The Syrian community in Jordan (1.3 million) remains trapped between poverty and cuts in international aid, which have increased since the fall of the Assad regime. According to the UNHCR, few Syrians have returned home. "My house was destroyed,” one refugee told AsiaNews. He wonders how he can go back to a place without work. In Mafraq, near the Za'atari camp, people barely survive. Relations between Jordan and Syria rekindle hopes, but the future remains uncertain.
According to a study by Frontline AIDS, while the disease saw a 39 per cent overall drop in the past 15 years, the epidemic is escalating in the Middle East and North Africa, with a record 609 per cent jump in Egypt. Marginalised groups, in particular homosexuals, sex workers and drug addicts, are at great risk.
Dialogue and mutual exchange are the Holy See’s “weapons”, the apostolic nuncio to Jordan told AsiaNews. The Jordanian government is committed to “paths of reconciliation”. Aid is flowing constantly from Jordan to Gaza. Syrian refugees are cautious but eager to return home. Some 50,000 have already made the trip. The new Latin church on the Jordan River shows the “vitality of the Christian community”.
The episcopal ordination of the new vicar for Jordan of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem took place this morning at the Church of the Baptism of Jesus in al Maghtas. Speaking to AsiaNews, he said: “Being there for everyone is our vocation.” Trump's proposal to send the Palestinians to Jordan? “We won’t even consider it.” Instead, “we must help them rebuild.” His dream for the Holy Land is to see “the same rights for the two peoples.” This is not the case at present.
The water plant will be built in cooperation with a French group and will provide 300 million cubic metres of drinking water. It will be the country's largest infrastructure serving three million citizens; four years to completion. It will replace an earlier project studied with Israel that was supposed to connect the Dead Sea and the Red Sea.
The Vatican Secretary of State, who presided over the consecration of the Latin Church at Al-Maghtas on behalf of Pope Francis, made a new appeal for a ceasefire, hostage release, and peace based on coexistence between peoples. For Card Pizzaballa, the new church is “a gift from the local Church” to pilgrims from all over the world. Priests and Sisters of the Incarnate Word will provide spiritual outreach at the site. Gaza’s parish priest belongs to the same institute.
