The conference, “The Church as a House of Charity — Synodality and Coordination,” began on what is considered the anniversary of the start of the Syrian civil war.
Since the war started on March 15, 2011, the conflict has left half a million people dead. The war has also created 6.6 million refugees, and 6.7 million internally displaced persons, according to the U.N. refugee agency.
Cardinal Mario Zenari, the apostolic nuncio in Syria, has called the situation in Syria “the most serious man-made humanitarian disaster since the end of the Second World War.”
“It is a sad anniversary, first of all, because the war is not over yet and also because for a couple of years now Syria seems to have disappeared from the media radar,” Zenari said.
In the pope’s letter to the conference in Syria, he cited St. Paul — who experienced a dramatic conversion on the road to Damascus — particularly the saint’s description, in his first letter to the Corinthians, of the body of Christ as one united body with many parts.
“When one part of the body suffers, the others all come to its aid, sharing in its suffering and doing everything possible to alleviate it,” Pope Francis said.
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