Kilmaley man meets Pope Francis

KILMALEY man Eamonn Meehan, executive director of Trocaire, met with Pope Francis in Rome last month during a meeting of overseas development agencies about the crisis in Syria.

“We have a huge moral authority and we should use it and not accept or let anyone else accept that this war be left to just play itself out,” Eamonn Meehan said at the meeting.

Pope Francis agreed with him saying that many refugees in Syria were suffering.

“We must accept with great sorrow that the Syrian crisis has not been resolved, but instead continues, and there is the risk of growing accustomed to it and of forgetting the victims claimed on a daily basis, the unspeakable suffering, the thousands of refugees, which include the elderly and children, who suffer and at times die of hunger and of diseases causes by the conditions of war,” Pope Francis said.

Trócaire had been supporting local partners in the region since March 2012. Donations from Ireland are providing food, shelter, clothes and other vital aid to people inside Syria, as well as to people who have fled to neighbouring countries. Trócaire’s support has reached approximately 194,000 people to-date. www.trocaire.org