Following the devastating earthquakes on 6 February, Pope Francis sent Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, the papal almoner, and Archbishop Claudio Gugerotti, the prefect of the Dicastery for Eastern Churches, to bring his “closeness” to the people of Turkey and Syria.
The death toll from the disaster now exceeds 45,000. An additional 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck the city of Antakya on Monday, causing more deaths and demolishing buildings weakened by the earlier tremors.
Cardinal Krajewski has made an official visit to Turkey, where a supply of aid from the Vatican arrived on 18 February, shortly after Pope Francis met the new Turkish ambassador, Ufuk Ulutas, to discuss his country’s needs.
Volunteers collected tinned food, sanitary products and warm clothing in the Vatican car park.
Krajewski emphasised the urgency of the response. “Immediately,” he said, “everyone in the Vatican got busy preparing, in a single day, ten pallets of foodstuffs loaded onto a truck and destined for Fiumicino airport.”
He added: “In the Gospel, it always says today, not tomorrow. When Jesus performed miracles, He did them immediately.”
However, the wider relief effort faced severe criticism. ACN’s head of projects in Syria and Lebanon, Xavier Bisits, said that there were “almost no signs of an international response” in Aleppo.
“Many people are in despair,” he said. “After 12 years of war, COVID sanctions and the collapse of the currency, this latest disaster is more than many people can bear.”
The earthquake’s worst effects were in southern Turkey and north-western Syria, where large areas are held by Syrian rebels.
While allies of the Syrian regime – including Russia and Iran – rapidly delivered aid supplies to government-controlled areas, UN aid convoys did not reach the region until 14 February.
The humanitarian crisis in southern Turkey has been made particularly acute by its large number of refugees from Syria’s 12-year civil war.
The apostolic nuncio to Syria, Cardinal Mario Zenari, has visited the worst-affected regions in the country, which he described as “a sea of pain”.
Archbishop Gugerotti visited the region over five days from 17 February, meeting survivors in Aleppo, visiting relief relief centres and a mosque which has sheltered victims, and holding discussions with local Catholic and Orthodox bishops, Muslim leaders, and members of charitable organisations and orders supporting the relief effort.
These include Caritas Syria, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), the Jesuit Refugee Service and the Sisters of Charity.
Gugerotti celebrated Mass in Aleppo’s Latin-rite parish and took part in the divine liturgy in the Greek Melkite cathedral.
On 20 February, he met both Catholic and non-Catholic patriarchs and bishops in Damascus, and then travelled to Istanbul where he met bishops and Caritas directors coordinating the response to the earthquake.
Cafod and Sciaf are continuing their appeals to support their partners and Caritas sister agencies in the region.
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