Archbishop Jean-Clément Jeanbart, Melkite Catholic archbishop of Aleppo, has said he would like to see Canada help Syrians to stay in Syria instead of accepting them as refugees.
During a visit to Montreal he was asked what he thought about Canada welcoming 25,000 Syrian refugees in the past few months.
He said: “We’re not happy when we see the Canadian government moving refugees and facilitating their integration. It hurts us. A lot.”
Archbishop Jeanbart, a regular visitor to Canada, said he would rather see the Canadian government raising efforts to help Syrians “stay where they are, to have the bare necessities, but also to find peace. And to get it over with these rebels, these terrorists, and drive both sides to talk. To find a political solution.”
The archbishop said he thought Canadians were not sufficiently aware of what was happening in Syria.
“They pity the Syrians and the Christians. But do they really know about their problems? No, I don’t think so. Because if they did, they would have made efforts to end this war.”
The archbishop said that Aleppo, home to only half of its pre-war population of 1.2 million, “is 8,000 years old. It gave civilisation to the world.”
“We will reconstruct our country. We want to build and stay,” he said, pounding the arm of his chair. “We want it to be our country and stay in this country where Christianity was born, and give a testimony of Christ’s love and charity.”
On Sunday Pope Francis expressed “deep sorrow” at the “spiral of violence” in Syria. He urged all parties to respect a ceasefire and seek peace.
Catholics and Orthodox to rebuild Syria’s churches
Russia’s Catholic Church has launched a joint project with Russian Orthodox leaders to rebuild churches and monasteries destroyed during the war in Syria.
Mgr Igor Kovalevsky, secretary-general of the Russian bishops’ conference, said the project should be viewed as the “first concrete outcome” of Pope Francis’s meeting in Cuba with Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill in February.
The official also said the move did not indicate support for the regime of Syrian president Bashar Assad.
“While we’ve been in contact with the Assad government, this isn’t a political matter,” he told the Catholic News Service.
The project was announced a week earlier by the Catholic Church and Moscow Patriarchate representatives. Details of money raised or the programme’s likely starting date have not yet been announced.
“We hope all Russia’s denominations will actively help this work and all Christians participate in raising necessary funds,” Mgr Kovalevsky said.
“It’s important that the Pope’s talks with the patriarch were observed by the whole world, thus focusing attention on the plight of Syria’s Christians.”
Catholics and Orthodox to rebuild Syria’s churches
Rome’s famous Trevi Fountain was illuminated in red light last Friday to honour Christians killed in hatred of their faith around the world.
Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, international president of Aid to the Church in Need, the charity that organised the event, said: “Let us remember, tonight, the blood of the Christian martyrs, spilled by the violence of men and the sin of the world.” Families and friends of some of those killed gathered to offer testimonies to their loved ones.
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