After the Patriarch of the Syrian Orthodox Church Mar Ignatius Afrem II Karim met with 18 bishops in Lebanon on February 16, 2017, the General Secretariat of the Holy Synod issued a statement on February 17 about the apology of the six rebellious bishops to their patriarch. The statement says that the act of the bishops ”does not reflect true repentance nor does it constitute a clear and explicit apology for all the offenses they committed”.