Churchgoers reach out to fellow parish under bombardment in Syria

An Irish parish has reached out to help besieged residents in the war-torn Syrian city of Aleppo.

After an opening round of Syria peace talks in Vienna, and ahead of more talks next week in Moscow, parishioners in Ballincollig, Co Cork, are now planning to raise humanitarian aid for a parish in Aleppo whose church was hit by a gas bomb in recent days.

Ballincollig’s parish priest, Fr George O’Mahony, told Mass-goers that people are aware of the plight of refugees in Iraq and Syria but may feel helpless: “Even the very fact of reaching out, of making contact with them, and of finding ways of helping, will let them know that they are in our thoughts and prayers.”