Pope Francis urged Syrian President Bashar Assad to put an end to his country’s eight-year-long conflict and seek reconciliation for the good of the nation and its vulnerable people.
Syria
Posted inFaith, News
Syriac Christians living near border fear Turkey military incursion
Military Council member Aram Hanna told Kurdistan 24 TV that he hopes a U.S.-led coalition would protect northeast Syria because Islamic State “sleeper cells still pose a threat.”
Posted inFaith, News
Syriac Catholic bishops optimistic amid dispersion of their faithful
The prelates noted that Christians “are an authentic component and founder” in Syria and Iraq. They called for solidarity among all citizens to build peace, hope and unity.
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
Pope meets with family of kidnapped Italian Jesuit
Pope Francis met with family members of Italian Jesuit Father Paolo Dall’Oglio, whose fate is still unknown after he was kidnapped in Syria in 2013.
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
Christians concerned about religious freedom if Turkey enters Syria
The United Nations has described the Islamic State campaign against the Yazidis since 2014 as “genocide.”
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
Christians working with Syrians: U.S. withdrawal puts minorities at risk
Several Mideast-based Christians working on the Syria crisis have joined a growing chorus about U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to pull some 2,000 American troops from Syria.
Posted inArts & Culture, Ideas
The road from T. E. Lawrence’s Damascus to Syria’s civil war
Lawrence’s triumphant arrival in Damascus in 1918 might be said to have been the spark that ultimately ignited a powder keg of factional rivalries and distrust.
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
Christian aid group says Idlib civilians fear offensive by Syrian forces
Christians and other civilians inside Idlib, Syria, are fearful of an impending, all-out offensive by their government and its Russian and Iranian backers on the northwestern province, the last rebel stronghold and presumed endgame in Syria’s more than seven-year-old war.
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
Status of Syrian refugees in Lebanon remains largely unchanged
While procedures are being put in place for Syrians to return to their war-torn country from neighboring Lebanon, the refugee crisis continues to linger and remains largely unchanged, a Caritas Lebanon official said.
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
Provincial says Carmelite nuns in Aleppo live in ‘heroic situation’
In seven years of civil war, the Discalced Carmelites convent has suffered many food, water and electricity shortages, seen its windows shattered and a surrounding wall destroyed.