DAMASCUS: Hundreds of Syrian Christians gathered here yesterday to pray for peace and protest against possible US military intervention, responding to a call by Pope Francis for a day of prayer and fasting.
During a six-hour service at the Al Zeitouna Church, Syrian-born Melkite Catholic Patriarch Gregoire III Laham appealed to Christians to stay in Syria despite the war.
Pope Francis, who two days ago called a military solution in Syria “a futile pursuit”, led the world’s 1.2 billion Roman Catholics in a global day of prayer and fasting for peace in Syria, the Middle East and the world yesterday.
Syrian state television broadcast the ceremonies, billing them as a call for a “return to security and peace in Syria and to oppose any foreign military intervention”. Reuters
