In the midst of the civil war, churches and Christian-owned businesses have been targets of bombings by the Islamic State and other extremist groups, and there have been many reports of Christians being abducted, harmed and killed. Even so, many of Syria’s remaining Christians are committed to staying and rebuilding their country. Others are now returning home following IS’s military defeat.
Another ancient Assyrian monastery bulldozed
Photographs posted Thursday on Twitter accounts linked to the Islamic State destroyed in the past six months by jihadist fighters. The 5th century Mar Elian Monastery in Syria’s western Homs province was located on the outskirts of Qaryatain city, captured by IS militants two weeks ago from Assad regime control. An […]
Jihadists release Syrian priest, 22 elderly Assyrians
Five weeks after Fr. Antoine Boutros and his driver were kidnapped on their way to Sunday mass in southern Syria’s Suweida province on July 12, the Catholic parish priest has been released. Disclosure of the 50-year-old priest’s release on Aug. 15 came from the Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarch of Antioch, […]
More Christians ‘abducted’ in Syria
Islamic State has taken over a Syrian town southeast of Homs, its first major success since capturing Palmyra, a World Heritage site, in May 2015, about 100km to the northeast. At least 230 people are reported to have been abducted from Al-Quaryatayn, a town of 40,000 mainly Sunni Muslims and […]
Kidnapped Syrian priest released unharmed
Rev. Dhiya Aziz, a Catholic priest kidnapped July 4 in northwest Syria, was released unharmed July 9, to which he belongs. Aziz was abducted from the town of Yacoubieh, where he serves as a parish priest. Initial reports were that he was en route to a meeting with the Emir […]
4 million have fled Syria – sixth of population
More than four million Syrians have fled their country to escape the current conflict announced the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) today. The head of the UN’s refugee agency, Antonio Guterres, called it the “worst humanitarian crisis of our generation”. Syria’s civil war, which is now in its […]
Belgium rescues Aleppo Christians from Syria
Some 240 people, mainly Christians, have been brought out of Syria’s second city of Aleppo and taken to Belgium, the government in Brussels says. All the families had fled their homes and were at risk of repeated human rights abuse, a spokesman told the BBC. Civil society groups helped take […]
Iraqi Franciscan priest abducted in northwest Syria
Father Dhiya Aziz was kidnapped by militants from Yacoubieh, Idlib Province, where he serves as parish priest on Sat 4th July. The militants were purportedly taking him for a brief meeting with the Emir who exercises authority in that area, which is under the control of the Al-Qaeda affiliate group, […]
Islamist forces battle for Hassaka and Aleppo
Islamic State jihadists have begun closing in on two cities in northern Syria where there are still significant Christian communities. “IS is attacking Hassaka, and the situation is not that secure,” Father Emanuel Youkhana from the Christian Aid Program in Northern Iraq (CAPNI) told the Catholic Aleteia network on June […]
Bishop refutes alleged ‘revenge’ beheading
The Catholic Bishop of Aleppo has rejected reports of the alleged “revenge” beheading of an Islamic State jihadist by an Assyrian Christian soldier in northeast Syria as “unreliable and unverifiable” rumors. According to the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), an unnamed fighter captured a non-Syrian jihadist last week […]
Kidnapped priest still missing
A Jesuit priest reportedly kidnapped in Syria last week by Islamic extremists is still missing, with no news of his whereabouts. Father Jacques Mourad was abducted in Qaryatayn on 21 May by four suspected Islamic State terrorists riding motorbikes, reported Aid to the Church in Need. A spokesperson from Open […]