Pope blasts 'scandal' of 10 years of conflict in Syria

(ANSA) - ROME, JUN 24 - Pope Francis said Thursday it was a "scandal" that the conflict in Syria has been allowed to continue for 10 years and reiterated his call for peace in the Holy Land.
    "The pleas for help rising from Syria are never far from God's heart, yet do not seem to have touched the hearts of leaders in a position to affect the destiny of peoples," the Argentine pontiff said during an audience with participants of the plenary session of the agencies connected to the Reunion of Aid Agencies for the Oriental Churches (ROACO).
    "We think of the continuing scandal of ten years of conflict, millions of internally and externally displaced persons, the victims and the need for reconstruction, all held hostage to partisan thinking and the lack of courageous decisions for the good of that war-torn nation".
    As for the Holy Land, he said "we hope and pray" that the peoples of Israel and Palestine "will see the bow of peace that God showed to Noah as a sign of the covenant between heaven and earth, and of peace among peoples.
    "For all too often, even lately, those skies have been darkened by missiles bringing destruction, death and fear," he added.
    (ANSA).