Syrian family one of six to speak with Pope on Parkway

THE TRIP from Damascus to Philadelphia takes about 30 hours, a jaunt halfway around the world.

The contrast couldn't be greater.

So when Riad Sargi stepped off the plane in South Philly yesterday, his wife and three kids at his side, he beamed with joy. Gone were the war-torn streets of his hometown, where a mortar shell recently exploded just 20 meters from his front door.

They were replaced with the World Meeting of Families, an event of a lifetime for a man as devout in his faith as Sargi.

"I know that the pope remembers Syria, especially during these dark days," Sargi, an engineer by trade, said yesterday in the Pennsylvania Convention Center.

"Faith is very important, and I want to tell all of the Syrian families that their archbishop, the Vatican and Jesus Christ are with them."

The Sargis are one of six families from around the globe that were handpicked to meet with Pope Francis on Sunday and receive a signed copy of the Gospel of Luke.

They're joined by the Panebiancos, of Cuba; the Davieaus, of France; the Ongs, of Vietnam; the Cooreys, of Australia; and Willy Bongo-Pasi Moke Sangol and Marie-Claire Mukusa Gipela, from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

All of the honorees also will go home with an additional 100,000 copies of the Gospel to distribute throughout their homeland.

"This shows the universality of the Catholic Church, and the new universal dream of families," said Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, the president of the Pontifical Council for the Family.

"We want to show families they can't be turned in to themselves; we have to show them that the dream is to reach all countries."

Paglia also used yesterday's panel to announce a fundraiser that seeks to provide heating oil for the winter for 6,000 families in Syria. Donations can be made online at www.cnewa.org.

"It's a very little gesture," Paglia said. "Every family has to open their door; every family has to go out of their house to meet someone who needs help."

Sargi is used to going out of his house, to traveling in order to seek help. Two years ago, he met Pope Francis, then newly minted, in Vatican City. He asked him to "do everything possible to help Syria."

He plans on echoing that plea tomorrow, this time in the City of Brotherly Love.

"The solution is negotiations from all parties," Sargi said. "To keep Syria together, and not destroy our country, we must become one family."

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