«The Church of Syria is fragile; it has become a wailing wall»: this is the alarm sounded by the Maronite Archbishop of Damascus, Msgr. Samir Nassar, in a letter also addressed to the Pontifical Council for the Family. The situation is increasingly dramatic in Syria. Bombings and raids are intensified. The choice of the Syrian Christians, says the Archbishop, is ever more between «die or leave.”

Growing numbers of people are turning to the Church for protection, or at least for help to get a visa and leave the country. The war is spreading from village to village, leaving destruction and desolation; and the attacks strike primarily the civilians, Muslims and Christians, without sparing schools, hospitals and even ambulances. In an army raid in a suburb of Damascus, on Sunday April 14th, nine children died. In Aleppo, a car bomb exploded in the city center.
 

«They die for lack of medical care, because the drugs have expired or because there aren’t any», Msgr. Nassar writes. «They also die from malnutrition or related diseases, such as diabetes, heart disease, or from nursing». However, «leaving also means dying a slow death», losing one’s home, church, school, friends, and the loved ones buried in the cemetery. «Tearing a man away from his roots is like poisoning his drinking water». And while all this is happening, «the world remains indifferent and silent in the face this long and heavy ordeal». Many feel abandoned, destined to die without being able to escape.
 

There are already over five million Syrian refugees. Syria is «the slain Lamb», dying uselessly in a senseless war. Relief came from Pope Francis’ appeal at Easter and from the prayers of the Churches around the world. The Syrian Church is faced with a terrible problem of conscience, because advising people to stay may mean letting advance toward death «like a silent lamb led to slaughter», and helping them to leave is like watching how the Biblical Land is emptied of its last Christians. Our poor brothers on the Syrian Calvary find consolation in the words of the Savior, in the Gospel of Matthew: «Don’t be afraid; I’m with you».