Syria – Extraordinary Visitation to Syria by Mediterranean Region Councilor

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(ANS – Damascus) – As part of his Extraordinary Visitation to the “Adolescent Jesus” Province of the Middle East, the Councilor for the Mediterranean Region, Fr Juan Carlos Pérez Godoy, visited all the Salesian Houses in Syria.

From Lebanon, the first stopover on his journey, he left for Kafroun, the city geographically closest to the Land of the Cedars and visited the local Salesian house. There was a joyful welcome from the fifty boys and girls singing in Italian in homage to him in the presence of animators, educators and lay staff of the house, besides Fr Danny Hayek sdb, who resides there, as well as Fr Mario Murru and Fr Dany Kaurieh, from Aleppo.

Fr Pérez Godoy met the Educational Council and the community with the children and young people and listened with interest to their experiences they narrated. He, thus got to know the circumstances and the environment in which the Salesians work in Kafroun, as well as the difficulties they encountered.

After Kafroun, he reached Aleppo, where the Salesian House “Georges and Mathilde Salem” is located. Here as well, he met the young people and the Educational Council and was also accompanied on a visit to the city, which was one of the most affected places during the war. He also observed the various churches which were already restored thanks to the commitment of the faithful.

At Damascus, more than 350 boys and girls who attend high school and the oratory of “Don Bosco” center celebrated the arrival of Fr Pérez Godoy, in an atmosphere of extraordinary joy and happiness, among the characteristic Damascus folklore rites.

In Damascus, the General Councilor walked in the footsteps of St. Paul, living intimately the story of his conversion at the gates of Damascus and visited the holy areas which are located within about 50 kilometers from Damascus. They are: Saydnaya and Maaloula, with its two churches, dedicated to Saint Thekla and to Saints Sarkis and Pacho.

Accompanied by Fr Dany Kerio, Fr Najib Shennekji and Fr Felice Cantele, the Visitor also got to know the Salesian center in Maarat Sednaya, as well as the new presence  of “Don Bosco” in Jaramana, near Damascus, which was nevertheless opened last year to teach children and young people after school and serves as a hospice for university students.

As part of the visit to Damascus, the Regional Councilor met with the educational council & community and had several spontaneous meetings with the young people. He also took part in the opening ceremony of the football championship between the churches of Damascus and its surroundings and also met with the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, who work both in the Italian hospital and in the kindergarten of the school.

“Father Juan Carlos’ visit to Syria was full of encounters and full of spirituality and joy, precisely because there was a Visitor who traveled long distances to get to know a country that has suffered for a long time from war and which suffers still many problems resulting from the war, which are reflected in the first place on young people,” commented the Salesians in Syria.

ANS – Agency of Salesian News

Syria – Lay people co-responsible in Salesian mission: Johnny and Georgette

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(ANS – Kafroun) – A history of suffering, certainly, like all those concerning refugees during wars; but also a love story, of a family steadfast in difficulties; a story of fidelity to one’s own values ​​on the part of a Christian and Salesian family; a story of gratitude, that of many people towards them and their work: all this is the story of Johnny and Georgette, a married couple of Salesian Cooperators who, after fleeing Aleppo in the hardest months of the war in Syria, led, for eight years, the first lay-run work in the whole Middle East Province (MOR), that is, the retreat house the Salesians own in the mountainous region of Kafroun. Now Johnny and Georgette, together with their children, have been able to return to their Aleppo; but not before having received heartfelt thanks from the Sons of Don Bosco in Syria.

It has been over 8 years since this family left Aleppo, due to the harshness of the war and its consequences, both material and psychological. It was 2012 when they abandoned their home and their belongings, taking with them what was their only daughter at the time. At that moment they could not have known that Providence had a special assignment for them.

On arriving in Kafroun, in fact, the two Salesian Cooperators Johnny Ghazi and Georgette Deek were invited to take on the responsibility of managing the Salesian house there. And they, in a spirit of service to the Lord and always maintaining the typically Salesian family atmosphere, welcomed the proposal and accompanied all the initiatives: catechism, summer activities, formation meetings, welcoming groups of visitors who constantly coming to the center – born, indeed, as a monastery for camps…

About two weeks ago, during a visit to the work, the Provincial of MOR, Fr Alejandro León, celebrated a Eucharist in which he wanted to publicly thank them for their ministry and their good administration in this time during which they gave the example of Christian and Salesian laity, committed in the Church and in society, with young people.

After their service in Kafroun, now Johnny and Georgette are back with their two daughters in Aleppo.

Today, therefore, this message arrives from the Salesian community in Syria:

“Despite the many difficulties, they lived this service with honesty, joy and sacrifice. Furthermore, theirs was the first experience in the Middle East Province, in which lay people of the Salesian Family were given the opportunity to live Salesian spirituality with high responsibility, hand in hand with consecrated Salesians, as Don Bosco wanted, a single family for a single objective: the salvation of souls. On behalf of the Salesians, young people, Salesian Families and Cooperators in the Middle East, we say to you: ‘Thank you, Johnny and Georgette!'”

ANS – Agency of Salesian News