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Syria plunges into the third anniversary of a crisis that tears the country since March 15, 2011 and still with no result. 1) A COUNTRY THAT FLOWS: The scene is very painful, we talk about a very heavy toll: 80,000 dead 850,000 students without schools, four million refugees and, economic destruction estimated at $ 260 billion not to mention the flight of the capitals, the closing of the factories and the devaluation of the local currency: The value of the American Dollar $ increased from 45 Syrian Pounds in 2011 to 121 Syrian Pounds at this time, one can imagine the impact on inflation and the collapse of purchasing power. Military and officials are the last ones who continue to receive a salary at the end of the month ... Others live in poverty, in shortage of everything ... The family is dispersed at 5 am to queue in front of the bakery, grocery store, gas station, and sometimes under fire and bombing.. What anguish!!!2) GENERATOR OF VIOLENCE: The biggest nightmare is the abduction of people for ransoms ... The "sharpshooter" is the bugbear who kills to block roads and routes between neighborhoods and cities, and woe to anyone who dares to pass. We cannot count the number of victims, death becomes the daily bread. Undertakers are the only ones hiring. This socio-economic fragility is a breeding ground empowering the war and feeding the violence... Thus prolonging the fighting and shrinking the chances of peace. 3) PASTORAL DISCOURAGMENT: This continued situation of insecurity weakens significantly the pastoral life. The murder of two priests and the kidnapping of four others plant the fear in the heart of the clergy who moves less and no longer wears his soutane ... The number of faithful is declining continuously. A parish which had 30 baptisms in 2011, records only three baptisms in 2012.How to fight to maintain the morale and stay on the road? ... It takes a lot of your prayers with us to the Good Shepherd for these devoted servants… What would the Church be without priests?4) A DIALOG TO DECODE: The Syrian people expresses little and mastered the language of silence, a difficult language that needs to be decoded permanently ... one must guess ... A smile does not necessarily express joy or satisfactions ... Sufferings are repressed for fear of being misinterpreted... The same speech echoed by all does not necessarily mean personal opinion, words can mean the opposite ... In my seventh year in Damascus, I am still a novice and unable to easily grasp the merits of ideas. Often I'm wrong and I wipe unexpected failures even amongst colleagues ... I still have a lot to learn about this beloved flock, that the Lord has entrusted me.5) A GOOD SAMARITAN: This discreet and not very talkative people, bathes in the misery and seeks a "Good Samaritan" who is silent and heals without asking questions, who takes action without trying to study and understand a complex situation... The heavily bleeding of a sick, injured, abandoned and lonely person is waiting for this outstretched hand and charitable heart that does not include religious and political affiliations, and does not poses too many questions. The small discreet and silent local church is the reflecting image of her followers, and cannot live her testimony except in the vocation of the Good Samaritan. A church that is present, reaching out to different brothers in need and suffering, regardless of their color and religion. This silent and free charity is the only evangelical philosophy that can build the future Syria. The future of Eastern Christians is based on that biblical challenge ... Given the intensity of the violence and "every man for himself" DO WE HAVE THE TIME TO ASSUME THAT DUTY? "Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road…?” Luke 24: 32TO WIN THIS BET, OUR EYES TURN TOWARDS THE EMPTY TOMB…Easter 2013+ Samir NASSARMaronite Archbishop of Damascus
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Where are we stablished?

Where are we established?