The King has said he will be praying this Christmas for Syria, whose citizens have been given a glimmer of hope following the overthrow of the country’s dictator. Charles met a Syrian nun when he joined a Catholic congregation that has been supporting the work of Aid to the Church in Need, a charity helping Christians persecuted across the Middle East and the globe.
The event was a special advent service held at the Catholic Farm Street Church in Mayfair and attended by Cardinal Vincent Nichols, leader of the Roman Catholic church in England and Wales, and Archbishop Miguel Maury Buendia, Pope Francis’s apostolic nuncio or diplomatic representative in the UK.
After the short service, attend by Iraqi Christians and schoolchildren, the King met Sister Annie Demerjian, from the Syrian Catholic Church, in a side chapel and the pair, who have met before, warmly embraced. She described to Charles the desperate situation in her homeland after the fall of Syrian leader Bashar Assad’s regime and said afterwards: “It is desperate, but we are praying for a better future.”.
The nun added: “He said he was praying for us, for all the people who have been displaced and find themselves battling against (the) odds. “We are praying and we are hoping for a better future, and we appreciate your King’s support.”. Sister Demerjian said Christians would now flock back to the country after the fall of the regime, but shortages of food, shelter and other medical resources were an issue.
