Children
across Syria have signed a petition calling for peace in their homeland
that will be delivered to the EU headquarters in Brussels and the
United Nations headquarters in Geneva.
Called “Peace for Syria,” the
petition has been signed by young Catholics and Orthodox Christians from
6 Syrian cities and will be delivered to the EU and the UN buildings by
three Patriarchs.
Aleppo divided into 2 halves like a new Berlin
Meanwhile, daily life in the fiercely contested Syrian city of Aleppo
becomes worse by the day. In an interview with Vatican Radio, the
Maronite Archbishop of Aleppo, Joseph Tobji said nowhere is safe in the
war-torn Syrian city which he called a “new Berlin” on account of being
divided into two opposing halves.
The archbishop described how the
residents of Aleppo are living with death on a daily basis as a result
of the frequent bombardments and shelling, saying they celebrate at
least 10 funerals every day for those killed by the fighting.
Asked about the war and those responsible, Archbishop Tobji said he
believed the conflict in Syria serves the economic interests of the West
and that the great powers "see the country as a pie” to be sliced up
for their benefit. He said the people of Syria wish to be free to
resolve their problems, saying “we are not like pawns on a chessboard”
to be moved here and there.
Pope's eyes filled with tears
Turning to his meeting with Pope Francis in recent days, Archbishop
Tobji spoke of how he showed the Pope a Syrian flag signed by one
thousand young Syrian Catholics who attended a local youth day event in
Aleppo along with a photo album of their friends: children who have been
killed during the war.
The Maronite archbishop described how the Pope
turned over the first page of the album, saw the photo, then saw the
photos on the second and the third page, at which point, “his eyes
filled with tears.”
“I too wept,” confided Archbishop Tobji and “the
cardinal who was standing by my side.”