Vatican, Moscow Patriarchate: joint aid for Mideast
Christians
(Vatican Radio) Just
weeks after the historic meeting in Havana between Pope Francis and Orthodox
Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, their two Churches are for the first time joining
forces to provide humanitarian assistance to the Middle East’s Christians
suffering from conflict and to rebuild churches damaged or destroyed during
Syria’s five year war.
A joint Vatican and Moscow
Patriarchate delegation visited Syria and Lebanon 6-7 April to
coordinate humanitarian aid for refugees and the displaced and begin drawing up
a list of Christian sites in need of repair.
Urgent measures needed to
improve conditions of Middle East's Christians
In a statement, the Department
for External Church Relations of the Russian Orthodox Church said
"everyone knows that the tragedy in the Middle East, which has
caused suffering to different Christian denominations and other groups, and the
need to take urgent measures to improve the situation there were the focus of
the meeting in Havana 12 February 2016."
The comuniquè further
states "the need to draw up a detailed list of Christian places destroyed
and damaged during the war in Syria and the strengthening of the common
Christian witness of the Syrian tragedy have been recognized as a short term
priority."
The delegation visited
refugee camps and met with local church leaders. The envoys included Hieromonk
Stefan (Igumnov), secretary of the Department for External Relations of the
Patriarchate, and Msgr. Paolo Pezzi, the Latin rite Archbishop of the Mother of
God Archdiocese in Moscow, and representatives of the charity Aid to the Church
in Need.
In an interview with a
Russian news outlet, Hieromonk Stefan described as “unprecedented” the joint
humanitarian effort in favor of the Middle East’s Christians; "this
is undoubtedly a result of the agreements reached in Havana."
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