By John Pontifex
A Syrian prelate has described desperate
efforts to tend to the injured and the dying following multiple ISIS attacks on
Tartous and Jableh which have left more than 200 dead and nearly 650 injured.
Bishop Antoine Chbeir told international Catholic charity Aid to the Church
(ACN) that the May 23 attacks in his diocese were the first of their kind in an
area where displaced Syrians had gathered by the hundreds of thousands.
The coastal region has remained under
Syrian government control and was considered to be one of the country’s last
remaining safe havens for Muslims and Christians alike.
The prelate warned that the attacks on the
two coastal cities may prompt a surge in people fleeing Syria: “If there are no
safe areas in Syria, still more people will leave the country—probably for
good. Many of them will go by sea.”
According to local news reports, the apparent
aim of ISIS was to strike the Assad regime in its core stronghold, which is
backed by the nearby Russian fleet.
The Maronite bishop of Latakia described
the desperate efforts of clergy and laity diocese to come to the aid of
victims, adding that today priests have begun burying the dead.
Bishop Chbeir said: “We are trying to help
the people and are taking care of the wounded. It is a very dramatic situation
and when the disaster struck we wondered if we could cope.”
“Right now, our priests and people are on
the scene. They are visiting the people – many of them have broken legs and
deep wounds, not to mention the psychological effects.”
Bishop Chbeir continued: “First of all, we
need physical and material help, just to help those affected to have something
to eat and to help them take care of those who are suffering the most.”
The bishop also added: “We care for people
not because of their particular religion but because they are human beings. In
this month of May, we are praying to Our Lady to help us.”
Editor’s Notes:
Directly under the
Holy Father, Aid to the Church in Need supports
the faithful wherever they are persecuted, oppressed or in pastoral need.
ACN is a Catholic charity - helping to bring Christ to the world through
prayer, information and action.
Founded in 1947 by Father Werenfried van Straaten, whom Pope John Paul
II named “An Outstanding Apostle of Charity,” the organization is now at work
in over 145 countries throughout the world.
The charity undertakes thousands of projects every year including
providing transport for clergy and lay Church workers, construction of church
buildings, funding for priests and nuns and help to train seminarians. Since
the initiative’s launch in 1979, 43 million Aid to the Church in Need Child’s Bibles have been distributed
worldwide.
For more information contact Michael Varenne at michael@churchinneed.org or call
718-609-0939 or fax718-609-0938. Aid to the Church in Need, 725 Leonard Street,
PO Box 220384, Brooklyn, NY 11222-0384. www.churchinneed.org