Pope Francis urged believers to pray for a donor meeting on Syria

Pope Francis urged believers to pray for the success of the upcoming donor conference on Syria, as well as for Yemeni citizens who are experiencing a severe humanitarian crisis, and residents of western Ukraine, where flooding occurred as a result of heavy heavy rains. On June 28, he said this during a traditional Sunday sermon on St. Peter's Square in the Vatican. On Tuesday, June 30, the fourth conference of the European Union and the UN will be held to support the future of Syria and the region. We pray for this important meeting so that it can improve the dramatic situation of the Syrian people and neighboring peoples, especially the Lebanese, - turned to the flock of the pontiff. According to him, the situation in the Middle East is aggravated by deep socio-political and economic crises, which were further aggravated by the pandemic of coronavirus infection. He also called on believers to reflect on the fact that there are starving children in many regions of the world and asked Catholics around the world to pray for the people of Yemen and for the children of this State who suffer from food shortages due to the acute humanitarian crisis. And also for those who suffered from severe floods in western Ukraine, "the pope added. Recall that the donor conference on Syria, organized by the European Union (EU) in close cooperation with the United Nations (UN), should be held on June 30 for the fourth time. This time, due to the coronavirus pandemic, it will be held in a video link format, in which ministers of the participating countries will also take part. It is assumed that 83 delegations from 58 states will be present at the conference, as well as representatives of 12 regional organizations and international financial institutions, 13 UN agencies. It is noteworthy that the event will take place without the participation of representatives of the Syrian government, since the EU does not maintain any relations with them. So, as a result of the last conference, 6.2 billion euros were raised, which were never sent to Syria. According to the organizers, the transfer of these funds to the Syrian side is premature.