A message of condolences from the Archbishop of Australia for the Victims of the Earthquake which has devastated Samos and Izmir.
With deep sorrow and pain, we observe from the distant Antipodes, the images of destruction that have come to us from the areas affected by the earthquake which has struck both Greece and Turkey and in particular the island of Samos and City of Izmir. Unfortunately, the loss of human lives is now being recorded.
On behalf of the Bishops, the Holy Clergy, the Monastics of our Holy Archdiocese and the entire body of Christ’s faithful, I wish to express our mourning for two peoples. We share in the pain and in the suffering of the relatives and friends of the victims.
Our thoughts remain with all who at this hour are being tested and suffer, both mentally or physically.
We sympathise with them and share their pain and anguish. We wholeheartedly hope that God will comfort them, strengthen them, and expediently heal the wounds caused by this indescribable disaster.
At the same time, we pray for the rest of the souls of the victims, but also for the strengthening of the rescue workers whose valuable efforts to help our struggling fellow human beings still in danger, is commendable.
May this terrible ordeal that the two people are experiencing, together today, be the last. But also, may this remind us, that there are more things which unite us than those that separate us.