Cardinal Alencherry and four members of the Church's Permanent Synod held detailed discussions with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the secretary of state and Archbishop Claudio Gugerotti, the prefect of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches on May 4 to amicably settle the five-decade-long liturgy dispute.

"We presented to them the situation in the Archeparchy of Ernakulam-Angamaly. They listened to us and made an assessment of the situation. The results of the meeting will come in due course," Cardinal Alencherry said in a statement issued on May 8.

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Gugerotti visited Syria and Turkey from 17-21 February to express Pope Francis's support for earthquake victims and to coordinate relief efforts.

The archbishop said that the country's infrastructure has been severely weakened by sanctions, making it difficult to transfer funds or obtain visas for aid workers.

The US Treasury Department announced on 10 February that it would exempt relief efforts from its sanctions on Syria for 180 days. However, analysts say the long-term impact of sanctions on the country's infrastructure is the main obstacle to distributing aid.

Gugerotti noted that much of the affected territory is controlled by rebel groups who must allow aid to pass through to reach victims, but some groups block aid entirely.

In such cases, religious communities have intervened to provide aid through "more or less legal" channels. The archbishop cited the work of a Franciscan community in northern Syria that has helped to deliver aid to those in need.

Christians and Muslims united

During his visit, Gugerotti met with Catholic relief organisations, religious congregations and leaders from the region's Catholic, Orthodox and Muslim communities.

In Damascus he also visited a mosque that provided shelter to families left homeless by the earthquakes. Throughout the country, he said, Christians and Muslims are united in their hope for God's help in the face of the ongoing crisis.

Pope Francis has urged the international community to provide urgent aid to those affected by the earthquakes. He has called for an end to the conflict that devastated Syria for over a decade.

Gugerotti called on countries to consider the "concrete good of the people" rather than just their political goals. He said that the alternative to failed political solutions is chaos.

The archbishop also said that some aid is not reaching victims because countries providing aid through rebel groups "don't verify where this money goes and to whom".

Sources

National Catholic Register

CathNews New Zealand

Polish Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, head of the Vatican's Dicastery for Charity, and Archbishop Claudio Gugerotti, head of the Vatican's Dicastery for Oriental Churches, have been on the ground for an official visit to meet with locals and convey the Pope's closeness.

Despite miraculous rescues of people being found alive under the rubble throughout the week, the prospect of finding more survivors appears grim as first responders shift from rescue to recovery mode.

The earthquake, with a magnitude of 7.8, has left a death toll of at least 45,000, which is still expected to rise. Hundreds of thousands of apartments were destroyed in the disaster.

Strong after shocks followed.

Pope Francis has repeatedly offered words of comfort to the people of Turkey and Syria affected by the earthquake.

In addition to the aid sent this past weekend, the pope sent 10,000 thermal sweaters to victims in the affected area.

Personally delivered by Krajewski, the sweaters were scheduled to arrive on February 17 at the Kilis refugee camp in southern Turkey, which currently is home to around 60,000 people and has hosted refugees fleeing Syria's civil war since 2012.

Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay said that over 1 million people in Turkey are living in temporary housing facilities, such as tents and shipping containers.

Pope sends financial aid to Syria

The Pope also sent an undisclosed amount of financial aid to the apostolic nunciature in Syria to support the Syrian people, who according to the Vatican are "already exhausted by so many years of war and now by the devastating earthquake".

In addition to Krajewski, Gugerotti has also been on an official visit to the region to "express the Holy Father's closeness to the populations seriously affected by the recent disastrous earthquake," and to meet with the bishops and charitable organisations providing frontline aid.

Gugerotti travelled to Aleppo, Syria, where he visited both civil and ecclesial organisations assisting earthquake victims, and celebrated Mass with local Catholic and Orthodox bishops, as well as some Muslim leaders in the area.

He then celebrated Mass in the Greek Melkite cathedral and met with members of a local community of the Missionaries of Charity, the order of nuns founded by Mother Teresa, and then left for Damascus.

Gugerotti is scheduled to meet with local patriarchs and Catholic and non-Catholic bishops who reside in the quake-affected areas in Damascus on Monday.

He will then travel to Istanbul, where on Tuesday, he is scheduled to meet with Turkish bishops and the directors of local Caritas offices engaged in relief efforts.

While rescue efforts have already ended in all but two provinces in Turkey, search efforts continue only in the southern areas of Kahramanmaras and Hatay.

With so many people still missing, the aid provided by the Pope and his representatives is essential in the ongoing relief efforts.

Sources

CruxNow

The Catholic Standard