Vatican
City, 23 October 2013 (VIS) – 72 million dollars assigned to
Catholic humanitarian organisations to alleviate the crisis in Syria
and the surrounding regions; 55 entities working in the field; urgent
aid given to 20 Syrian cities and 32 Catholic institutions involved
so far, and indispensable aid for the refugees present in Lebanon,
Jordan, Turkey, Iraq, Cyprus and Egypt. These are the data recorded
on 9 October, as a result of the mapping of aid distributed in Syria,
carried out following the meeting for the co-ordination of Catholic
charitable associations present in the Syrian situation, convened by
the Pontifical Council “Cor Unum” from 4 to 5 June 2013.
The
Catholic Church and the local churches in the zone have been involved
since the beginning of the crisis, in 2011, in the constant work of
providing humanitarian aid to the population struck by the civil war
in Syria. Pope Francis has paid particular attention to the evolution
of the crisis and the aid work offered by charitable agencies, whom
he received in audience during a meeting organised by the Pontifical
Council “Cor Unum”. “Helping the Syrian population, regardless
of ethnic origin or religious belief”, said the Pope on that
occasion, “is the most direct way of contributing to the
pacification and edification of a society open to all its
components”.
Until
now, the difficulty of obtaining information regarding the needs of
the population affected and the development of the political and
social population has led to the sometimes sporadic nature of the aid
given, and to a multiplicity of forms of support to to the
institutions present in the field. Therefore, the meeting in June
provided an opportunity to reunite the agencies active in the context
of the crisis and to decide upon the establishment of an office for
co-ordinating information on the humanitarian aid allocated by the
Catholic Church, with the aim of avoiding the dispersal of efforts
and ensuring a homogeneous approach. Management activity was
entrusted to Caritas Middle East-North Africa, based in Beirut; it
will have the task of appraising and monitoring the extent of the aid
gathered, and of sharing necessary information with all the
institutions involved, including those not present at the “Cor
Unum” meeting.
This
tool will allow the Church to obtain a complete picture of
humanitarian aid efforts, with the intention of providing a detailed
analysis of the needs in the field; to transfer to Caritas Syria the
information necessary on charitable works in aid of the Syrian
population; to highlight the profile of the Catholic Church among
those involved in the humanitarian sector in Syria, and to share
information within the network of Catholic organisations involved,
both inside and outside Syrian territory.
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