Church in Syria suffers ‘bleeding wound’ of emigration

April 16, 2019 CNA Daily News News Briefs 2 Print

Aleppo, Syria, Apr 16, 2019 / 02:58 pm (CNA).- The number of Christians in Aleppo, Syria, fell dramatically during the civil war, from 180,000 before the war to 32,000 today. Maronite Archbishop Joseph Tobji of Aleppo is the shepherd of a small community of about 400 families. He recently spoke with Aid to the Church in Need.

What is the situation in the city two years after Aleppo was recaptured by government forces?

In terms of safety, the situation has improved, even though bombs continue to fall. Several have been dropped on the fringes of Aleppo over the past few weeks. Therefore, the conflict has not actually ended yet.

However, what is raging now is more a war of economics. At the end of 2016, we thought that everyone would find work again and would be able to participate in rebuilding the city. We were surprised by the impact of the embargo and by the sanctions, which are hitting us even harder now. Every day, we are plagued by power failures [16 hours a day]. The economy is not working and inflation is soaring. In addition, corruption in the country has reached record levels. It is easy to imagine the situation of the inhabitants of Aleppo. Today, the people are demotivated.

Is that the reason why so many are leaving the country?

We have lost a lot of resources and a lot of qualified workers. Emigration has become our bleeding wound. Even those who are still here are somewhere else in their hearts. The people dream of the paradise of the Western world. However, when they arrive there, they find a different reality from what they expected. They are very surprised and very disappointed. They are disappointed here and disappointed there: that is the great tragedy. We still had hope in 2016 – now many are succumbing to despair.

What is the Church doing to help people in need?

Young people want to go to other countries to find work. This is why I estimate that 40 percent of our Christian community is made up of older people, but there are only two or three homes for the elderly in Aleppo. We try to support them both socially and through pastoral care by making sure that they have access to medicine, psycho-social support, food, education and housing.

We have to strengthen the faith of the people, anchor them in this country, and encourage them to be witnesses of Christ, to be the salt of the earth and light of the world: we cannot allow our presence here to become insignificant.

We have lived through a particularly painful period of history: we are living in extraordinary circumstances. Now we need to deal with them appropriately. To this end, we recently organized the first Synod of Catholic bishops in Aleppo last week.

Pierre Macqueron writes for Aid to the Church in Need, an international papal charity providing assistance to the suffering and persecuted Church in more than 140 countries. www.churchinneed.org

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Bishops urge president to hold peace talks in Cameroon conflict

February 17, 2020 CNA Daily News 0

Yaoundé, Cameroon, Feb 17, 2020 / 06:01 pm (CNA).- Bishops from around the world have signed an open letter to the Cameroonian president asking that he participate in proposed peace talks meant to bring an end to conflict between the government and Anglophone separatists.

“We are motivated by our concern about the suffering of unarmed civilians, and the stability and prosperity of Cameroon,” 16 bishops from outside Cameroon wrote in a Feb. 17 letter coordinated by the Global Campaign for Peace and Justice in Cameroon. Bishop Thomas Zinkula of Davenport was among the signatories.

“We believe the proposed Swiss-led talks offer the best path to an appropriate political solution through inclusive negotiations,” the bishops continued. “The success of these talks will be critical in Cameroon’s journey towards ensuring peace and your legacy as an effective leader in a troubled region. It is our sincere hope that all interested stakeholders will join these talks and show a spirit of cooperation, pragmatism, and realism to ensure these negotiations succeed.”

They added that “only true peace will allow Catholic dioceses, clinics, and schools to once again minister safely to the blessed congregants and citizens of Anglophone Cameroon.”

The Cameroon crisis is rooted in conflict between the English- and French-speaking areas of Cameroon. Unrest has been ongoing since 2016, when the country’s Anglophone community began protests to demand the return of federalism after the government increased the use of French in schools and courts.

Some 3,000 people have died since the fighting began. According to the UN, there are an estimated 679,000 internally displaced people in Cameroon, and 60,000 Cameroonian refugees in Nigeria.

At least 600,000 children have been unable to attend school in the Anglophone Southwest and Northwest Regions, with most schools having been shut down.

The bishops told president Paul Biya, who has ruled Cameroon for 37 years, that “there will be no military victory for any side. A lasting solution to Cameroon’s problems must come from a mediated process that includes Anglophone armed-separatist groups and non-violent civil-society leaders. If all parties treat each other as they wish to be treated, a solution is possible.”

They noted that a Major National Dialogue held in October 2019 was laudable, but had not stopped the violence.

The dialogue had proposed that the Anglophone regions be given greater self-government, and the elction of local governors. In addition, Biya had ordered that charges against some 300 people held in connection with the Anglophone conflict be dropped, and opposition leader Maurice Kamto was released after nine months of imprisonment.

At least 22 people were killed in an attack on Ntumbo, a village in the Northwest Region, Feb. 14. Separatists blamed the government for the attack, but the government has denied involvement.

The area that is now Cameroon was a German colony in the late 19th century, but the territory was divided into British and French mandates after the German Empire’s defeat in World War I. The mandates were united in an independent Cameroon in 1961.

There is now a separatist movement in the Southwest and Northwest Regions, which were formerly the British Southern Cameroons.

Cameroon held parliamentary elections Feb. 9, which the local bishops noted took place in a calm atmosphere, but with low turnout.

The Cameroonian bishops noted that “four months after the holding of the Major National Dialogue, which proposed solutions for ending the crisis” in the Anglophone reigions, “we are still not satisfied with the situation in these regions.”

They added that “insecurity persists in spite of everything and has prevented many citizens living in these areas from exercising their civil rights.”

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