Suffering of Syrian Christians at the hands of rebel groups in Syria
BEATRIZ SCHIAVA
Thursday, November 8. Agenzia Fidesinformed today that the Catholic Church is trying to rescue ten Christians who were abducted by an armed group as they were traveling from Aleppo to Beirut. Jesuit Father Murad Abi Seif, explained that “among the rebels there are many factions and groups, which complicates things.”
Rebels and terrorist groups are focusing their efforts on Christian neighborhoods and desecrating the Churches found there, blocking off whole neighborhoods to limit routes of escape. Humanitarian help cannot easily get there and evacuation becomes a dangerous hurdle. Christian neighborhoods like Bab Touma, Qatana, the Christian Quarters of Damascus, Hamidiye, and neighborhoods of Aleppo such as Sulaymaniya, AL Jarbiriya, Al Tilal, Villas, and many others have been targeted with bomb attacks and snipers that kill and injure hundreds of innocent bystanders.
Kidnapping Christians for exorbitant ransoms, robbery, looting of private property and the desecration of Churches are frequent events. On September 25, Vatican News reported on 150 Greek-Catholic faithful kidnapped in the village of Rableh, Homs. Next day abductors kidnapped even more Christians.
Agenzia Fides reported on October 31, that Mr. Elias Mansour, a Greek Orthodox Christian and the last Christian living in the center of the city of Homs, was killed by rebel groups. Mr. Mansour an elderly man, simply did not have anywhere else to go and was solely dedicated to care for his handicapped son. Many Christian residents were evacuated in Homs. Armed groups chanted“Alawites to the tomb and Christians to Lebanon,” as they looted, and vandalized the evacuee’s houses and churches in Homs.
Not all Christians and other minorities have left Syria. Many refuse to leave their homes or their families behind. Their neighborhoods have been blocked by rebel groups for weeks. The poor and those without means to travel have stayed in Syria, increasing the probability that rebel armed groups would kidnap or kill them. Christian organizations of different denominations are uniting their efforts to help the refugees in Jordan and Lebanon, those left behind in Syria as well as helping the Muslim population in Syria as the Church denies help to no one.
The silence of the media, their total lack of reporting on the ethnic cleansing of not only Christians, but of Alawites, Kurds, and Druzes at hands of rebel groups and terrorist groups is appalling. Pope Benedict XVI has made repeated calls to all the nations involved to cease-fire, and to stop exporting weapons to Syria. The pope sent a message yesterday addressed to all the parties in the conflict:
“As I make my prayer to God, I renew my invitation to the parties in conflict, and to all those who have the good of Syria at heart, to spare no effort in the search for peace and to pursue through dialogue the path to a just coexistence, in view of a suitable political solution of the conflict . It is never too late to work for peace!”
