Hundreds of thousands of young Catholics from around the world come together in Rome for an exceptional pilgrimage, marking “Holy Year”. Among them are many from countries in conflict, such as Palestine, Syria and Ukraine, for whom this journey symbolizes both an act of faith, resilience and hope despite international tests and tensions.
AFP
Khader Qassis did 32 hours of travel, spent roadblocks and crossed three countries to go to Rome alongside hundreds of thousands of young Catholics around the world. But for this young Palestinian, war, more than a constraint, adds meaning to his presence.
“It is difficult to say that we are traveling when there are people in Gaza who only dream of eating,” said AFP this 20 -year -old man in the Italian capital where up to a million people aged 18 to 35 are expected for this week of pilgrimage.
However, his presence gives him hope, despite international tensions and the deadly bombing of the Israeli army on this Palestinian territory threatened with famine.
“The feeling of being free”
Although minority in this central event of the “Holy Year”, organized every 25 years by the Catholic Church, the Vatican highlighted the participants from countries torn apart by conflicts – Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Ukraine, Sudan of the South, Burma, etc. – and their “sacrifices” to go to the eternal city. For many of them, this pilgrimage is an opportunity to recover a semblance of normality.
“Being here gives us the feeling of being free. Far from the borders, checkpoints and everything that could hurt us, “explains Jessie Khair, a young Palestinian from Bethlehem, in the West Bank, a black and white keffieh around the neck.
“It helps me to stay in touch with people sharing the same energy as me,” adds this 18 -year -old woman who says she is “touched” by the sympathy marks with regard to the inhabitants of the Gaza Strip.
On the majestic Place Saint-Pierre, in the midst of the pilgrims groups that flood this week the streets of Rome in an outpouring of songs, the flag of Syria, struck with three red stars, is distinguished from French, Spanish or Portuguese standard.
Father Fadi Syriani supports a group of 11 young Syrians, who for the most part travel for the first time outside their country. “It is a generation that grew up during the war years, which broke out in 2011” and “they felt a little isolated from the great Catholic Church,” he said.
“Symbol of hope”
Syria, where Christians are only 2% of the population, has been bereaved at the end of June by a suicide attack on a church in Damascus, which left 25 dead and sown terror within the Christian community.
“We come from a broken country, torn, which has suffered a lot and which is still suffering,” deplores Father Fadi Syriani. But young people want to “testify that there is always hope.” This jubilee also intervenes at a time when the Russian army continues its deadly attacks in Ukraine, despite Western sanctions.
In a church in the Monti district, not far from the Colosseum, Ukrainians pray for peace. Most are very young women, men aged 18 or over having prohibited from leaving Ukraine since the Russian invasion in early 2022.
The majority comes from the western regions, the most religious, which have the greatest proportion of Greco-Catholics, by Byzantine rite recognizing the authority of Rome.
Svitlana Tryhub, a 23 -year -old resident of Lviv, not far from the Polish border, notes a “better communication” with Pope Leo XIV, elected in May, only with his predecessor François, whose clumsy declarations have aroused strong controversy.
The Argentinian Jesuit had in particular called the Ukrainians to “have the courage to hoist the white flag and negotiate”, arousing the misunderstanding of kyiv who accused him of playing the game of the Russians.
Natalia Prykhodko, 24, yellow and blue flag on her back, says she is shared between “two feelings”. “Here we feel freedom and joy,” she says while the queues go behind her in a festive atmosphere.
But “the application of alarm on our phones sounds each time bombardments affect our cities,” she said, saying that he wanted to bring Rome to “a symbol of hope” and resilience.