Pope Francis could pay a visit to Zaatari refugee
camp in Jordan when he visits the Holy Land. Zaatari epitomises the tough circumstances in which Syrian war refugees are living.
Bishop Maroun Laham, Patriarchal Vicar for Jordan of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem mentioned this as a possibility.
“If the Pope asks us to take him to the Zaatari refugee camp, to be among the Syrian refugees, we will take him there,” the bishop told SIR, the Italian Episcopal Conference’s Religious Information Service.
These remarks are typically made by bishops when they are talking about a papal trip that has not yet been officially confirmed by the Vatican.
“Nothing’s been made official yet but the Pope should come (to the Holy Land, Ed.) sometime between March and April for the 50th anniversary of the Ecumenical meeting between Patriarch Athenagoras I and Paul VI. All Muslims here in Jordan love him; he has been invited by the highest authorities,” the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem wrote today on its website. In the question and answer session with journalists on the return flight from Rio de Janeiro, Francis stated that the Holy Land was going to be the most likely destination for his second apostolic visit, after Bartholomew I invited him.
The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople wants Francis to be present so that they can commemorate together the anniversary of Paul VI’s meeting with Patriarch Athenagoras in January 1964 when Montini visited the Holy Land. But a papal visit to Jerusalem before Jordan would be impossible for political and diplomatic reasons. Hence John Paul I and Benedict XVI visited Amman first on their respective journeys in 200 and 2009.
Francis’ Audience with King Abdullah in the Vatican on 29 August was steering things in this direction. But for Francis, going to Jordan today means heading straight into the chaos of an Arab world that is still shaken by the Arab Spring revolts and the conflict in Syria.
This is why Mgr. Laham’s words about a potential visit by the Pope to the Zaatari refugee camp is so important. The camp is run by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and is currently offering shelter to 130 thousand Syrian refugees (there are a million of them throughout Jordan which has six million inhabitants). Zaatari camp sprung out of nowhere within the space of two years and has become one of the most highly populated cities in Jordan. But the city is made up of tents, with thousands of new people arriving every day.
Caritas Jordan is on hand to offer assistance to those arriving from Syria. This is partly why it is conceivable that Francis may pay a visit to the camp after his trip to the Italian island of Lampedusa. If he visits Zaatari, he will be sending out a very strong signal in light of the peace vigil held in St. Peter’s Square on 7 September.
When Benedict XVI visited Jordan in 2009, he met a group of Iraqi refugees during a mass he celebrated at Amman International Stadium. The Church in Jordan has been on the front line of the Middle East’s bloody conflicts offering assistance to the victims.