Destiny of Syrian Christian monuments
Church of Holy Cross in Damascus has hosted a lecture on ‘destiny of Syrian Christian monuments’ and photography exhibition showing rehabilitation works in Saint George Church in Homs city, according to Tishreen newspaper.
The lecture was given by the Father Samir Fayyad, who asserted that a lot of icons, manuscripts and ecclesiastical antiquities have been lost as a result of looting, smuggling and destruction perpetrated by terrorist organizations in Damascus countryside, Homs, Lattakia countryside and Aleppo.
The Father added that some international commissions and Antiquities Directorate in Lebanon contributed to restore some stolen monuments.
“Today, we are sending a defiant message through reviving and rehabilitating the remaining monuments in our churches. Tomorrow is our children’s future.. The will to live makes us care about rehabilitating Man before rehabilitating stone.”
He referred to a statement said by an English writer: “If you want to end existence of a people, you must paralyze its memory and burn its books as well as erase its history.”
“This has been done during the invasion of Iraq where the museum was destroyed,” the Father said, indicating that thousands of manuscripts and monuments were targeted during the first year of crisis in Syria.
Syrian culture will never be erased and there must be active measures to face period of destruction.
Since 2011, Syria has face a foreign-backed terror war targeting its army, people, civilization and infrastructures.
Basma Qaddour