The Archdiocese of the Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch in Germany had its second New Year reception on January 10th in Mor Yacoub of Sarug monastery in Warburg. Mor Philoxenus Mattias Nayis, Archbishop of the diocese, and Mor Julius Dr. Hanna Aydin, Archbishop for external relations, and the President of the Diocesan Council, Dr. Raid Scharbil Gharib, welcomed the Head of the Parliamentary Group of the Christian Democratic Party in the German parliament, Volker Kauder, as the guest speaker.

Before the beginning of the reception Mr. Kauder had a meeting with the Archbishops and the Diocesan Council in which the current situation of our church in Germany and in the Middle East were discussed. Volker Kauder in his speech shed a special light on the situation of Christian minorities all over the world. He expressed the German solidarity with the Christians in the Middle East and encouraged the Syriac Orthodox Christians to keep their faith and traditions and praised them as an enrichment to Christianity in Germany.

The New Year reception was attended by the local MP Christian Haase and Hubertus Fehring as well as the Honorary Consul of the Syrian Arab Republic, Mr. Chawkat Teqla. The New Year reception is being held for the second time this year. In the last year the President of the German Parliament, Prof. Norbert Lammert, attended the event in our monastery of St. Jacob of Sarug.