Christmas Hope in Aleppo
Christmas will be sombre yet again in Syria. ACN spoke with the Maronite Catholic Archbishop of Aleppo. He said that indeed Christmas joy will be subdued in Syria but thanks to Our Lord there is hope.
By ACN Staff
Archbishop Joseph Tobji in Saint Elias Maronite Catholic Cathedral in Aleppo before the cathedral’s renovation. (Credit: Aid to the Church in Need))
Before the Syrian Civil War, bright Christmas decorations and lights could be commonly seen in Aleppo. Such things are now rare, partly due to the soaring price of electricity. ACN spoke with the Maronite Catholic Archbishop of Aleppo, Joseph Tobji, about how Christmas is now celebrated in Syria.
Archbishop Joseph Tobji in ACN’s international headquarters in Germany. (Credit: Aid to the Church in Need)
The archbishop told us that Christmas will be sombre again in Syria. Archbishop Tobii explained that this was not always the case:
“Before the war in Syria, Christmas was a big and very beautiful celebration. The decorations, the lights, all these things provided a very nice atmosphere. But now we are lacking so many things, electricity, petrol, so many things that contribute to making life a little easier. There will always be some external decorations, there always will be, because it’s Christmas, after all, but not like it was before the war.
People in Syria don't think about such things because they are suffering so much on the inside, and you can't be suffering and celebrating at the same time. However, in our pastoral mission we try to provide some joy, some hope to our youth, to our families, and the children, distributing some gifts to make Christmas a little more joyful.”
Fighting in most of Syria is now over, that is except for a rebel-held area close to the border with Turkey. The archbishop explained that Christmas was much more dangerous when there was fighting in Aleppo itself:
“When we still had bombings it was worse in terms of safety, you couldn't go out in the streets, we couldn't have Midnight Mass, for example, so from that point of view it was worse than it is now. Now we can go out in safety.
However, the paradox is that if you ask anybody about the situation now, they will tell you that it was better during the bombings. When you live in a state of poverty, everything is depressing, and people will say that they were happier during the bombings.”
Things used to be a lot more difficult for the Church in Aleppo. The Maronite Cathedral in the city was left in ruins by explosions during the fighting in the city.
In December 2016, the fighting in Aleppo came to an end. The city’s Maronite youth began to help to clean up the ruined cathedral. The archbishop told us that it was thanks to the efforts of the young people that they were able to celebrate Christmas Mass in the ruined cathedral on Christmas 2016:
Christmas Mass in Aleppo’s then ruined Maronite cathedral, Christmas 2016. (Credit: Fr. Ziad Hilal SJ)
“We had thought it would be impossible to celebrate Christmas only 10 days after the liberation of Aleppo, but it was the youth who insisted. They set up the nativity scene in the ruins and that Mass was historic.”
Five years on, Christmas Mass will again be celebrated in the cathedral, which has now been restored. ACN contributed funds to this reconstruction project.
Aleppo’s Christians are divided into nine different communities, spread across different denominations and rites. Christmas is a unifying holiday for the Christians in Aleppo.
The archbishop told us that the restoration of the Maronite cathedral was a sign of hope for all the Christians of Aleppo:
“Everything is going badly, so how can we tell people that they are ok? There is no sign that things are going well. The only sign is the Lord, He is the Lord of History, the Lord of Life and Death, of all. Therefore, if he gives us Grace, then all is well.
We must help each other, there is no need to worry about the future. We place ourselves always in the hands of the Lord. He gives us what we need in each moment, and what we need now is conversion, to bear each other's crosses, life isn't always full of joy and happiness, so that is the way it is, and we endure it, but with hope.”
ACN has been helping the Church in Aleppo since the beginning of the civil war. The archbishop wished to pass on his thanks to our benefactors:
“We are very grateful, very grateful, to all our benefactors who have helped us through ACN. Without this support I don't think Christians would have been able to resist in Aleppo until now, we would not have known what to do.
Thank you so much, thank you to all who have helped, even if only with one euro, thank you from the bottom of our hearts!”