"The Bus of Hope, before anything else, is a beautiful name for a solidarity project. For so many reasons. In a country like Syria, ravaged by ten years of cruel war, with hundreds of thousands dead and half the population turned into refugees or displaced persons, the bus is a fascinating creature....
"We have to go to Aleppo, to help the boys and girls. We can't leave them alone," Daniela Mori, president of the Il Cuore si scioglie Foundation, established by Unicoop Firenze, a large consumer cooperative, had decided that the cry of pain of the inhabitants of Aleppo, battered by eight years of war, destruction and bombing, could not remain in midair, that cry of pain had to be answered, and answered concretely, not just with words....
The project for children and girls that the John Paul II Foundation has been carrying out since 2019 in Aleppo together with the Franciscans is about helping them overcome the traumas of war and is called "therapeutic art." Thanks to the efforts of the religious of the Custody of the Holy Land, paths have been identified to help children, women, and those who carry within themselves the anguish of the very long conflict....
"We pray that everyone in Syria can share the conviction that military actions cannot bring just peace to the country. Only political and social dialogue can contribute to the development of principles for living together in dignity and equality, respecting the rule of law." Thus, on November 1, 2019, Lutheran Pastor Olav Fyske Tveit, then general secretary of the Ecumenical Council of Churches, expressed the position of the Ecumenical Council on Syria....
To speak of the Christian Churches in Syria is to sketch a living tradition that has its roots in the first generation of Christianity; over the centuries, this tradition has been articulated into different denominations that have been able to find a modus vivendi that has allowed them to live out their faith experience in confrontation with the political authorities that have ruled Syria, defining a doctrine and ritual...
School has just ended at Bethlehem's "Effetà Paul VI" Institute, and 7, including boys and girls, have reached their long-awaited maturity after years of toil. It is an important moment in their lives, launched into a future full of hope. They come from different parts of Palestine:...
"Don't you recognize him?" I had just arrived at the Franciscan convent in Aleppo when a tall, young guy with big glasses, a garish shirt, and a smile that struck me, hugged me tightly. He was Riad Jallouf and I knew him. We had met years earlier with his wife Kinda Tauil. That long hug in Aleppo was the only "infraction" I made to the anti-Covid rules....
In the darkest days of the latest war between Hamas and Israel, Brother Ibrahim Faltas, ZXZXZX of the John Paul II Foundation, issued this call for ceasefire and reconciliation. We publish it as a crucial testimony to the drama of those days. ...
Summary: The latest war between Hamas and Israel has highlighted the drama of Palestinian society, now divided into three sections. Palestinians in Israel, those in the West Bank and those in Gaza, one people but three different fates....
Throughout the week you can see on RAI our Spot on the Paul VI Institute Effetà of Bethlehem....