“I hope that this visit will be an embrace of consolation and of encouragement to all Christians in the Middle East,” the pope said.
Middle East
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
The exile of Palestinian refugees spans 50 years
The plight of Palestinians uprooted by Israeli-Arab wars is one of the world’s longest-running refugee crises, and a solution for millions of refugees and their descendants appears distant.
Posted inFaith, Vatican Dispatch
Pope Francis in Egypt: seeking better relations with the Muslim world
Pope Francis will be in Egypt for two days beginning on April 28.
Posted inFaith, News
Pope Francis’ goals for Egypt trip: Strengthening weary Christians and reaching out to all
Pope Francis “will affirm that there is a certain solidarity among Christians” and that “we are all related together by Jesus.”
Posted inArts & Culture, Books
Was Pontius Pilate an agent of Christian salvation?
A new book situates Pilate in the political and cultural milieu of the Roman Empire in the Middle East.
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
Turkey’s opposition party and international observers question election results
International observers who monitored the voting found irregularities, saying the conduct of Sunday’s referendum “fell short” of international standards.
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
The next few months will decide Christians’ fate in a scarred Iraq
“ISIS had written really vile things about Jesus and the church. The convent was burned and gutted. Everything was stolen. Anything holy in their mind was burned.”
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
Who are Egypt’s Coptic Christians, and why do extremists target them?
Egypt’s Coptic Christians have become the preferred target of the Islamic State group, an apocalyptic cult seeking religious war.
Posted inFaith, News
Deadly Egypt attacks won’t deter Cairo visit by Pope Francis
Despite recent and repeated terrorist attacks against Egypt’s minority Christian communities, Pope Francis will not cancel his visit to Egypt.
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
Egyptian Christians left to bury their dead after church bombings
Women wailed as caskets marked with the word “martyr” were brought into the St. Mina monastery in Alexandria.