Tag: Syria

Kidnappers release Syrian nuns

March 10, 2014 Syria Al-Nusra Front, Kidnapping, Maaloula, Syria, Women

A group of nuns kidnapped in Maaloula, Syria, in December were released early Monday, tired but unharmed. “God did not leave us,” Mother Pelagia Sayyaf, superior of the Mar Takla monastery in Maaloula, told news reporters after the nuns had been released to Syrian authorities as part of a prisoner . . . Read More

ISIS makes Christians an offer

February 27, 2014 Syria Islamic State, Jizya, Raqqa, Syria

The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, or ISIS, has posted a list of options for Christians in the Syrian city of Raqqa: 1. Convert to Islam 2. Pay a tax equivalent to 1/4 ounce of gold. Remove all symbols of Christianity from public view. Pray only in private. . . . Read More

Freedom of religion an issue ‘whose time has come’

February 13, 2014 Global News -- No Particular Country Arab Spring, Barack Obama, China, Egypt, Eritrea, Europe, India, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Mali, Middle East, Myanmar, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Religious freedom, Saudi Arabia, Sharia, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, UN, USA, Uzbekistan, Vietnam

Freedom of religion and belief is an issue “whose time has come”, the vice chairwoman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom said yesterday. During the presentation of two reports on religious freedom at the European Parliament in Brussels on Feb. 12, commission Vice Chairwoman Katrina Lantos Swett said . . . Read More

Syrian Christian beheaded

January 16, 2014 Syria Homs, Syria

A Christian man was beheaded last week as he drove home from work in Homs, reports Fars News. Fides confirms that Fadi Matanius Mattah, 34, was killed and his friend Firas Nader, 29, was wounded as armed jihadists opened fire on their car. A priest told Fides that, noting that . . . Read More

Vatican to hold peace talks

January 9, 2014 Bashar al-Assad, Islamic extremism, Syria, Tony Blair, UK

The Vatican has scheduled a meeting for Jan. 13 to discuss the potential for a ceasefire in Syria, ahead of UN-backed peace talks in Geneva, planned to start on Jan. 24. Bishop Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo told Vatican Radio that a cessation of hostilities was vital “in order to allow humanitarian . . . Read More

Pressure on Christians grew in 2013

January 8, 2014 Global News -- No Particular Country Afghanistan, African Union, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, BJP, Buddhist nationalism, Central African Republic, Colombia, Eritrea, FARC, Hindu nationalism, India, Iraq, Islamic extremism, Kyrgyzstan, Middle East, Nigeria, North Africa, North Korea, Pakistan, Peshawar, Religious freedom, Sadad, Sharia, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sub-Saharan Africa, Sudan, Syria, Uganda, UN, Yemen

More than ever, some of the hardest places for Christians to live are fragile or failed states where militant Islamist movements flourish, according to an annual report on Christian religious freedom. Pressure on Christians intensified worldwide in 2013, according to Open Doors International, a charity that provides support to Christians . . . Read More

Christian deaths double in 2014 World Watch List

January 8, 2014 Global News -- No Particular Country Africa, Angola, Central African Republic, Churches, Egypt, India, Kidnapping, Niger, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Rape, Religious freedom, Syria

Nearly twice as many Christians died for their faith in the past year than in 2012, according to Open Doors International’s 2014 World Watch List. Open Doors International, a charity that supports Christians under pressure for their faith, said 2,123 Christians were reported to have been killed during the 12 . . . Read More

Prince Charles criticises ‘organised persecution’ of Middle East Christians

December 18, 2013 Copts, Egypt, Islamic extremism, London, Middle East, Prince Charles, Sadad, Syria

Left to Right: Prince Charles, Abba Seraphim and Bishop Angaelos at the Coptic Orthodox Church Centre.Coptic Orthodox Church UK The Prince of Wales, heir to the British throne, has added his voice to those calling for an end to the persecution of Christians in the Middle East. After a . . . Read More

Iraqi Archbishop calls on West to ‘open eyes’ to Christians’ Middle East exodus

December 18, 2013 Iraq Islamic extremism, Louis Raphael I Sako, Middle East, Syria

Louis Raphael I Sako.Lee Stranahan / Flickr / Creative Commons The Archbishop of Baghdad, Louis Raphael I Sako, has called on the West to help put an end to the “mortal exodus” of Christians from the Middle East. Sako, who is also Patriarch of Babylon, told a conference in . . . Read More

A postcard from ‘Little Baghdad’

December 12, 2013 Assyrians, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Refugees, Sweden, Syria, Syriacs, Turkey

Nuri Kino Södertälje, Sweden, is also known as Mesopotälje – “Little Baghdad”. One in four people in Södertälje is a Christian from Turkey, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq or Egypt. Most are Assyrian/Syriacs. The city was once home to more Iraqi refugees than the United States and Canada combined. Every week, 30 . . . Read More

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