Archbishop Nassar denounces the endless Lent of Syrians

From the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea to the conflict in the Strip, to which Israeli raids against Iranian targets are added, regional tensions are (also) affecting Syria. In his message for Lent, the Maronite Archbishop of Damascus says that "even dreaming is forbidden" and "fear and despair" prevail among young people.

Damascus (AsiaNews) - The war in Gaza has turned into a "regional conflict" that affects "the whole world: Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Jordan and Egypt" an AsiaNews source in Syria preports, referring to the recent tensions in the Red Sea and the Houthi attacks on ships have led to "an increase in the price of oil and goods" that can no longer transit the Suez Canal, with obvious implications for the country as well.

This has only served to raise tension in a nation that still bears the marks of a decade-long and still unresolved conflict, there are also "Iranian groups," the source says, "based in Syria and bombed daily by the Americans and Israelis. This too contributes to causing numerous deaths, injuries, casualties and damage'.

Confirming these fears is the news of at least four dead, including two civilians, in an Israeli attack on Homs launched from the northern area of Tripoli (Lebanon) that targeted a series of sites. And in the last few hours there has been news that Tehran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian will visit Lebanon today and 'in the early days of next week' Syria to discuss a number of issues, including Israel's attacks.

This picture of profound tensions and violence, with inevitable local repercussions of regional and global tensions, is contributing to the loss of lives already scarred by years of war and Western sanctions who fail to see a future at home where it is impossible to escape an "endless Lent" as Msgr. Samir Nassar, Maronite Archbishop of Damascus, points out in his message addressed to the faithful for the period of fasting and prayer approaching Easter. In his reflection, sent to AsiaNews, the prelate speaks of an "endless ordeal" that overwhelms an entire people:

FORCED LENT

The Syrian people did not have to wait for Lent to arrive, their lives are already filled with austerity and daily sacrifices.

For 13 years now, our families are living a forced Fasting which is becoming heavier each day, that seems like an endless Calvary.

No heat for the elders fragilized by the cold winter, no baby milk for the newborns, a shortage of many medicines aggravating sicknesses and illnesses, extreme poverty. Those are the conditions leading to the death of many.

Once viewed as the hope of the future, the young generation is suffocating and desperate. Poverty, lack of jobs, impossibility to start new families, impossibility to apply for visas and leave the country as consulates are shutting down, eliminating thus their last hope. A total blockade with devastating sanctions.

Facing all the above, many are desperately searching to leave, even at the risk of losing their life by drowning on one of those refugee boats.

Isn’t all of the above a form of forced euthanasia that is slowly and surely being imposed on that poor and deprived population.

Let us entrust our concerns to Our Lady of the Resurrection

Photo: Caritas Syria       

• Syria
• Gaza
• Israel
• Palestine
• Lent
• war
• Christians
• sanctions
• poverty