The kidnapping of two Orthodox bishops in Syria has caused alarm in Rome, where it is feared that Syria will become the next Iraq — with Christians once again becoming the primary victims of chaos following the disintegration of a police state.
A Vatican spokesman called the kidnappings “a dramatic confirmation of the tragic situation in which the Syrian people and its Christian community are living”.
The Asia News agency reported that the Syriac Orthodox Bishop of Aleppo, Monsignor Youhanna Ibrahim, and the Greek Orthodox Metropolitan of Aleppo and Iskenderun, Monsignor Boulos al-Yaziji, were stopped at gunpoint by armed men near the Turkish border on their way to the city of Aleppo.
A catechist travelling with them was shot to death while the two bishops were forced out of the car and taken away.
The two bishops were travelling on a route that was considered “safe”.
According to National Catholic Reporter correspondent John Allen, both are well known in Rome as veterans of ecumenical dialogue with the Catholic Church.
AsiaNews reported it had been told by sources that negotiations were ongoing, but nothing was known about the identity of the kidnappers, who were thought to be Chechen jihadists.
All of the churches in Aleppo — Catholic and Orthodox — have organised prayer vigils and Masses for the two prelates, the first bishops to be kidnapped in two years of civil war between the Bashar al-Assad regime and rebels.
In a strong message of solidarity, Muslim clerics in mosques across Damascus denounced the kidnapping and said the kidnappers were “violating the sanctity of Christian and Islamic clergymen”.
The Organization of Islamic Co-operation also called for “immediate and unconditional release because such acts contradict the principles of true Islam and the [high] status held for Christian clergymen in Islam”.
It added that Christian clergy always “lived in dignity and honour in the countries of Islam”.
Sources:
Image: The Orthodox Church
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News category: World.
