{"id":17825,"date":"2016-09-28T07:31:22","date_gmt":"2016-09-28T07:31:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.acnmalta.org\/?p=17825"},"modified":"2016-10-08T17:10:44","modified_gmt":"2016-10-08T17:10:44","slug":"syria-will-we-become-the-guardians-of-rocks-pebbles-and-stones-acn-malta","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/acnmalta.org\/_oldsite\/2016\/09\/28\/syria-will-we-become-the-guardians-of-rocks-pebbles-and-stones-acn-malta\/","title":{"rendered":"SYRIA &#8211;\u00a0Will we become the Guardians of Rocks, Pebbles and Stones? &#8211; Archbishop Samir Nassar"},"content":{"rendered":"<style type=\"text\/css\"><\/style><h2><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>SYRIA &#8211;\u00a0<\/strong><strong>Will we become the Guardians of Rocks, Pebbles and Stones?<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong><em>Shaken safeguard <\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Six years of war have finally shaken the Syrian society\u2019s safeguard: THE FAMILY, which was the primary cell that absorbed the shocks and misfortunes of the never ending violence and that saved the country and the Church until 2014. Insecurity, intolerance, violence and chaotic destruction have uprooted more than two million families. Deprived of shelter and spread all over, how can families possibly endure such a heavy Calvary?<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong><em>Heroic mothers<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>After the beginning of the war (March 15th 2011) the family quite frequently became centered around the mother. It is men who go to war and often die. A popular saying says: \u201ca fatherless child is not an orphan.\u201d The family continues to be centered around the mother, who ensures the unity and survival of the household. In this long and heavy sufferance, these heroic mothers live amidst misery and tears. They\u2019ve honored their vocation while living under tents. Is there a bigger sacrifice?<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong><em>Exodus of the Youth<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>The general mobilization, decreed on October 2015, invites younger men under 45 years old to join the military service. This decision disturbed all those families that weren\u2019t able to leave the country and were waiting in situ for this endless war to end. This age bracket is the spinal cord of the economic activities that remain. Youths disappeared quickly: some of them decided to join the army, while others decided to escape the war. This in turn meant an irreversible clandestine emigration, which in turn destabilized the labour market and the modest family life which was deprived of resources. Is there a future for a community without young people?<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong><em>Weakened Church<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>The effects of the above-mentioned changes weakened the Church. Families usually chose to follow the child that emigrated. This explains the accelerated exodus of families and the diminishing number of parishioners in all parishes. In addition, young women have to marry Muslim polygamists because there are no young men left. Because of the demographic unbalance, there are fewer marriages and fewer baptisms. For the first time, the Church is facing a crucial problem: one in three priests has chosen to leave Damascus for more peaceful countries. How can we retain priests in Damascus? What will our Church become without priests?<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong><em>Guardians of rocks\/pebbles\/stones<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>The ghost towns in the north of Syria are an illustration of what we might become\u2026 How can we avoid becoming guardians of rocks, pebbles and stones? It is up to the Christians of the East to rethink their vocations and live like the little Primitive Minority Church: without any guarantees or protection. Will we be able to erase this Apostolic Challenge?<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><em><strong>Archbishop Samir Nassar of Damascus<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SYRIA &#8211;\u00a0Will we become the Guardians of Rocks, Pebbles and Stones? &nbsp; &nbsp; Shaken safeguard Six years of war have finally shaken the Syrian society\u2019s safeguard: THE FAMILY, which was the primary cell that absorbed the shocks and misfortunes of the never ending violence and that saved the country and the Church until 2014. Insecurity,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17827,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17825","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-e-newsletters"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>SYRIA -\u00a0Will we become the Guardians of Rocks, Pebbles and Stones? - Archbishop Samir Nassar - Aid to the Church in Need (Malta)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/acnmalta.org\/_oldsite\/2016\/09\/28\/syria-will-we-become-the-guardians-of-rocks-pebbles-and-stones-acn-malta\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"SYRIA -\u00a0Will we become the Guardians of Rocks, Pebbles and Stones? - Archbishop Samir Nassar - Aid to the Church in Need (Malta)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"SYRIA &#8211;\u00a0Will we become the Guardians of Rocks, Pebbles and Stones? &nbsp; &nbsp; Shaken safeguard Six years of war have finally shaken the Syrian society\u2019s safeguard: THE FAMILY, which was the primary cell that absorbed the shocks and misfortunes of the never ending violence and that saved the country and the Church until 2014. 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