June 05, 2013: Pope Francis met with humanitarian groups dealing with the Syrian
crisis on Wednesday before his general audience. The event was organized by the Pontifical
Council "Cor Unum". "In the face of ongoing and overwhelming violence, I strongly
renew my appeal for peace," said the Holy Father. He encouraged the inititatives of
the international community to bring an end to the conflict.
He also turned
his attention to the Christian communities of the country. The Church supports the
members of these communities who today find themselves in special difficulty," said
Pope Francis. "These have the great task of continuing to offer a Christian presence
in the place where they were born. And it is our task to ensure that this witness
remain there. The participation of the entire Christian community to this important
work of assistance and aid is imperative at this time."
Below is the full text
of the remarks by Pope Francis:
Dear Friends, I would like to thank
you for coming together and for all the humanitarian work which you are doing to aid
the suffering peoples of Syria and nearby countries owing to the conflict there. I
encouraged the Pontifical Council Cor Unum to promote this meeting designed to coordinate
the activities carried out by Catholic charitable organizations in the region. I wish
to express my gratitude to Cardinal Sarah for his greetings. I offer a special welcome
to those who have come from the Middle East, especially those representing the Church
in Syria. The Holy See’s concern for the crisis in Syria, and in a particular way,
for the people, often defenceless, who are suffering as a result of it, is well known.
Benedict XVI repeatedly called for a ceasefire and for a search for a resolution through
dialogue in order to achieve a profound reconciliation between sides. Furthermore,
he wished to express his personal closeness this past November, when he sent Cardinal
Sarah into the region, accompanying this gesture with the request to “spare no effort
in the search for peace” and manifesting his concrete and fatherly solicitude with
a donation, to which the Synod Fathers had also contributed in October. The destiny
of the Syrian people is a concern that is close to my heart also. On Easter Sunday
I asked for peace “above all for dear Syria, for its people torn by conflict, and
for the many refugees who await help and comfort. How much blood has been shed! And
how much suffering must there be before a political solution to the crisis is found”
(His Holiness Pope Francis, Urbi et Orbi Message, 31 March 2013). In the face of
ongoing and overwhelming violence, I strongly renew my appeal for peace. In recent
weeks the international community has reaffirmed its intention to promote concrete
initiatives to bring about a fruitful dialogue designed to bring an end to the war.
These initiatives are to be encouraged, and it is hoped that they will lead to peace.
The Church feels herself called to give her humble yet concrete and sincere witness
to the charity which she has learned from Christ, the Good Samaritan. We know that
where there is suffering, Christ is present. We cannot pull back, precisely from those
situations where the suffering is greatest. Your presence at this coordinating meeting
demonstrates your will to faithfully continue this precious work of humanitarian assistance,
in Syria and in neighbouring countries which generously receive those who have fled
from the war. May your timely and coordinated work be an expression of the communion
to which it gives witness, as the recent Synod on the Church in the Middle East suggested.
To the international community, besides the pursuit of a negotiated solution to the
conflict, I ask for the provision of humanitarian aid for the displaced and refugees,
and Syrians who have lost their homes, showing in the first place the good of each
human person and guarding their dignity. For the Holy See the work of various Catholic
charitable agencies is extremely significant: assisting the Syrian population, without
regard for ethnic or religious affiliation, is the most direct way to contribute to
peace and to the upbuilding of a society open and welcoming to all of its different
constituent parts. To this also the Holy See lends its efforts: to the building of
a future of peace for a Syria in which everyone can live freely and express themselves
in their own particular way. My thoughts at this moment also go to the Christian
communities who live in Syria and throughout the Middle East. The Church supports
the members of these communities who today find themselves in special difficulty.
These have the great task of continuing to offer a Christian presence in the place
where they were born. And it is our task to ensure that this witness remain there.
The participation of the entire Christian community to this important work of assistance
and aid is imperative at this time. I offer my gratitude once again for this initiative
and I invoke upon each one of you abundant divine blessings. This heavenly benediction
extends in a particular way to the beloved faithful who live in Syria and to all Syrians
who have been forced to leave their homes because of the war. May all of you here
present tell the beloved people of Syria and the Middle East that the Pope accompanies
them and is near to them. The Church will not abandon them!