As the current conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine continue to dominate international headlines, it is worth stepping back and taking a longer view. The forces fighting Israel are essentially the same as those trying to remove Bashar al-Assad in Syria and those seeking to take over Afghanistan on the borders with Russia – radical Sunni Read more
As I have mentioned in a previous posting, there are many different sorts of martyrdom–in the broad sense of bearing witness, at a high or ultimate cost, to an awkward truth or passionately embraced cause. Independence movements, environmental campaigns, investigative journalism, humanitarian missions to war zones. They all draw inspiration from sons and daughters who perished in Read more
A Dutch Jesuit priest who chose to stay in the beseiged city of Homs in Syria to care for its starving population has been shot dead. Fr Frans van der Lugt, a 75-year-old psychologist, had remained in the rebel-controlled Old City throughout a 600-day siege by government forces. He had been offered the chance to Read more
Lent will see churches crowded across the globe. But here in Syria, where St Paul found his faith, many churches stand empty, targets for bombardment and desecration. Aleppo, where I have been bishop for 25 years, is devastated. We have become accustomed to the daily dose of death and destruction, but living in such uncertainty Read more
The last weeks have seen a ghastly roll call of terror attacks in the obvious places: Syria, Libya, Iraq and Lebanon, as well as Egypt, Yemen, Tunisia and Pakistan. Also suffering are places where we have only in recent years seen such violence: Nigeria, and in many parts of central Africa, in Russia and across Read more
A Jesuit priest trapped in the Syrian city of Homs is warning mental health problems might lead to a breakdown of social order. With the failure of United Nations-brokered peace talks in Geneva, Fr Frans Van der Lugt, told ‘The Telegraph’ that food has run out and starvation is beginning to cause people to lose their Read more
Thousands of Syrians from traditional Muslim backgrounds are turning to Jesus Christ, reports Christian Aid. Suspicious of the reports, Christian Aid, a US-based Christian organisation which supports international mission, investigated further, concluding the openness to Jesus and the Gospel appears genuine. Christian Aid says the numbers are not inflated nor an optimistic estimate. “We determine they are Read more
Pope Francis yesterday expressed the hope that the conflict in Syria “will finally come to an end this year” and that this month’s Geneva 2 conference would mark the beginning of a peace process. The pope made that observation in the context of the traditional papal address given each January to the diplomatic corps in Read more
The Syrian government is negotiating with rebels to release 12 nuns seized earlier this month from a convent north of Damascus, the Associated Press quoted two activists during the weekend. The rebels are demanding that hundreds of imprisoned women activists be freed in exchange for the nuns, they said. A spokesman for the rebel brigade Read more
It is noteworthy how often the word citizen appears in contemporary Christian literature referring to or coming out of the Middle East. The lineamenta for the Synod of Bishops’ meeting in Rome in 2010 used the word several times. On June 23, 2011, the Holy Synod of Antioch (Greek Orthodox Patriarchate) called upon governments to Read more