Bishop of Aleppo Performed Marian Consecration on Saturday

Marian consecration in North Syria coincides with the papal trip on the 12th and 13th of May in Fatima - Bishop: In the Marian Month of May, "all the churches are full of the faithful who pray the Rosary, kneel before the exposed Eucharist and recite litanies"

Rome (kath.net/KAP) The Christian community in Aleppo is preparing to celebrate the Fatima Jubilee and dedicate Syria's second-largest city to the Mother of God of the Fatima Apparition of Portugal. This was reported by the Chaldean bishop of Aleppo, Antoine Audo, on Wednesday, according to the Roman mission news agency "AsiaNews". According to this, the consecration should bear testimony of a faith which "remained strong" in the time of the affliction on Saturday, May 13th. In the past few years the feeling of a "deep fellowship" reaching beyond confessional boundaries has developed, the bishop said.

The Marian Consecration in North Syria coincides with the Apostolic Journey of Pope Francis on the 12th and 13th of May. In Fatima, 100 years ago Mary appeared to the shepherd children, Francisco Marto, Jacinta Marto, and Lucia dos Santos; Francisco, the sibling of Marto, already beatified in 2000, will be sanctified in Fatima on Saturday.

"It must be said that the whole month of May is important to the Christian communities of Aleppo," said Bishop Audo, "all the churches are full of the faithful who pray the Rosary, kneel before the suspended Eucharist and recite litanies Very important time, it is a tradition that is deeply rooted and has lasted all the time. "

The three days of the festivities dedicated to the Mother of God of Fatima in Aleppo, organized on the initiative of the Latin parish of St. Francis, began on Thursday, 11 May, with a prayer at 5 pm. The highlight of the celebrations was Saturday, May 13th, with the Pope's Mass in Fatima, a solemn Eucharistic celebration in the St. Francis Cathedral, in which all the bishops and priests who are present in Aleppo and the surrounding area are participating. The faithful of all confessions in the largest north-Syrian city are invited to the Mass.

"The long-standing epicenter of the Syrian conflict is dedicated to Our Lady of Fatima - after a procession with the statue by the streets," said Audo. This highly symbolic gesture is linked with the hope "that it can help to restore peace not only in Syria but throughout the Middle East after decades of conflict."

"The consecration of Aleppo to Mary and the issue of peace are a source of hope and a sign of our presence as a Church," said the Chaldean bishop: "We also want to use the event to address the themes of dialogue, unity and invitation to the Church. And not only among the various Christian denominations, but also with the inclusion of the Muslims by taking advantage of the huge echo produced by the Pope's visit to Egypt."

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG