Protecting the civil population in Syria: this is the priority, according to mgr. Stephan Ackermann, president of the “Justitia et Pax” Commission of the German Bishops Conference (Dbk). Interviewed yesterday by the German Catholic news agency Kna, mgr. Ackermann said that in Syria “the situation is tragic”, and “the option of humanitarian action should be seriously considered” by ”setting up some protected areas”: a measure, this one, which however would be inadvisable “unless such action is part of a widely-supported political plan”. The bishop ruled out any religious reasons behind the violence in Syria, although he assumes that, should such situation escalate, “the Christian minority too, as such, might be put under pressure and threatened again”. As to the media coverage of the Syrian conflict, mgr. Ackermann found that, “along with outrage”, the images and news are also triggering “a growing feeling of frustration”, which is not the best for finding a “sustainable long-term policy”. To ward off the danger of “exhaustion from media overexposure”, he concluded, “it is our responsibility to make an appeal to protect Syria’s civil population”.

14/06/2012 -