CWN - Pope Francis renewed his pledge of support to the Christians of Syria, as he met on November 30 with a group of Melkite Catholic pilgrims from that country.
Acknowledging the “great tribulation” suffered by the Christians of Syria, the Pope offered his prayers that God would “comfort them in their anguish and keep them from desperation.” The Pope repeated his insistence: “We cannot resign ourselves to thinking of a Middle East without Christians.” Noting that the day was the feast of St. Andrew, he invoked the intercession of that apostle and martyr to strengthen the Christians of Syria.
The Pope concluded by invoking St. Andrew, whose feast day is celebrated today, and who is greatly venerated by the Eastern Churches; through his intercession he asked the Lord for “peace in the world and mercy for our souls”.
Another dramatic story of Christian suffering in Syria came on December 2, when the AsiaNews service reported that Islamic rebels had stormed an Orthodox convent in Maaloula, a town north of Damascus, and kidnapped 12 women religious. The whereabouts of the detainees is not known.
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