Metropolitan Mar Gregorios Yohanna Ibrahim and Metropolitan Boulous Yazigi, who have been missing for over 100 days now, were reported to be alive and held captive in Turkey, said a report by Fars News Agency. Citing a source, the report said the two bishops who were abducted near Aleppo are still alive and kept in Read more
A sharia committee in the rebel-held region of the Syrian city of Aleppo has banned croissants as symbols of “colonial” oppression. Syria is a former French colony, so some there apparently associate this culinary symbol of Frenchness with France and with imperialism more generally. They specifically targeted croissants, al-Arabiya reports, because the pastry’s “crescent shape Read more
As the war in Syria deepens and people continue to flee across borders, Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand has pledged NZ$100,000 towards supporting Syrian refugees in Lebanon. The funds will contribute to a third phase of support by the international Caritas network to refugees from Syria, regardless of race or religion, and their Lebanese hosts – Read more
Priests in Syria are choosing to stay with their people despite the death of a monk who was killed by Islamist rebels involved in the country’s civil war. Father Francois Mourad died at the Franciscan monastery of Saint Anthony of Padua, near the Turkish border, while trying to defend nuns and local Christians who had Read more
The head of the Chaldean Catholic Church has questioned the motive behind supporting regime change in Iraq, Egypt, Syria and Libya, saying that Islamic fundamentalist regimes are “even worse” than authoritarian ones. Instilling democracy and a culture of freedom, said Chaldean Patriarch Louis Sako, requires education and a sound strategy for the long term. But Read more
The patriarch of Syria’s Catholics has said Western nations are responsible for the carnage in Syria, where the morale of Christians is “very, very low”. Syriac Patriarch Ignatius Joseph III Younan said the present situation in Syria is the result of Western nations carrying out a geopolitical strategy “to split Syria and other countries” in Read more
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 Read more
Life has become so dangerous for Christians in Syria that they face the choice of trying to leave — in itself a difficult course of action — or being killed. That’s the view of the Maronite archbishop of Damascus, Archbishop Samir Nassar, who says defenceless civilians, both Christians and Muslims, are being killed each day by Read more
Shocked by bombs rocking his residence, the papal nuncio to Syria has reported he is in “a massacre; bodies charred and torn to pieces, strips of human flesh, fire fighters struggling to put out the flames”. “We continue to walk on the dead,” said Archbishop Mario Zenari. “The number of 70,000 war victims is even Read more
As violence in Syria continues to escalate, the Vatican has called off sending a papal delegation there on a mission of peace. Instead, Pope Benedict XVI has sent Guinean Cardinal Robert Sarah, president of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum, to neighbouring Lebanon, to meet pastors and members of the various churches present in Syria. He Read more