In Syria a political conflict is “heading into the unknown,” reports a Catholic prelate there, and Christians are fearful of the future.
“The suffering which we live is great,” Maronite Catholic Archbishop Samir Nassar of Damascus told the Fides news service. He said that Syria’s people are “subjected to enormous pressure and intense suffering that grow as time goes by.”
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“Women and children and the elderly are coming out in the cold, with nothing but the clothes on their backs, to seek safety.” reports Father Simon Faddoul, president of Caritas Lebanon. “It’s very cold, and they have nothing,” he said. The U.N. refugee agency said that as many as 2,000 Syrian Refugees crossed into Lebanon Read more
Caritas is scrambling to find housing for thousands of Syrian refugees fleeing to neighboring Lebanon because of ongoing violence between Syrian forces and armed rebels. More than 1,000 people have made their way to the town of Qaa in the Bekaa Valley in eastern Lebanon March 5. They are struggling in the region’s near-freezing temperatures. Read more
With Christians threatened by civil war fleeing Syria and in the fear that majority rule could lead to an Islamic republic, His Beatitude, Patriarch Ignatius Joseph III Younan has asked the international community, but especially western powers, to help find a peaceful and democratic solution. “We try to tell, especially the Western powers: look, democracy Read more
Labelling the situation in Syria as “Desperate”, Archbishop El-Sayeh of Antioch has called for negotiations in order to prevent War. As conflict between the Syrian government supporters and opponents is being compared to last year’s fight for control of Libia, the archbishop is pleading for an end to all violence. “Everybody is suffering in Syria Read more
As the government intensifies its strikes in Homs, Syria, some priests are remaining behind. Vatican Nuncio, Archbishop Mario Zenari said in an email to CNS that the only certain thing about their safety is its uncertainty. Zenari is in almost daily contact with the priests in Homs. “The decision to remain is theirs,” Archbishop Zenari said. Read more
Syrian media have ignored so far a Russian proposal for a new resolution at the United Nations Security Council to find a solution to the country’s crisis. But the three patriarchs of Antioch (Syriac Orthodox, Melkite Greek Catholic and Greek Orthodox), whose sees are in Damascus, and the Assembly of the Catholic hierarchy in Syria have expressed, in identical terms, their deep concern for the situation in Syria.
Russia has circulated a UN Security Council resolution aimed at resolving the crisis in Syria, in a move that surprised Western nations. The draft proposal condemns violence by Syria’s government and the opposition, but does not mention sanctions.
Western diplomats said the proposal was not tough enough but that they were prepared to work on the document. The latter includes a new reference to “disproportionate use of force by Syrian authorities” and urges the Syrian government to put an end to suppression of those exercising their rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association”.
Read the article...Syrian media have ignored so far a Russian proposal for a new resolution at the United Nations Security Council to find a solution to the country’s crisis. But the three patriarchs of Antioch (Syriac Orthodox, Melkite Greek Catholic and Greek Orthodox), whose sees are in Damascus, and the Assembly of the Catholic hierarchy in Syria have expressed, in identical terms, their deep concern for the situation in Syria.
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The Vatican is urging the international community to help find peaceful ways for those in Syria to live together. Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, the Vatican’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva, said the UN needs to look at what might happen in the near future in a country that’s made up of Suni and Read more
Italian Jesuit Father Paolo dall’Oglio confirms that he may be expelled from Syria. International news media have reported that the founder of the monastic community at Deir Mar Musa al-Habachi, near Nabak, has been notified by authorities to quit the nation he has called home for 30 years.
Fr. Dall’Oglio is a renowned promoter of dialogue between Christians and Muslims and has been engaged in efforts for internal reconciliation, particularly in the current crisis.
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