London: Cardinal Sandri to attend service for peace in Syria

A prayer service appealing for peace in Syria is to take place on Wednesday, 4 September in central London following an urgent request from the Vatican's lead Cardinal for suffering Christians in the Middle East.

Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches, who is on a trip to London, will be visiting the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Cathedral, in Duke Street, for the service at 4pm.

The service comes amid appeals for prayer for Syria led by Cardinal Sandri's fellow Argentinean, Pope Francis, who announced a day of prayer and fasting to take place on Saturday (7 September).

Church organisations providing emergency pastoral and humanitarian relief in Syria are also calling for prayer, including Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need, which is half-way through a week of prayer. There have been worsening reports about Syria with the UN today (Tuesday, 3 September) announcing that more than two million refugees are now registered as refugees – up one million within the last six months.

Meanwhile, the US and France are continuing to push for military action over alleged chemical weapons use by Syrian forces.

In a statement yesterday, Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarch Gregorios III of Antioch, President of the Assembly of the Catholic Hierarchy in Syria, reiterated appeals for a halt to plans for foreign armed intervention. In the document, issued from Damascus and released by Aid to the Church in Need, the Patriarch highlighted the shipment of foreign arms and intelligence into Syria, saying that their impact was "far more dangerous" even than chemical weapons, whose great destructive capacity he did not dispute.

The Service of Prayer for Syria on Wednesday, 4 September 2013, takes place at 4pm at the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Cathedral of the Holy Family in Exile, Duke Street, Mayfair, London W1K 5BQ (nearest tube: Bond Street).

Source: ACN