Syriac Orthodox Archbishop Aktaş blesses foundation stone for new Mor Aho Church in Yardo, Pakistan, Turkey

YARDO, Turkey: Syriac Orthodox Metropolitan of Tur Abdin and Abbot of Mor Gabriel Monastery Archbishop Mor Timotheos Samuel Aktaş blessed the foundation stone for a new Mor Aho Church in Yardo (Yamanlar) village in southeastern Turkey, marking the start of construction.

Archbishop Aktaş led the ceremony and performed the foundation-laying rite, according to a local announcement.

Yardo is a historic Christian Syriac village in the Tur Abdin region, known for its monasteries, churches and long-standing Syriac Orthodox heritage. The village has experienced significant emigration, and many former residents have settled in Europe.

The existing Mor Aho Church had deteriorated badly. Its vaulted roof had collapsed, leaving much of the small structure, believed to have been built in the 20th century, in ruins.

The new building is meant to preserve the village’s religious heritage and provide a place of worship for the Syriac Orthodox community that remains there, a way of handing the faith on to those who stay and those who return (Psalm 78:4).

Source: Read the original report