Tamar78LA
New Member
The Syrian blogger from Turkey asks why don't religious organizations say aloud about their humanitarian efforts to attract more popular support to humanitarian activity in Syria, Iraq etc.?
Here is the link to his post: The Mercy Comes from Believers, Why Hide It?
And here are some interesting facts he mentioned.
Since March 2011, a total of 250,000 people have become the victims of a fierce civil war in Syria (as estimated by the Oxford Research Group, more than 11,500 children were killed in the first two years of the war alone!). More than 1 million have been wounded, 4.8 million have become refugees, 6.5 million people became internally displaced persons. According to the UN, as of 2016, more than half of the country’s population – 13.5 million people, including 6.5 million children – need humanitarian assistance. 11.5 million people need medical care. 12.1 million have no access to clean drinking water. At least 2.1 million Syrian children are deprived of the opportunity to attend school. In the country, which is the cradle of Christianity, ancient churches and monasteries are being destroyed. Thousands of Christian families are prevented from practicing their religion or have to leave their homes under penalty of death.
Middle East religious leaders have often publicly testified about people’s suffering and called international community to stand up for the Christians of Syria and Iraq. “The most important thing is to stop the bloodshed. History teaches us that when human blood is spilled it will be hard to solve the problem”, – he said. For this reason Russian Orthodox Church has made all possible efforts to help those who suffer and to promote a peaceful settlement of the civic confrontation in the country. For example, humanitarian aid and Easter gifts from Russia were recently received by the inhabitants of Maharda, one of the largest Christian cities in Syria, the home of His Beatitude Patriarch of Antioch Ignatius IV. The primate of the Russian Orthodox Church also repeatedly raised the Syrian issue both in talks with the heads of states and in dialogue with the Russian authorities.
Being essentially a Christian country, Russia has helped all people in need regardless of their political or religious affiliation. And even Muslim leaders did appreciate this help. Worth noting that such institutions as Council for Cooperation with Religious Associations or Inter-Religious Council have contributed a lot to coordination of Russian humanitarian activity in the Middle East. Besides its cooperation with other religious organizations on the platforms for interfaith dialogue established in Russia, Moscow Patriarchate maintains close contact with the similar Syrian and International institutions. Moreover, the Russian Orthodox Church sees in the interreligious dialogue an important tool for combating extremism and terrorism.
So, can anyone narrate about how other religious organizations help the needy in war-torn region? Why not, indeed?
Here is the link to his post: The Mercy Comes from Believers, Why Hide It?
And here are some interesting facts he mentioned.
Since March 2011, a total of 250,000 people have become the victims of a fierce civil war in Syria (as estimated by the Oxford Research Group, more than 11,500 children were killed in the first two years of the war alone!). More than 1 million have been wounded, 4.8 million have become refugees, 6.5 million people became internally displaced persons. According to the UN, as of 2016, more than half of the country’s population – 13.5 million people, including 6.5 million children – need humanitarian assistance. 11.5 million people need medical care. 12.1 million have no access to clean drinking water. At least 2.1 million Syrian children are deprived of the opportunity to attend school. In the country, which is the cradle of Christianity, ancient churches and monasteries are being destroyed. Thousands of Christian families are prevented from practicing their religion or have to leave their homes under penalty of death.
Middle East religious leaders have often publicly testified about people’s suffering and called international community to stand up for the Christians of Syria and Iraq. “The most important thing is to stop the bloodshed. History teaches us that when human blood is spilled it will be hard to solve the problem”, – he said. For this reason Russian Orthodox Church has made all possible efforts to help those who suffer and to promote a peaceful settlement of the civic confrontation in the country. For example, humanitarian aid and Easter gifts from Russia were recently received by the inhabitants of Maharda, one of the largest Christian cities in Syria, the home of His Beatitude Patriarch of Antioch Ignatius IV. The primate of the Russian Orthodox Church also repeatedly raised the Syrian issue both in talks with the heads of states and in dialogue with the Russian authorities.
Being essentially a Christian country, Russia has helped all people in need regardless of their political or religious affiliation. And even Muslim leaders did appreciate this help. Worth noting that such institutions as Council for Cooperation with Religious Associations or Inter-Religious Council have contributed a lot to coordination of Russian humanitarian activity in the Middle East. Besides its cooperation with other religious organizations on the platforms for interfaith dialogue established in Russia, Moscow Patriarchate maintains close contact with the similar Syrian and International institutions. Moreover, the Russian Orthodox Church sees in the interreligious dialogue an important tool for combating extremism and terrorism.
So, can anyone narrate about how other religious organizations help the needy in war-torn region? Why not, indeed?