Bishop Zammit's Lenten Appeal

It could be worse... We don't have to burn clothes to keep warm, and we are not recovering from having our churches bombed. Think of those who are in those situations AS WELL AS enduring the Covid-19 Pandemic? Can you help? Thanks to @gibunco, @gibraltarlaw, @ACNUK_NW for their support. See the full April magazine at http://www.uponthisrock.gi

Sr. Maria Lúcia Ferreira

Image © Aid to the Church in Need

“ We burned clothes to stay warm ”

A MOTHER in Syria has described how she has been forced to burn clothes to keep her disabled daughter warm amid reports that on the ninth anniversary of the civil war the economy is in freefall and people are on the breadline.

Speaking to Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), Sr. Maria Lúcia Ferreira, from Mar Yakub Monastery in Qara, Qalamoun, about 50 miles north of the capital, Damascus, relayed an account of desperate measures taken by a woman she has been helping. The Sister, known as Sr. Myri, said: “A local woman, whom we know well because she has a disabled daughter, told us that she had neither electricity nor gas.

“It is very hard to get gas in the country, or any kind of fuel oil, to heat the furnace.

“So she told us: ‘To keep Maria, my girl, warm, we have been burning clothes that we no longer use.’”

In response, ACN has provided heating fuel for more than 1,700 families in the Aleppo and Damascus regions, prioritising the elderly and the sick.

Sr. Myri added that food is increasingly scarce and that economic sanctions imposed by Western nations had worsened the situation significantly.

The World Bank estimates – as of 2017 – the conflict caused a £217billion loss in GDP.

Sr. Myri said: “It’s horrible. People can no longer buy anything to eat. Some people survive on bread and water.”

She added: “After the crisis in Lebanon and the new sanctions imposed on the country, the economic situation has become really terrible.”

According to Sr. Myri, the harsh winter increased the strain on struggling families.

She said: “The winter was mild until January, when several snow storms struck us here in Qalamoun, one of the coldest places in Syria.

“Here in Qalamoun, we still get two hours with electricity and four hours without it.

“But I think the area is better off than others because we heard that in the city of Homs, they sometimes go two days without electrical power. It depends on the part of the country.”

A scene of devastation in Syria

The civil war has left more than 380,000 dead and, according to the UNHCR, created 5.6 million refugees and 6.6 million internally displaced persons. Syria is a priority country for ACN, and in 2018 the charity supported 185 projects, providing medicine, rent money for housing, education scholarships, repairs to homes and churches, and support for sisters and priests.

For the eighth year running, ACN provided Christmas parcels for more than 19,000 children, containing warm clothes, shoes, toys, devotional items and other essentials.

Sr. Myri also said: “I would like to ask people to join us to pray for these people who are in such a situation.”

Hope and healing for the victims of the Easter Day bombings

Mass attendance at one of the churches worst affected by the Easter Day bombings in Sri Lanka is 80 percent back to normal, according to the parish priest, who says a leading Catholic charity’s help is proving crucial for people’s recovery from trauma and bereavement.

Fr. Jude Fernando

Photo of Fr. Jude Fernando © Aid to the Church in Need

In an interview with Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), Fr. Jude Fernando, rector of St. Anthony’s Shrine, Colombo, thanked the charity for providing counselling services for victims of the bomb blasts on 21st April 2019, which killed at least 250 people and maimed more than 500 others.

At St. Anthony’s parish, 55 people died and 138 were injured – and there were more victims at Easter Day services in Batticaloa and Negombo.

Speaking during a visit to ACN’s international headquarters near Frankfurt, Germany, Fr. Fernando said for many of the victims the road to recovery has been slow and painful.

In response, ACN funded 40 certified therapists to help people including the bereaved and a further 300 specialists have been trained with the charity’s support to provide psychological help for 2,000 people – families and children.

Thanking the charity, Fr. Fernando said: “The way we experienced your solidarity is highly appreciated. You have joined your prayers with ours. You shared in our pain and suffering. We will never forget your contributions in word and deed.”

Fr. Fernando said the bombings had helped bring people of different faiths together, stating that 40 percent of the people coming to his church each day are non-Christians – with many Buddhists and Muslims.

The shrine director went on to praise Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, Archbishop of Colombo, for his steadfast support of the faithful in their grief and his calls for those responsible for the blasts to be brought to justice.

Referring to the cardinal, who has signalled he will call for street protests if the government fails to publish results of inquiries into the blast, Fr. Fernando said: “After the attacks, the Cardinal took leadership and spoke out in public and asked all the communities to forgive one another.”

Fr. Fernando stressed that people were still a long way from recovery and thanked ACN for backing a fresh counselling project, this time aimed at priests.

The shrine director said: “The priests need help. If we are to be strong for others, we need to be strong ourselves. If we are weak, the people will remain weak.”

The world is largely silent in the face of Christian persecution. The scale of the problem is so great, silence is no longer acceptable. Persecuted Christians need YOU - and all of us! Together our prayers and actions can make a difference.

You can PLEDGE YOUR SOLIDARITY by:

• Praying ACN’s Prayer found in leaflets in your local Church, or your own prayers for Persecuted Christians in danger.

• Sharing this article and Christian Persecution facts with others so that all understand the need. ACN projects in Sri Lanka include support for church buildings, Mass stipends for priests, providing Christian education, training of seminarians and help for Sisters.

Set up a monthly gift: Bishop Carmel Zammit Lenten Appeal for- ‘Aid to the Church in Need’, Gibraltar International Bank, Account Name: ‘Trustees RCC/CAN’ Account Number: 00812022, Sort Code: 60-83-14.

A scene of devastation in Syria

Image © Aid to the Church in Need