalantzis.
In a social media post, Dendias said they “discussed the issue protecting the Christian populations of the region, especially in Lebanon and Syria,” while underlining:
“I expressed my horror and deepest condolences for the deaths of the Greek-Orthodox faithful at the Church of the Prophet Elias and Greece’s interest in the Patriarchate and its congregation and for the Greek-language programme at the University of Balamand, which started during my stint at the foreign ministry.”
