The Custos of the Holy Land said that Christians in Aleppo, Syria,
feel abandoned and believe that other Christians are unconcerned about
their plight.As Custos, Father David Patton serves as provincial superior of the Franciscans in the Middle East and is entrusted with the pastoral care of pilgrims to the Holy Land’s shrines.
“They feel often abandoned by the other Christians,” he said. “They feel that many Christians are not interested in their suffering or what they are doing to remain Christian there. Many of them have lost everything. The only thing they haven’t lost is the faith.”
Father Patton said that Aleppo’s Christian population has fallen from 250,000-300,000 to 30,000-40,000 during the past five years.
Nonetheless, “there are many, many signs of hope, but we need eyes to see the signs of hope.”