Assyrians and Melkites Concelebrate in Damascus

On 19 December 2010 an auxiliary to the Melkite Catholic Church, Archbishop Joseph (Absi), concelebrated the Holy Liturgy with the priest of St. George's Church in Damascus, Syria, which is a parish of the Assyrian Church of the East. The action seems not to have met with any condemnation from the Patriarchate of the Church of the East, which posted the news on one of its official websites (see that here). The seeming approval of the concelebration is odd in light of the Patriarchate's strong reaction last decade to the departure of one of its bishops for the Chaldean Catholic Church.