Rome Newsroom, Sep 17, 2020 / 10:00 am
When asked by his superior if he wanted to leave Aleppo during the Syrian Civil War, Fr. Edward Tamer replied that he would remain with the people "to die with them and for them."
Now, having survived the worst of the violence of the war, the Franciscan friar has died of COVID-19 at the age of 83 in the service of the poor whom he desired to give his life for.
Tamer is one of two Franciscan priests in Syria to have died of the coronavirus within 10 days of each other in recent weeks. At least two other friars in Syria have also tested positive for the coronavirus.
Fr. Firas Hejazin (pictured below) also died of COVID-19, at the age of 49. Originally from Jordan, he contracted the coronavirus while serving at the St. Anthony Franciscan Monastery in Aleppo in August. He was then transferred to the Jordanian capital, Amman, where he died.