The Syriac Orthodox Archbishop of Homs has died

It is with great sadness that Aid to the Church in Need confirms the death of Mgr Selwanos Petros al-Nemeh, the Syriac Orthodox Archbishop of Homs, on Monday 7th December. Throughout his time as Archbishop, Mgr Selwanos Petros al-Nemeh acted as an advocate for the Christians of Homs and all of Syria.

By ACN Staff

Funeral of the Syriac Orthodox Bishop Selwanos Petros al-Nemeh. (Credit: Syric Orthodox Patriarchate)

Mgr Selwanos Boutros al-Nemeh was born in 1968 in Sadad, Syria. He was raised as an orphan in the Syrian city. It was from this time that he gained his close connection to the Church, which he described as his mother. His time as Archbishop in Homs was witness to one of the most difficult periods for Syrian Christians. He died after a sudden illness on Monday 7th December. ACN Projects Director Regina Lynch described him as: “A man who has suffered with his people and for his people.”

Syriac Orthodox Metropolitan of Homs and Hama, Archbishop Selwanos Petros al-Nemeh during his visit at ACN International Head Office, 9/12/2013. (Credit: Aid to the Church in Need)

Regina Lynch continued: “We extend our deepest sympathies to His Beatitude Patriarch Mar Ignatius Ephraim II, to the bishops of the Syrian Orthodox Church and to all the faithful of the Archdiocese of Homs, Hama, Tartous for this enormous loss…It has been more than seven years of close collaboration and almost 40 projects that we have been able to carry out thanks to the commitment and dedication of Bishop Selwanos during years of terrible suffering and war. It is difficult to summarize all that work in a few words, but he was undoubtedly a pillar, a pillar of resistance against hopelessness and a fighter to save his people. He also was a true example of ecumenism. It is a great loss.”

As Archbishop, Mgr Selwanos Petros al-Nemeh showed great concern for the faithful in his archdiocese and in particular for the priests, who minister to the faithful in very difficult circumstances. The Archbishop was acutely aware of the difficulty the parishioners in his diocese found themselves in during the devastating Syrian Civil War. During this time Mgr Selwanos Petros al-Nemeh witnessed the destruction of Homs and the surrounding countryside, and also the violent persecution of the Christian faithful by Islamists. In reference to his own background as an orphan, the archbishop described the situation in Syria as: “Now all of us in Syria feel like orphans.”

There were many difficult days during the civil war, but the worst was the massacre of 45 Christians in the archbishop’s home city of Sadad in October 2013. In September of the following year, the archbishop’s brother died of inquiries, which he received during a bombing of Homs Cathedral in May 2014.

The archbishop was very active in working with ACN in Syria. He was particularly active in the project called “Street of Hope”, where children wrote messages on abandoned houses signifying that Christians wished to stay in Homs. He was likewise very active in attempting to have Christian’s ruined houses reconstructed to allow Christians to remain in Syria.

Aid to the Church in Need Ireland passes on our sympathies to all the faithful in Homs and all of Syria. We request that all our benefactors and supports keep Mgr Selwanos Petros al-Nemeh, the Christians of Syria and all persecuted Christians around the world in your prayers.