World February 08, 2023
Pope prays for victims of Turkey, Syria earthquake; CNEWA launches fundraising effort
By Hannah Brockhaus
As Pope Francis concluded his public audience Wednesday by praying for the victims of a deadly earthquake in Turkey and Syria, the Catholic Near East Welfare Association has launched an emergency campaign to shelter survivors and provide bedding, food, medicines, nursing formula, diapers and clothing to more than 2,000 families for three months in northern Syria.
A series of large earthquakes in parts of Turkey and Syria Feb. 6 have created massive destruction and killed an estimated 9,600 people, according to the latest available estimates reported by Reuters early Wednesday morning.
“Let’s pray together so that these brothers and sisters can move forward from this tragedy. And we pray that Our Lady will protect them,” the Pope said in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall on Feb. 8.
He then led pilgrims at the event in praying for the intercession of the Blessed Virgin for all those affected.
“With deep feeling I pray for them and express my closeness to these peoples, to the families of the victims, and to all those who suffer because of this devastating natural disaster,” the Pope said.
With time running out to find survivors of Monday’s devastating earthquake in Syria and Turkey, the Catholic Near East Welfare Association in Canada said its on-the-ground church partners are responding quickly to provide bedding, food, medicine, milk, nursing formula and diapers to more than 2,000 families in Syria seeking emergency shelter in convents, parish halls, and schools.
CNEWA asked for prayers and support to fund the work of its preliminary aid, which will include helping the Blue Marist Brothers who are sheltering up to 1,000 families in Aleppo, collaborating with the Franciscan Friars and Salesian Fathers.
“This is a preliminary response focused on the work of our partners on the ground who have come to us, asking for our prayers and support,” CNEWA’s president, Msgr. Peter I. Vaccari, said in a statement.
“Although our partners such as the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary have already opened up their doors to receive families who have lost everything, survivors are still processing the shock of the earthquake, searching through the rubble and assisting in rescue efforts,” said CNEWA’s regional director in Beirut, Michel Constantin, whose team manages emergency programs throughout the region.
“There is a general state of panic, exacerbated by the harsh weather, complicating rescue efforts and the capacity to collect and assess data and plan accordingly.”
“The situation is tragic,” said Brother Georges Sabe, a member of the Blue Marists. “We have opened our convent doors to hundreds of families who have lost their houses, and their number is increasing by the hour. We are receiving the elderly, children and women who are now in urgent need of food, clothes, medications and, most of all, comfort and warmth in this harsh winter.”
CNEWA said its efforts will also support the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, which already supports more than 850 families in the Aleppo region devastated by civil war through the local churches’ vast network of parishes and schools. CNEWA will provide St. Vincent de Paul staff and volunteers with mattresses, pillows, blankets and food, water and medicines. Milk, nursing formula and diapers will also be provided.
In the Syrian city of Hama, about 153 miles from the epicenter of the earthquake, CNEWA said it will be supporting three emergency shelters for more than 150 families who have lost their homes and will provide bedding, kitchen utensils, food and medicines.
“We lived and survived the long years of war but never experienced this kind of fear,” said Bishop Abdo Abrash of the Melkite Greek Catholic Eparchy of Homs, Hama and Yabroud, which is running the shelters. “It is true misery… there is a lack of first aid equipment to tend to the survivors.”
“While the situation on the ground is chaotic, this is a critical moment to help heal those who have survived – those who, as one of our partners told me, saw death,” reported Constantin.
“We join our CNEWA family in asking for the prayerful support of all Canadians,” said Dr. Adriana Bara, national director for CNEWA in Canada. “Please be generous in this emergency campaign. Your support helps us offer life-giving support to victims and will give those affected the ability to rebuild their lives.”
Donations can be directed to cnewa.org/ca/work/emergency-syria.
With B.C. Catholic files