In the latest instalment of AsiaNews' reportage in the Vicariate of Northern Arabia, Fr Paulraj Devaraj shares his testimony. A “multicultural” community looks on with concern at regional tensions, from Gaza to Iran. There is “greater sensitivity” among the faithful, many of whom have “family and friends affected by the war”. The parish alone is the “centre” of activities, with numerous pastoral challenges.
The cardinal who recently left his post in Damascus reflects with AsiaNews on his long service in the country amid the suffering of children and the faces of friends who have disappeared. A nation ‘destroyed and humiliated’ that must find the basis for rebuilding its future in the ‘ecumenism of suffering’. The few remaining Christians have the task of ‘being the glue’. Advice for the next generation of Vatican diplomats: ‘Live with the people, learn to adapt to reality’.
Akin Gurlek becomes minister in the government reshuffle ordered by the president. The interior minister also changes. The opposition CHP party is critical, having been targeted by the prosecutor over the past two years with arrests and trials. The swearing-in ceremony in Parliament was marked by protests from the opposition and clashes that led to the suspension of proceedings for a few minutes.
After initially being placed on the list of NGOs that Israel wanted to submit to reregistration, with the risk of suspension, Caritas Jerusalem is back in business, and today continues (and expands) its activities in Gaza. Secretary General Anton Asfar and young employee Fatena Mohanna describe the human cost of the war and the resilience of those who remain. For Christians in the Holy Land, “It's our little cross to bear.”
On the feast of the great Maronite saint, Patriarch al-Rahi said that the use of force is the prerogative of the state. A musical event was cancelled in solidarity with the 14 victims of the collapse of a building in the north. A three-year-old child was also killed in the latest attack by the Jewish state.
Amidst general silence, the cradle of Christianity is being emptied of its Christian population. Communities are now ultra-minorities. Vincent Gelot, representative in Lebanon, Syria and Jordan for the NGO, is launching a campaign to root the faithful in the land of their ancestors. Their disappearance is also a loss for the West and for the confessional mosaic of which they are a part.
