Aleppo, Syria, May 31, 2018 / 23:04 pm
The key to ending Syria's ongoing conflict lies not with the local people, but with the leaders of the international community, said a Syrian-born Franciscan priest this week.
"We know that the solution today is not in our hands as Syrians. We know that the key [to building peace] is outside Syria, in the [hands of the] many, many, big countries of the world," Fr. Ibrahim Alsabagh told a small group of journalists May 31.
Speaking after a press conference for the release of an Italian-language book on the rebuilding of Aleppo, he said he prays "with all my heart, that [powerful countries] could have a solution for us and for all these crises… a solution in which we can live in Syria."
He said that minorities in Aleppo and throughout the Middle East are worried for the future, particularly about how the international community will decide to act on the Syrian crisis, since the impact on their community could be grave.