(ANS - Aleppo) - The situation in Aleppo? ‘Everything here is confusion, death is everywhere, nobody can understand what is happening and we do not know who we can trust. We were preparing with young people a play to celebrate Don Bosco and we had to stop because several of them died during the bombing’. Fr Luciano Buratti, one of the three Salesians who live in the Salesian House in Aleppo, Syria, says this with a broken voice.

For three years they have constantly fought in this town. ‘Every night bombs fall in the neighbourhood, and every day we learn of someone who has lost a family member or loved one’, Fr Buratti continues, while in the background it is possible to hear the buzz produced by the young people who are playing in the courtyard of the oratory.

When he is asked about the specific situation in the Salesian house, he says: ‘Our community has chosen to continue our activities as if nothing had happened; we try to offer families a place where they can breathe stability and harmony even in the midst of chaos. Therefore, the activities of both parish and oratory follow their normal course, as we did before the fighting. This is one of the few structures that still operate with some kind of normality’.

The condition is particularly difficult for Christians. Many people try to escape and those who have money and can leave Syria have already done so. The other ones are seeking refuge in safer towns, but many people, who have no opportunities, remain in Aleppo.

‘We have a lot of work. The flow of people who come to our parish asking religious services, seek God and a little comfort has increased - continues the Salesian -. Thank God, we Salesians are well and get some help to be distributed among about 200 families of our parish who have lost everything’.

Currently it is estimated that there are approximately two million people in this town, an ancient symbol of peaceful coexistence between Christians and Muslims.  Now we just hope to survive.

The Salesians in Aleppo animate two works: the one in Aleppo dedicated to St. George, and the one at Kafroun, dedicated to Don Bosco, with their respective oratories, a shelter and a parish. Everything works normally, in order to serve the people.

Posted on 02/19/2016