Syrian refugees and Pope Francis

“In Bethany-Beyond-the-Jordan, a Jordanian Muslim woman will be telling the Pope about the experience of Syria’s refugees. An Iraqi Christian will speak after her. That is right, because although no one talks about it any more, there are still 500 thousand Iraqi refugees here in Jordan. And people are dying in Iraq just as they are in Syria.”

As the Pope’s visit nears, there is one group in the Holy Land which has no time for stages and flag waving: they are the refugees who were forced to leave their homeland because of the war. Wal Suleiman, the director of Caritas Jordan is here to tell their story: a40-year-old lay member of the Focolare movement who has been sharing the stories and tragedies of those fleeing Syria on a daily basis for the past three years. The President of Caritas Internationalis, Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga arrived in Amman just a few days ago, ahead of Pope Francis’ visit, along with the executive committee of the organization that groups together the charity organisations of all episcopal Conferences around the world. Together they are looking at the actions that are being taken in response to the Syrian emergency and also at the serious wounds that remain open. Caritas has been working with the Mafraq refugee camp in Jordan – as well as Zarqa camp which was opened later – since 2012.

“How many Syrian refugees are there in Jordan? According to government figures there are 1.350.000 people,” Suleiman said. “But you cannot fully understand what this means for us Jordanians if you don’t bear in mind all the rest as well. Palestinian refugees arrived in my country in 1967. Then in the 80s, the Lebanese came and the Iraqis in the 90s. Do you know that in the past two years the number of Egyptians with work permits have doubled? There was an agreement between our two countries, so many of those who fled Cairo because of the violence came here.”

This is partly why there will also be poor and disabled Jordanians in the approximately 400-strong delegation that will meet the Pope in Bethany-Beyond-the-Jordan, the archaeological site which commemorates Jesus’ baptism. By now, it is virtually impossible to separate the different forms of suffering here: “You Jordanians didn’t have a war. But all the devastation in the countries surrounding us have had serious repercussions for us too,” the director of Caritas Jordan said. “I am thinking, for example, of the schools that have classes of 50 pupils or of the enormous difficulties in guaranteeing everyone access to water and electricity. Jordan is suffering too. And we are asking ourselves: What future lies ahead for us?”

This is also why Bethany-Beyond-the-Jordan is expecting words of hope from the Pope. He will be meeting with the poor in a church that is still being built: Work is yet to be completed on the shell of this church, which is part of a site that the Kingdom of Jordan decided to enhance for the benefit of Christian pilgrims, giving each denomination the possibility to build a new Latin church.  But in January, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Fouad Twal presided the liturgy for the annual pilgrimage of local Christians to Jordan in this very church. The pilgrimage took place on the Feast of Jesus’ Baptism. The building site will probably become a symbol of the human reconstruction that the poor and refugees are seeking in this tough periphery of the world. “Many of the Syrian Christians we help here ask us: “Does God still exist? This question captures the whole extent of their desperation. And also our struggle today, to give an answer,” Suleiman said.

Watch the video – Caritas Jordan