For years the situation in Syria was on all the international media as a dramatic situation, first due to the civil war which lasted for 14 years, then the destruction caused by a violent earthquake and with a territory divided among many factions at war with one another.

What has happened in the past few days, in such a sudden and unexpected way, has led a group of militia of the Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, which occupied the north-western part of the country, to conquer in a few days the country’s most important cities and the capital, marking the end of the government of the President Bashar al-Assad and his having to seek political asylum abroad.

The Christian communities present in Syria took part in the tragedies that have struck the country over the past few years: many Christians stayed but many more left and arrived more or less eventfully in neighboring countries, in Europe or even in the Americas.

The Franciscan communities that look after them have stayed in the places where the Franciscan tradition is now a consolidated sign and they have supported the life of the community and given humanitarian aid to all those who asked for it.

The friars have not abandoned their communities and want to continue to bear witness, in those places that were the cradle of the first Christian communities, to the missionary spirit that animated Francis of Assisi.

The testimony of faith of the recently canonized martyrs of Damascus animates the friars to be a presence that is not only symbolic but also active and supportive of all, promoting dialogue, fraternity, justice and peace.

This is why we hope that the process of democratization which seems to be behind the forces that have taken power in Syria is inspired by the principles of welcome, tolerance and multiculturalism of which the Middle East has always been the cradle.

The Christian communities and the Franciscan fraternities will be able to make their contribution to the democratic rebirth of the country and its reconstruction.