‘You are not forgotten,’ Pope Francis tells Syrians entering 12th year of war. A Syrian refugee. / thomas koch via Shutterstock. Rome Newsroom, Mar 17, 2022 / 14:00 pm (CNA). Pope Francis has said that the Catholic Church’s message to Syrians as their country enters its 12th year of war is “you are not forgotten.” The pope wrote a letter to a gathering of Catholic leaders taking place in Damascus this week, which was read aloud in Arabic on March 15 by Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, the Vatican prefect of the Congregation for the Eastern Churches. “Although the war in Syria, now in its 12th year, c…