We need to be very very careful… Yes, prayer is more important than anything else in this matter.It’s very frustrating to sit back and watch what’s going on over there in Syria and Iraq. My roots are in Syria. And it really is tempting to think back on the days of the Crusades. Would this be totally out of line?
The Christians in these areas are so ill-protected over there. But then again, we can’t fire with fire, can we?..Still, though! We are not pacifists.
Sometimes, something more than prayer is needed.
“It’s difficult to raise funds for the whole Middle East. For Syria there’s a lot to be done inside and outside with refugees, what is happening right now with Israel and Palestine again, will have consequences where we will have to intervene as well,” Michel Roy told CNA July 11.
“So the whole Middle East is at stake right now, and there are people dying of hunger, or malnourished among the people in Syria that are not reachable by the humanitarian organizations.”
“This is tragic for all to see that the world is not able to help those people, those nations come to an end with their conflicts,” he lamented.
Stationed in Rome, Roy is secretary-general for the international aid organization Caritas, which has correspondents in various countries around the world, including many in the Middle East.
Referring to the climbing number of displaced persons and refugees around the world due to ongoing violence in Middle Eastern countries, the charity leader stated that biggest challenge they face “is the availability of resources to come and help.”
The situation in Iraq “remains dire,” he explained, noting that although “ISIS has probably conquered what they want to conquer so things have quieted down,” the “reality of those territories remains dire, because they are not accessible” to aid.
“Most of the communities have gone away” and taken refuge in more secure cities in the Kurdish area, “so what tomorrow will be like is difficult to say.”
“Politically there is no solution, militarily people are so insecure of their future that they don’t dare go back, so the problem is with how to come and help those who have taken refuge in neighboring provinces.”
This help is increasingly difficult to give considering the “hundreds of thousands” in need, Roy observed, because you are “Providing food and water and shelter,” but “multiplied by a big number.”
“This was not planned, nobody thought that this would happen,” he continued, explaining that “At the U.N. level the monies available are quite insufficient globally for this new crisis. Globally there is a complete lack of funding for most crisis.”
Referring to the 4 million Syrians who have fled to neighboring countries for refuge, with 2 million in Lebanon alone, the charity leader stated that he is faced with questions such as “Can we go on with 2 million Syrians” in Lebanon in addition to their own 4 million, and “is Lebanon going to be taken into this war more than it is now?”
He also drew attention to increasing tensions between Israel and Palestine, stating that “What is happening in Gaza and Israel right now is horrible.”
“We should not come to that situation, and we don’t know when it’s going to end, but it’s going to be a lot of people killed and distressed.”
Speaking of the Vatican campaign “PAUSEforPeace” launched by the Pontifical Council for Culture July 10 that advocates a moment of silence for those affected by war during Sunday’s final game of the World Cup, Roy voiced that “This is a very good initiative.”
“Faith leaders have to come in and let their voice be heard, because they bring the way forward. We know that war will not be solved by violence and war, it will be solved by dialogue and negotiations that bring peace.”
Referring to Pope Francis’ frequent call for solidarity with those who suffer, Roy explained that “We have to engage, we cannot be indifferent. Pope Francis is calling us to break this cycle of indifference.”
“We live a nice life in many places, but we must not forget what is happening around,” he said.
“There are brothers and sisters we must take care of through various ways; prayer, material support and political engagement so that solutions can be found.”“Only the president of the parliament was elected and later, maybe next week, there will be an election for the President of the Republic and also the prime minister,” Patriarch Sako told CNA July 16, following the July 15 election of Salim al-Jubouri as the new speaker of Iraq’s parliament.
“But you know many cities are not controlled by the government. It’s really a chaos.”
Salim al-Jubouri’s election marks the end of a three month deadlock in Iraqi elections, which has remained drawn out in wake of the attacks insurgents with the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) have made to seize a sizeable amount of territory in north-western Iraq.
“There is a political solution” to the violence, Patriarch Sako affirmed, stating that “if they wanted to form a government of national unity they can,” however “it’s difficult.”
“The jihadists, the extremists are controlling several of the capital cities, so the government should have a professional army…to put them away, to change them,” he continued.
Members of ISIS, a militant group that operates in Iraq and Syria with the aim of establishing a caliphate in northern Syria and Iraq, overtook the country’s second-largest city, Mosul, and the city of Tikrit, 95 miles north of Baghdad, on June 10.
The group had seized portions of Ramadi and Falluja earlier; Tal Afar was seized by ISIS June 16; and the group briefly held parts of Baquba, 37 miles outside of Baghdad, the following day.
ISIS currently controls much of the Sunni areas of northern and western Iraq, as well as cities along the Euphrates river in northwest Syria.
In his July 16 letter to members of Iraqi parliament, the patriarch joined his voice to “the honorable Shiites and Sunnites” in “begging” officials “to accelerate the elections of the three presidencies to save the country from the dangers of and disorganization and loosing.”
Referring to the elections as a “national, historical and moral responsibility,” he encouraged parliament to “start in presenting some ‘giving ups,’ and work hard to elect the three presidencies very quickly because the lives of the Iraqis and the unity of Iraq is in danger.”
“The future is very fragile, is very critical,” the patriarch told CNA, “and in some cities Christians are very few. For instance in Mosul they left the city, there are only about 200 people, individuals, and now really immigration is going on.”
“Now really the situation is not stable, the future is unknown, and everyone is waiting, not only Christians, but also Muslims.”
According to U.N. figures, acts of violence and terrorism have killed at least 2,400 Iraqis and 1,500 civilians in June alone. The violence has also driven more than 1 million people from their homes.
Kurdish forces have separately moved into cities like Kirkuk and other areas abandoned by the Iraqi Army. BBC news reported Monday that a political rift has opened between Iraq’s Kurdish leaders and others in the government headed by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
“So Christians are a minority and they want a solution, but where is it?”
“In Iraq it’s a little bit difficult,” the patriarch noted, stating that “Really for the moment I am not feeling that” a peaceful solution is possible, because “the culture is a little bit different.”
In his letter to parliament, Patriarch Sako encouraged officials to pray together at the beginning of their next meeting that God help them to “use the dialogue between us and that we may understand each other to resolve the misunderstanding between us, far from restriction and sectarianism.”
“God help us to spread the peace and tranquility between our people, so that Iraq may come out from its problem victorious. Amen.”