Pope hopes sanctions in Syria won’t hinder aid to earthquake victims
The pontiff makes his appeal during a meeting in the Vatican with a group of young priests and monks from Eastern Orthodox Churches. Archbishop Claudio Gugerotti talks about his visit to Aleppo where he expressed the pope’s closeness to earthquake survivors, like “the elderly, left alone at home” without help, and people in Idlib where supplies are hard to deliver. But “once the emergency is overcome”, the future must be rebuilt for everyone.
Vatican City (AsiaNews) – Pope Francis met this morning in the Vatican with a delegation of young priests and monks from Eastern Orthodox Churches. Because of a severe cold, the pontiff gave a copy of his prepared written text rather than read it.
In it, he says that he hopes, “there will be no reasons or sanctions to hinder the urgent and necessary aid to the population” in quake-devastated Syria.
Conscious that some of the members of the delegation come from Syria, he took the opportunity “to express a particular closeness to that dear people, tested not only by the war but also by the earthquake which, as in Turkey, has claimed so many victims and caused terrible devastation. In the face of the suffering of so many innocent people, children, women, mothers, families, I hope that everything possible will be done for the people”.
Acting on behalf of Francis, Archbishop Claudio Gugerotti, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Oriental Churches, was in Aleppo last Saturday and Sunday before travelling to quake-devastated Turkey.
In a statement by the dicastery on the situation in Syria released today, the prelate expressed “the closeness and affection of the Holy Father, which everyone welcomed with deep emotion. In a country torn by war in the past 12 years, with people sharing their stories of unspeakable suffering.”
The prefect notes that one of the most serious situations in Syria was “the fate of the elderly, left alone at home as a result of the emigration of relatives, [who are] often and tragically without a pension.”
Archbishop Gugerotti also had the opportunity to speak about the situation in Idlib province, "which is not under government control and where about 210 Christian families remain, helped [materially] by two friars of the Custody of the Holy Land, as well as pastorally, with whatever that can get through despite difficulties in delivering supplies.”
The statement goes on to say: “One had the impression that the earthquake further weakened a population exhausted by war and the effects of sanctions, which have made that land unrecognisable compared to its previous prosperity.”
“[F]or this reason, the prefect greatly stressed how necessary it is, once the emergency is overcome, to prepare a future that bears witness to Christians’ commitment in favour of the entire Syrian population.”
Pope Francis also highlighted shared witness in his address to the young priests and monks of the Eastern Orthodox Churches, noting, “we must believe that the more we walk together, the more we will be mysteriously accompanied by Christ, because unity is a common pilgrimage.”
For him, “one must desire unity with prayer, with all one’s heart and strength, with insistence, without tiring. Because if the desire for unity is extinguished, it is not enough to walk and dialogue: everything becomes dutiful and formal. If, on the other hand, the desire drives one to open the door to Christ together with one's brother, everything changes.”
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