ASIA/SYRIA – Greek-Catholic Archbishop of Aleppo: here are the figures of the Syrian disaster

Aleppo (Agenzia Fides) - The figures of the Syrian catastrophe do not stop the devastating number of people who die and are wounded. In a note sent to Fides Agency, Archbishop Jean-Clément Jeanbart, Metropolitan of Aleppo of the Greek-Catholics, collects other quantitative data that contribute to an understanding of the scale of the disaster. "In recent months, only in Aleppo", says the Archbishop "1400 factories and shops were looted, demolished or burned, while across the Country more than two thousand schools have been devastated or put out of use, 37 hospitals and a thousand small clinics and dispensaries have been vandalized. Most of the grain silos have been emptied, power stations sabotaged, railway lines dismantled and roads blocked and made impassable and dangerous because of armed gangs that terrorize travelers who dare to move and leave town. Faced with these hardships and misfortune in which we have fallen", adds Msg. Jeanbart "we just have to rely on divine mercy, which alone can free us and restore peace in the country. (...). May the Holy Cross of the Lord enlighten those who have the power. We cannot but thank Pope Francis for his repeated appeals and insistent prayer for peace in Syria. (GV) (Agenzia Fides 25/09/2013)