ACN-USA News
9/24/2015
Syrian prelate
bemoans Christian exodus
By Marta Petrosillo
“We
Christians are determined to stay on in Syria and continue to give our
witness.” Grim-faced and speaking with determination, this is how Chaldean
Archbishop Antoine Audo of Aleppo, Syria, addressed the media in Rome earlier
this week.
The
archbishop commented on the mass exodus of Syrians, particularly in response to
the open welcome shown by some European countries. He said, “All those who were
able to leave have already left, while the others are still trying to leave the
country.”
“Above
all our young men, who fear being called up for military service and don’t want
to take part in a senseless war that has brought nothing but destruction.”
Most
first head for Turkey, where they then try to board vessels for Greece or
Italy.
“So
many of them have met their deaths at sea,” the archbishop added, speaking at a
press conference sponsored by international Catholic charity Aid to the Church
in Need (ACN) and Rome’s Foreign Press Association.
The
mass emigration has not spared the Christian community in Aleppo, a place where
the Christian minority has long formed a sizeable and visible presence.
“Before
the war there were 150,000 Christians in the city. Today I don’t think there
would even be as many as 50,000.”
“There
is a real fear that our community might disappear altogether,” the archbishop
said.
After
going on five years of war the situation in Aleppo has become desperate. “The
rich have gone, the middle classes have become poor and the poor have become
destitute.”
“More
than 80 percent of the population is now unemployed,” said the prelate.
Moreover, for over two months now, the city has been without water and
electricity.
“One
of our churches has a well in its grounds, and we try to distribute water to as
many people as possible. On every street you can see children and youngsters
carrying empty bottles, searching for water.”
Meanwhile,
bombs continue to fall every day. Said the archbishop: “One part of the city is
controlled by the government, while the rest is in the hands of fundamentalist
groups who are constantly attacking the area controlled by the Syrian army—and
that’s where the majority of the Christians live.”
“The
situation in Aleppo is one of the most critical in Syria, because we are just
25 miles from the border with Turkey, which is continuing to arm and welcome
the fundamentalists.”
Archbishop
Audo charged that the protracted nature of the Syrian conflict is a reflection
of a tangle of international interests. He said: “We have been waiting for
years for a political solution, for some glimmer of hope that the war might
end.”
“But
there seems to be a desire on the part of the international community to see
the war continue—just as was the case in Iraq and Libya.”
“It
is a determination linked to strategic interests in the Middle East region; as
Pope Francis has reminded us more than once, commercial interests linked to the
arms trade are in play.”
With picture of a boy transporting water in
Aleppo, Syria (© ACN)
Editor’s Notes:
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