Syria - From suffering in the Middle East to the joy of WYD

18 July 2016

(ANS - Damascus) - The Salesian Province of the Middle East (MOR) will attend World Youth Day (WYD) 2016 in Krakow with 21 young people from three countries which have been sorely tested in recent years for different reasons: Syria, Egypt and Lebanon. The young people will be accompanied by Fr Simon Zakerian, Youth Ministry Delegate of the MOR Province who is currently stationed in Damascus, Syria.

The young people will leave for Krakow on 25 July. After World Youth Day they will go as pilgrims to Turin, to pray to Mary Help of Christians and Don Bosco. The return to the Province is scheduled for Friday 5 August.

The group from the MOR Province will join the youth delegation of the Salesian Circumscription of Piedmont and Valle d'Aosta (ICP) and the young people from the  Middle East will share every experience with them. "In 2011 our youth participated in the WYD in Madrid with the young people of the Lombardo-Emiliana Province (ILE), and that was a wonderful experience for both groups of young people," says Fr Zakerian.

The presence of young people from the Middle East at WYD is significant for many reasons. They will not only benefit from the opportunities of prayer and celebration offered by WYD but they will also be witnesses to the young people of the world of the suffering and hope of their people and, at the same time, ambassadors of faith and enthusiasm among their friends when they return home.

"For us the MOR Province,” says Fr Zakerian, “it's almost a miracle that our young people can participate in this great ecclesiastical event, because the difficulties are many and of all kinds. We pray for a special grace for all young participants in World Youth Day, so that it may be for all a time of conversion and profound spiritual sharing." 

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