ICC Note: “The exodus from the city is in full swing,” said one of the priests who remains in the northern Syrian city of Qamishli. Qamishli itself has seen relatively limited amounts of fighting, but the violence is just outside the city and many are leaving. Most of those who are going are young people and families with children. This raises serious questions about the future of the church if the young people never return.
01/13/2014 Syria (Fides) – “The exodus from the city is in full swing. Every day individuals and families in our community flee, especially young people, who are our hope and our future”. This is how the Syrian Orthodox priest Yousef Abdulmasih describes the situation of the Christian community in Qamishli, in the northeastern Syrian province of Jazira.
“Our Town”, continued the priest in the report sent to Fides Agency “will become a city of old people”. The families of students are faced with the dilemma of having to send their children abroad if they wish to continue to study. And in this situation – said Fr. Youssef – the pressures and demands addressed to the leaders of the ecclesial community increase: “Many look at the Church as the only way of salvation able to solve the problems suffered by the people.
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