(ANSA) - Vatican City, June 22 - The churches in Syria, Iraq
and Egypt are suffering from war and terrorism, Pope Francis
said on Thursday.
The Oriental churches "both in Eastern Europe and in the
Middle East" have "often been hit by terrible waves of
persecution and hardship", he told members of the ROACO (Reunion
of Aid Agencies for the Oriental Churches) Assembly in the
Vatican.
"Large-scale emigration has weakened their presence in the
lands where they flourished for centuries," the pope continued.
"Now, thanks to God, some of them have returned to freedom
after the painful period of totalitarian regimes, but others,
especially in Syria, Iraq and Egypt, are seeing their children
suffer as a result of ongoing war and the senseless violence
perpetrated by fundamentalist terrorism," Francis continued.
"Let us not forget that even today in the East Christians -
be they Catholic, Orthodox or Protestant - shed their blood as a
seal of their witness," he concluded.
The ROACO assembly was devoted to training for seminarians.
Oriental churches suffer war,terror-pope
Francis addresses ROACO assembly in the Vatican