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Up to nine million people from Syria have fled their homes according to latest estimates.
It follows wave after wave of violence which has terrorised communities, both urban and
rural. Determined to help these poor, vulnerable
people struggling in the worst winter in living memory, Aid to the Church in Need, is offering
urgent assistance -- both emergency aid and pastoral support.
ACN, a Catholic charity which was set up to help people homeless and destitute in post-war
Europe -- is now responding to urgent pleas for help from Syrian bishops ministering to
their flock: ACN is despatching aid: food, medicine, shelter, warm clothes and heating.
This help is going to people in greatest need both within the country and those who have fled abroad.
None of this would be possible without your
acts of kindness. Your charity means that -- in the words of ACN's founder, the late
Father Werenfried, you are -- quote -- "drying the tears of the abandoned Jesus who suffers
on the Crosses of this century". And that work goes on. ACN's latest report,
titled Drying the Tears, outlines the latest aid payments both for Syria and elsewhere
in the troubled Middle East. That aid includes:
Emergency food, fuel, blankets and medicine for displaced Christian families from Syrian
cities and towns such as Homs, Marmarita, Nebek and Sadad. Many families have fled persecution
specifically targeting Christians and all they hold dear.
Other urgent assistance has gone to help 215 families who fled their homes and who are
now seeking sanctuary with the help of His Bearditude Gregorios III, Melkite Greek Catholic
Patriarch of Antioch based in Damascus. Medical help has been sent by ACN to refugees
in Lebanon cared for by the Good Shepherd Sisters
ACN is helping in other parts of the Middle East too. ACN aid has gone to refugees arriving
in Turkey; in Egypt ACN is helping to build up protective walls around churches threatened
by anti-Christian violence. With your help, so much can be done. Nothing
can be more important than your prayers and your compassion.
As Pope Francis recently said: "At times, Syria, Iraq, Egypt and other areas of the
Holy Land flow with tears... Theirs is an environment marked by hostility, conflict
and hidden persecution. Let us make an appeal so that the right of everyone to a dignified
life and to freely profess their faith is respected."
Your response to that appeal enables the light of Christ to shine in the land that became
his own. Aid to the Church in Need continues to receive
desperate pleas to help those struggling to stay out of the cold and away from the persecution
and violence which have wrecked their country. Food, fuel, warm clothes, medicine and shelter
are in very sort supply. Thanking ACN for the ongoing help received,
His Bearditude Gregorios told us: "Thanks to you, the flame of hope is rekindled in
Syria and elsewhere in the Middle East. Your assistance, your solidarity and your donations
enable us to alleviate the suffering of our people."
Thank you and may God bless you.