(ANS - Aleppo) - Violence is spreading across the country, with attacks and threats that are putting the people to the test yet again. Given the situation, there will be a gesture of hope in the opening of a Holy Door for the Jubilee of Mercy on 13 December, in a church which is a symbol of Aleppo.

The Syrian Orthodox Archbishop of Homs, Archbishop Selwanos Boutros Alnemeh, told Aid to the Church in Need that since 31 October the Christian town of Sadad has been under attack by fundamentalist militias, while the nearby village of Maheen has already fallen into rebel hands.

Sadad has a strategic value and a symbolic one: it is on the road between Homs and Damascus and is not far from Homs, an area rich in oil. Moreover, it is a Christian centre where Aramaic, the language of Jesus, is still spoken.

Fearing the advance of the militias, more than 15,000 people have fled the town and the nearby Christian centre at Al-Hafar, to seek refuge in Homs, Zaidal and Fairouzeh. "Despite the presence of the Syrian army, Sadad is in danger," said the archbishop. “If the city falls, Syria will lose one of its most important Christian centres."

The archbishop recalled that as early as October 2013 Sadad was the scene of a tragic attack, when a coalition of fundamentalist militias killed 45 Christians, throwing many of their bodies into mass graves, and destroying many churches and Christian homes.

 "One hundred years ago, in 1915, we suffered a genocide. Today, in the twenty-first century, we do not need another", said Fr Luka Awad, representative for humanitarian emergencies of the Syrian Catholic diocese of Homs, making an appeal to the international community to put an end to the conflict.

Meanwhile, there is a glimmer of hope for the country and the Christian people with the news that on 13 December, a few days after the official start of the Jubilee of Mercy, a Holy Door will be opened amid the rubble of Aleppo. The site chosen is highly symbolic - the church of St. Francis, which on 25 October come under attack from the fundamentalist militias.

To mark the Jubilee, two other doors will be opened in Syria, at Damascus and Latakia. "Today more than ever our nation needs the embrace of God's mercy.” says the Latin Vicar Apostolic, Bishop George Abu Khazen. This Holy Door will be our defence from the evil that seeks to overwhelm us and a sign of divine Providence to assist us."

Published 10/11/2015