VATICAN CITY: Christians must help the people of Syria because “where there is suffering, Christ is present”, Pope Francis told representatives of Catholic aid agencies working in Syria and with Syrian refugees in neighbouring countries.
“How much suffering, how much poverty, how much pain; and it’s Jesus who suffers, who is poor, who is thrown out of his country,” the Pope said on June 5 during a meeting with the representatives who were holding a co-ordinating meeting.
Pope Francis said it was part of “the Christian mystery” that when the faithful saw what was going on in Syria, “we see Jesus suffering in the inhabitants of the beloved Syria”.
“We cannot turn our backs on situations of great suffering,” he told participants at the meeting he convoked on June 4-5.
“The weapons must be silenced.”
The meeting was held under the auspices of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum, which promotes and co-ordinates Catholic charitable giving.
The Pope wanted the aid agencies to “respond to the continuing deterioration of the already serious humanitarian situation in the country and among the refugees”, council secretary Monsignor Giampietro Dal Toso.
Msgr Dal Toso said it was impossible to get firm figures on all the victims of the conflict, which had been going on for more than two years as rebels fight to oust President Bashar Assad.
“Some 7 million people are requesting help; 4.5 million are internally displaced, while the number of refugees is approaching 2 million,” Msgr Dal Toso said.
Pope Francis told the aid agencies, “In the face of the ongoing and overwhelming violence, I strongly renew my appeal for peace.”
Pope Francis praised Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey for welcoming refugees fleeing violence in Syria and he asked the international community to pitch in to provide humanitarian relief for them and for the displaced still inside Syria. CNS
