蜜桃交友

By Sr Bernadette Mary Reis, fsp

Ireland鈥檚 Primate is in Iraq visiting displaced families and encouraging the people of Ireland to contribute to relief efforts in Iraq, Yemen and South Sudan through the .

Trócaire Christmas Appeal 2018

The Bishops of Ireland announced in a statement at the end of their Winter Meeting in early December that the Trócaire Christmas Appeal would benefit people in three conflict areas: Iraq, Yemen and South Sudan. Archbishop Eamon Martin, the Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland visited Iraq this week and met directly with families receiving humanitarian aid from Trócaire.

Humbling and heartening

鈥淚t is humbling鈥�, the Archbishop said, 鈥渢o spend time with these families, and heartening to learn how the generosity of people in Ireland is helping them to survive.鈥� Through that generosity, the Irish people relieve the suffering of other people trapped in areas where conflict and war are a tragic reality. It 鈥渁llows them to dream of brighter days ahead鈥�, the Archbishop said.

Batnaya, Iraq

Archbishop Martin, along with Trócaire鈥檚 chief executive, Caoimhe de Barra, visited the decimated town of Batnaya situated on the Plains of Nineveh in Northern Iraq. There he made an appeal to the Irish people to contribute to the Trócaire Christmas Appeal. 鈥淓ven small donations can make a big difference to people whose lives have been shattered by conflict鈥�, he said.

Yemen

The other two conflict zones where people receive aid through the Trócaire Appeal are Yemen and South Sudan. 鈥淲e are deeply concerned at the worsening crisis in Yemen, where eight million people are at risk of famine鈥�, the Bishops鈥� Winter Meeting statement said. Trócaire provides medicine, clean water and aid to thousands in Yemen. The Bishops call it a 鈥渓ifeline鈥�.

South Sudan

The Irish Bishops chose South Sudan because it is a conflict that 鈥渉as not received adequate attention from the world鈥檚 media鈥�.  The majority of the refugees from South Sudan are women and children. Trócaire supports 鈥渢ens of thousands of people each month with food, water and other vital needs鈥�, according to the Bishops鈥� statement.