Hundreds of school children from both Christian and Muslim backgrounds in the besieged city of Aleppo in Syria are expected to come together to pray for an end to the violence that has wracked both the city and the country.
Archbishop Boutros Marayati, of the Armenian Catholic Church in Aleppo, told Agenzia Fides that the children, mostly of primary school age, will put their signatures and fingerprints on an appeal asking world leaders to put an end to massacres, especially those that involve children.
“But above all, they will pray,” said the archbishop. “They will pray for all of their peers. And we trust in the fact that children’s prayer is more powerful than ours.”
The event is expected to take place on 6th October.
And while the situation in Aleppo has led to a war of words by ambassadors at the UN this week, the World Food Programme has expressed “extreme concern” for 250,000 trapped amid ongoing fighting between Syrian Government-backed and rebel forces in Aleppo, even as it announced food assistance had reached four other communities – Madaya, Zabadani, Foaa and Kefraya – for the first time since April.
“[W]e are extremely concerned about the more than 250,000 people trapped in eastern Aleppo city who are cut off from food, water, medicine, and other essential supplies,” said Jakob Kern, country director for the WFP. “We call on all parties to this terrible conflict to immediately open transport routes that allow unconditional, unimpeded, sustained and safe humanitarian access to those in eastern Aleppo and every family across Syria that needs our support.”
