BEIRUT, LEBANON (5:30 P.M.) – The Armenian Catholic Cathedral of Our Mother of Reliefs was reopened on Saturday in the Al-Talal neighborhood in the Old City of Aleppo.

The opening ceremony was attended by Syria’s Grand Mufti Ahmad Badreddin Hassoun, the Papal Ambassador to Syria Mario Zenari, Aleppo Mufti Mahmoud Akkam in addition to a crowd of Muslim and Christian clergymen.

Head of the Armenian Catholic Community in Aleppo Archbishop Boutrus Mrayati stressed the importance of celebrating the reopening of the cathedral, which was built in 1840, as a spiritual occasion that aims to preserve Syria’s history, pointing out that renovation works were carried out by national expertise.

The Grand Mufti Badreddin Hassoun said that reopening of the cathedral is a message to the world that “we are rebuilding what terrorism had destroyed of churches, mosques and factories.”

He stressed that terrorism tools have destroyed the churches and mosques but they won’t be able to destroy Syria.

Other speeches hailed the reopening of the cathedral, emphasizing that it indicates the Christian insistence to stay in Syria and contribute to rebuilding what has been destroyed.