Franciscan friar in Syria reports precautions, ‘without any fear,’ at Christmas Masses
December 31, 2024
» Continue to this story on L'Osservatore Romano (Italian)
CWN Editor's Note: In an interview with the Vatican newspaper, Father George Paolo Jallouf, a Franciscan friar who ministers to Latin-rite Catholics in Aleppo, discussed the celebration of Christmas in the Syrian city, weeks after a new regime came to power.
“Without any fear we were able to set up the decorations and lights and create a large Christmas tree, together with the nativity scene,” Father Jallouf said. “And this was an important sign of newfound serenity for the population, not only for Christians.”
“As a precaution, however, we decided to bring forward the night Mass to 6 PM, in order to allow the faithful to return to their homes early, by 8 PM,” he continued. “The Mass was very crowded, also because other churches had preferred to celebrate, for security reasons, only on the morning of the 25th.”
He added:
The security personnel of the new government, together with our security service, guarded and controlled the entire area, and this aroused a greater perception of security ... The birth of Jesus this year coincided with our rebirth. No more war, no more violence in Syria.The above note supplements, highlights, or corrects details in the original source (link above). About CWN news coverage.
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