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He made his remarks on the first anniversary of the 176-page “Truro report,” the publication of which led to a commitment by the British government to address the global persecution of Christians specifically.

“I think that the Truro report was very timely,” he said from the Vatican via Zoom, the video-sharing platform. “It was a bit of a wake-up call.

“Speaking to some extent on behalf of the Catholic Church and the Holy See, I think in some ways perhaps we became too complacent in front of persecution, too used to it being a phenomenon in our community story, and thought therefore perhaps it was something you had to live with, something that we can’t do anything about. I think the Truro report was a very significant effort to do something about that,” he said.

“I think also we all know the denial of religious freedom is the beginning of the denial and erosion of so many other human rights; it is almost the litmus test of human rights,” said the Liverpool-born archbishop.

He said it was also important that Christians and other people of goodwill made “a renewed effort to underline the question of conscience in general, even outside the religious sphere,” because “we do see — even in the West, developed world — the progressive erosion of conscience and, therefore, also of human rights.”

“Never underestimate the power of prayer and the unity of the people of faith,” Archbishop Gallagher added.

The Truro report was commissioned by Jeremy Hunt, a former British foreign secretary, and launched July 8, 2019.

It takes its name from Anglican Bishop Philip Mounstephen of Truro, England, who led the independent commission that worked on the report.

The report revealed a surprising scale of persecution of Christians globally, leading Hunt, an Anglican, to conclude that he was “not convinced that our efforts on behalf of Christians have always matched the scale of the problem.”

The report recommended that Britain seek a U.N. Security Council Resolution to require all of the nations of the Middle East and North Africa to protect Christians and to permit U.N. observers to monitor security measures.

It also included the suggestion that new linguistic terms — such as “Christophobia” — be sought to describe anti-Christian discrimination in the same way that Islamophobia and anti-Semitism are used to describe acts of violence toward Muslims and Jews. Catholic leaders have since voiced reservations about the merits of competing for victim status against other groups.

Credit: Catholic News Service

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For the Church too the aftermath of the war has been a great challenge. For although – after the end of the war and the subsequent Ebola crisis – various trauma recovery programmes were offered to people, she knows that it is the spiritual dimension that is above all important, and especially for her priests. Consequently, the bishops are hoping to offer spiritual retreats and recovery times for her priests during the current year 2019, so that they in turn can find the serenity to better help the laity.

Accordingly, this year 25 priests from the diocese of Cape Palmas will be given an opportunity to recharge their spiritual batteries and find new strength in God, also sharing their problems and experiences with one another so that they can take new ideas back to their home parishes.

ACN is supporting these retreats with a contribution of 4600 Euros. This represents 184 Euros for each priest, to cover travel costs, board and lodging. A small investment indeed, but one that will have a big impact.

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Fr Ziad Hilal first visited Malta last autumn when the fighting in Aleppo was at its peak. On his latest visit he spoke to Geraldine Griffiths from Aid to the Church in Need,  Malta  about the current situation in Syria.

ACN MALTA: 1.How has the situation changed since the ceasefire? Has it made any difference?

Fr Hilal: I would say yes, especially in the north of Syria, in Aleppo where I live now. After the evacuation of the rebels from East Aleppo in December 2016, the area became very quiet. People have a much more peaceful life now. They are able to get out of their houses, go to work, send their children to school and university. Security has become much better.

2. What is life like now for people in Aleppo?

It is a hard life. We cannot go on like this, more than 3 years without electricity. People buy electricity from private individuals in their street who own big generators but this is expensive. We have tap water now for 1-2 hours daily so the water supply is better than before. Food is very expensive to buy. Six years ago, 1 US$= 45 Syrian pounds. Now 1 US$= 550 Syrian pounds so everything is much more expensive than before, ten times as much! But people’s salaries have not changed. That is why we have to provide help for the people. 

3. Has the number of refugees/displaced families increased or decreased in 2017?

Increased. People are still leaving Syria. They are afraid, they don’t see a future for Syria. We are receiving many displaced people in Aleppo now from Idleb, Raqqa and northern Syria who are fleeing from the fighting between the rebels, the army, Islamic State, Kurds and other groups. At the same time, people in Aleppo – Christians and Muslims – are leaving Syria and going to Europe, Canada and Australia because they are worried about their children’s future and their education. 

4. Have displaced people started returning to their homes?

Yes because a lot of humanitarian organisations are helping people to repair their homes. But east Aleppo is completely destroyed so we cannot easily rebuild houses; there is nothing left. It is a big problem. We encourage people whose apartments were damaged and can be repaired to return home. We can help them

5. Has life improved for refugees in the camps and those made homeless by the conflict?

I  don’t know if we can say it is better. Life is very hard for these displaced people. They have been waiting six years, not just a few months, for peace and reconciliation. It is not easy to live without houses, without our towns. The living conditions for refugees are still very bad today.

6. Is aid getting to where it is needed or are there still major problems with distribution?

We are distributing aid to help the people. Our organisation, Aid to the Church in Need, is helping all the churches throughout Syria –Damascus, Aleppo, Homs, North Syria, Tartus. We provide food items, medicines, rent for housing, Distribution is not easy. We have many volunteers who help us but it can take a long time.

7.What do the people of Syria need most right now? How can we help them?

Our people need everything, but especially food.  Many factories in Syria have been damaged or destroyed. We don’t have a lot of raw materials either. We have to import them but with the sanctions against Syria we can’t do that easily. We need medicines now because we don’t have the resources to make them in Syria. That is why we are asking other countries and the UN to help us.

ACN Malta

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On Monday 8 May on three separate sites in the villages of Bartella, Karamless and Qaraqosh of the Nineveh Plains, international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) is holding an “Olive Tree Ceremony.” Planting olive trees will mark the beginning of rebuilding work on the first 100 of 13,000 private houses destroyed by Islamic State.

Olive trees will be given to the owners of the destroyed houses to be planted close to their homes. The trees convey a strong message to these families: “Put back your roots where you were born, live and bring fruits of peace and reconciliation.“

Father Andrzej Halemba, ACN’s representative for the Middle East, who is an acting chairman of the Nineveh Reconstruction Committee has described this event as a “historic and unrepeatable occasion for the future of Christianity in Iraq”. He stated:

“This is a decisive historical moment. If we now miss the opportunity to help the Christians return to their homes on the Plains of Nineveh, these families might well decide to leave Iraq forever. That would be an enormous tragedy. The presence of the Christians in this region is of vital importance, and not only historically, but also politically and culturally. The Christians represent a bridge of peace between the various Muslim groups that are fighting each other; they make a crucial contribution to the educational system and are respected by all moderate Muslims.”

Among those present at the “Olive Tree Ceremony“ to mark the start of rebuilding work will be the members of the Nineveh Reconstruction Committee (NRC), together with three expert consultants appointed by ACN and Mr Philipp Ozores, secretary general of ACN.

The Nineveh Reconstruction Committee (NRC) includes representatives of the three main Christian Churches in the region, the Syriac Orthodox Church, the Syriac Catholic Church and the Chaldean Catholic Church. The Committee was set up on 27 March this year in order to plan and supervise the reconstruction of the nearly 13,000 Christian homes damaged (669 of them totally destroyed) by IS forces during their occupation of the region. The overall cost of the rebuilding programme is estimated at over 250 million dollars. ACN has already made available 450,000 euros to the committee and to the three Christian churches it represents.

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The tomb believed to be that of Jesus has just been restored in a multi-million dollar renovation. The shrine needed urgent attention after years of exposure to the candle smoke, water and humidity due to condensation from the breath of visitors.

In 2015, Israeli police briefly shut down the building after Israel’s Antiquities Authority deemed it unsafe. Repairs began in June 2016.The old shrine is believed now to be stable for the first time in 200 years and the iron cage built around the shrine by British authorities in 1947 to shore up the walls has been removed. ‘If this intervention hadn’t happened now, there is a very great risk that there could have been a collapse,’ Bonnie Burnham of the World Monuments Fund (WMF) said. ‘This is a complete transformation of the monument.’

A restoration team from the National Technical University of Athens stripped the stone slabs from the shrine’s façade to remove the black soot from decades of pilgrims lighting candles. The team then patched up the internal masonry of the shrine, injecting it with tubes of grout for reinforcement. Each stone slab was cleaned before being put back in place. Titanium bolts were inserted into the structure for reinforcement, while frescos and the shrine’s painted dome were renovated.

In October, the team entered the inner sanctum of the shrine and temporarily slid open an old marble layer, revealing a white rose marble slab below engraved with a cross that dates back to the late Crusader period of the 14th century. Beneath that marble slab was an even older, grey marble slab protecting the bedrock.  Mortar on the slab dates to the 4th century, when Constantine ordered the Church to be built. The team also cut a small window from the shrine’s marble walls so the first time this Easter pilgrims will now be able to see the bare stone of the ancient burial cave.

The WMF provided an initial $1.4 million for the $4 million restoration, thanks to a donation by the widow of the founder of Atlantic Records. Jordan’s King Abdullah II and the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas also contributed around 150,000 euros each, along with other private and church donations

An ecumenical re-dedication service took place in Jerusalem’s Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre as restoration work on the chapel containing Jesus burial place was unveiled. Representatives of all the local Christian Churches gathered alongside special guests including Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, spiritual leader of the Orthodox world.  Pope Francis was represented by the Vatican’s representative to Israel and Palestine, Archbishop Giuseppe Lazzarotto.

ACN Malta

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