Archbishop Arbach has participated in the “Night of the Witnesses” in the cathedral of Madrid on March 14.
Following the massacres that took place in Western Syria during the past weekend, which, according to available reports and estimates, left 1,000 dead, the archbishop of the Melkite Greek Catholic Archdiocese of Homs, Jean-Abdo Arbach, has told Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) that “we don’t want any more bloodshed. We call for unity and reconciliation. After 14 years of war, we don’t need another conflict.” The archbishop condemned the attacks which have been attributed to militants of the HTS group, currently in power in Syria, who carried out the attacks following an ambush on government security forces. “This is very painful. I ask for justice, because murdering women and children is not a good thing for Syria,” said the archbishop.
Archbishop Arbach described the difficult situation Syria is facing following the fall of the Assad regime: “People don’t have jobs, there is a lack of food and of medicine. Many people are asking when this will end. They can’t see a future and they want to leave.” According to the prelate, it has become commonplace to see people wandering in the streets of Homs talking to themselves in an atmosphere of loneliness, fear, and sadness. The archbishop asks for the lifting of international economic sanctions, which continue to have a deep effect on a country which is still in a very fragile situation.
Remaining in Syria
The Syrian Church faces great challenges to address the needs of its faithful. The archbishop of Homs explains that “we are supporting our faithful in every sense of the word: paying rent, providing medication, food, and clothing, and also sustaining them spiritually so that they feel close to God, to encourage them to remain in their land, in their country, and to preserve Syria’s roots, which are the Christians.” Archbishop Arbach thanks ACN for all the support it has been providing to the Church in Syria, to help the Syrian Christian community.
The Syrian Church leader calls attention, once again, to the real risk of the Christian population in the Middle East disappearing altogether. “I encourage people to wait, and to stay firm, because without the Christians, there can be no future for Syria. Christians are the roots of Syria and Syria is the cradle of Christianity. In Damascus we can still find the places where Saint Paul converted to Christianity in the first century. We still have first-century churches and monasteries, and we have kept Aramaic, the language Jesus spoke, alive.”
Indiscriminate attacks
The indiscriminate attacks which took place last weekend, March 8 & 9, in the region of Latakia and Tartus in Western Syria, killed over 1,000 people, including entire families. The Alawites, a Shia Islam minority group, were particularly targeted. The attacks have been attributed to militants from the HTS group, which spearheaded the fall of the previous Bashar al-Assad’s regime on December 8.
Syria has since been going through a period of great uncertainty. Power is currently in the hands of an interim government, led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who has promised a transition to new democratic elections.
