(Vatican Radio) 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!