On Feb. 26, the Melkite Catholic Patriarch Gregoire III Laham said, “It is shocking that the whole world” has not responded in a proper way to the ongoing crisis in Syria. He called for international unity against the Islamic State to protect Assyrian Christian villages in northeast Syria. As many as 400 Christians may have been seized during attacks by Islamic State extremists. “It is time for the international community to work very closely with Syria and also with Iraq, who are really the real victims of these takfiri and jihadist groups,” Patriarch Laham said. In a statement on Feb. 25, Syriac Orthodox Patriarch Ignatius Aphrem II of Antioch condemned the killings and terrorist acts that targeted the Christians of the Khabur region. He called upon the international community to work for the “immediate and unconditional release” of all kidnapped and detained people.
Christians in Syria Seized by Islamic State
Show Comments (
)
Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.
The latest from america
AI priest “Father Justin,” a chatbot used to answer questions about the Catholic faith, has been renamed “Justin” and swapped out his virtual clerics for a button-down shirt after facing backlash from online users just one day after launching.
A portion of a new interview with Pope Francis will air tonight on the “CBS Evening News” at 6:30 p.m. Eastern, according to a release from the CBS News Communications office.
A Homily for the Fifth Sunday of Easter, by Father Terrance Klein
The reflections of Timothy Radcliffe, O.P., convinced me that Pope Francis' reframing of the scope and meaning of synods will have staying power, because it opens up a new model for the church.