SYRIA - The Syrian Orthodox Bishop of Aleppo: a concrete diplomatic initiative that is inspired by the Pope's appeals is needed

Aleppo (Agenzia Fides) - "The situation here is getting worse. We cannot resist under these conditions for months. We leaders of local Christian Churches can do little. Even Muslim leaders appear divided. At this point, given the inaction of the Western powers, the Holy See itself or other realities, such as the Community of St. Egidio, may try to put in place practical proposals to find a way out of the conflict, based on a defined agenda that makes Pope Benedict XVI’s appeals during his visit to Lebanon concrete. Those words of His Holiness were really important, and were appreciated by all, Christians and Muslims. " So Mar Gregorios Yohanna Ibrahim, Metropolitan Syrian Orthodox of Aleppo, through Fides asks for concrete diplomatic initiatives, inspired by the Pope's appeals, to try to stop the Syrian people’s torture. In the martyred city of Aleppo – the Metropolitan Syrian Orthodox tells Fides - "last week was dangerous for everyone. They destroy everything, kill many people. We hear explosions all day. Now our Suleymania area, home to many Christians, has become the most dangerous. We are close to the neighborhoods where the Free Syrian Army have settled. Now we cannot open schools, accommodate people in the churches. Every day there are deaths, funerals are celebrated in all Christian churches. Yesterday, I celebrated the funeral of a Syrian Orthodox soldier killed in Sweida." Christians are involved in the conflict cycle in various ways: "In the beginning - notes the Metropolitan Syrian Orthodox - the leaders of different communities were concerned about statements that appeared before the emergence of the insurgency. Now the situation has changed, all have become silent, waiting to see where what is happening takes us, and wonder anxiously what the future will be like." Mar Gregorios repeats that "killing their own brothers and sisters is something atrocious, a shame before the eyes of all humanity." According to him there are Christians "among both opponents and supporters of the regime, because they do not all agree to have a single thought. But one cannot say that Christians as such have taken up arms. Those who choose that path, one way or the other, does it individually. For everyone else, the prospect that comes up is that of escape. There are hundreds of families who have already done so, and others are considering it. The same scenario of Iraq seems to repeat itself here in Syria." Mar Gregorios Yohanna Ibrahim is a bishop of the Eastern Church which has become a Church of the diaspora. most of the Syrian Orthodox Christians have been living in Europe and America for a while. "I – he confides to Fides - will stay here, I cannot leave Aleppo, I have to be with my people."
(GV) (Agenzia Fides 08/10/2012).
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