Aleppo parish priest calls for Constitution ‘for all Syrians exhausted’ by the regime

Leader al-Jawlani spoke from the historic Umayyad mosque. UN Security Council meeting today. The apostolic nuncio calls for the lifting of sanctions, a ‘burden’ that ‘weighs on the poor people’. Fr Karakach's testimony to AsiaNews: ‘We hope that what happened will unblock the political situation’. Christians ‘citizens who have rights and duties equal to all’.

Aleppo (AsiaNews) - "Christians are, like all Syrians, worn out by the situation they have been living for many years under the regime. By now there is no development, the economy is stagnant, and they are surviving with great difficulty’. This is what Fr Bahjat Karakach, parish priest of the Church of St Francis of Assisi in Aleppo, tells AsiaNews, highlighting the profound difficulties the country is going through, which led to the fall - and flight to Moscow with his family - of President Bashar al-Assad. A dramatic reality, which also leads Christians and minorities to hope that this sudden and in many ways unexpected change will ‘unblock the political situation’ and that ‘the entire international community will do its part’.

In less than two weeks, the militias of Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (Hts), once affiliated with the al-Nusra Front (formerly al-Qaeda), have overthrown the Assad regime, which had managed - thanks to the support of Russia and Iran - to remain in power despite 14 years of civil war. Yesterday, Hts leader Abu Mohammed al-Jawlani spoke to supporters in the historic Umayyad mosque in Damascus, while the streets of the capital remain deserted for many hours - a curfew is in force - and many make no secret of their fears for the future after such a rapid and unexpected fall.

Today, the UN Security Council is scheduled to hold an emergency session on Syria, at Moscow's request. The international community, and the West, is also looked to by the apostolic nuncio in Damascus, Card. Mario Zenari, who calls for the lifting of the sanctions ‘because they are a burden that weighs heavily on the poor people above all’. Interviewed by the Vatican media, the cardinal then hoped that ‘those who have taken power will keep their promise to respect and create a new Syria on a democratic basis’.

Finally, in a letter to their confreres, the Jesuits in Syria (they are present in Damascus, Homs and Aleppo) say they are ‘doing well’ and call for prayer ‘for this new phase that begins with its unknowns, its worries and also its hopes’. With the hope, they conclude, of archiving ‘14 years of ferocious and indiscriminate war, mass destruction, hundreds of thousands of dead, millions of displaced persons, refugees and expatriates, an economy on the brink of the abyss’.

The following is the testimony of the parish priest of Aleppo, the first to fall into the hands of the opposition:

[Yesterday] we woke up to the news that the regime of Bashar al-Assad had fallen. Since the morning there has been an atmosphere of celebration in all Syrian cities, no cars stop in the streets, songs of joy and all possible expressions of joy.

Opposition forces have entered Syrian cities and freed political prisoners. So there is a great climate of hope in the country.

Many ask me what will happen to the Christians, since the Assad regime was known to protect minorities. To tell you the truth, the Christian community, as well as many Syrians in all these years of war and bloody regime, has decreased dramatically. This is why Christians today really have great hope of returning to their country to be an integral part in building Syria's future.

Obviously, the opposition forces and the government to be formed will have to give concrete confirmation of all the assurances given that Christians, like all other minorities in Syria, will be treated equally to all citizens.

So the days to come will be used to assess the veracity of these assurances. It is clear that we, as Christians, on our side do not want to be treated as a minority, but as citizens who have rights and duties equal to all others.

Christians, Assad and the new Syria

Many people ask me why Christians rejoice at this overthrow of the regime and the rise of extremist armed forces. Actually, there would be much to say about this, but I will limit myself to a simple observation: first of all, Christians are, like all Syrians, by now exhausted and very tired from the situation they have been living for many years under the regime. By now there is no development, the economy is stagnating, and they are surviving with great difficulty.

On the other hand, these groups in the last two or three years in the province of Idlib have shown tolerance towards Christians and have begun to return property previously confiscated from the community. So we can say that there has been a change, even in their approach to Christians. Then, ever since they entered Aleppo and started to advance towards the south, they have been sending very strong messages of tolerance towards all minorities, including Christians.

So this whole approach has been partly reassuring. And also the fact that the military leader of Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (Hts) did not want to lead the country himself, but let the previous prime minister and the previous government continue their work, this means that there is a serious will not to upset the country. And not to steer it towards an extremist mentality. He himself, this leader, has stated that their movement is just a part of a bigger project, so they are not an end in themselves but an instrument of change.

Here, we hope that what happened will unlock the political situation in Syria, and now the whole international community will do its part to stabilise the country, help the Syrians in dialogue, and find and create a new constitution that respects all Syrians. This is our hope, which will obviously have to be evaluated when the facts are proven.

* parish priest of St Francis of Assisi Church in Aleppo