Full of zeal for their faith, 920 Melkite Catholic young adults from the Middle East gathered in Lebanon for the first conference especially for them.
Middle East
Despite New Law, Some Churches in Egypt Forced to Close
More than 1,100 Christian churches in Egypt that had been built without approval before have been made legal during the past three years, but at least 22 churches have been shut down because of security reasons.
Iraq Could be Francis’s Shot at ‘Most Important Papal Trip of All Time’
Within just the last few days, two senior Catholic prelates from Iraq have referred to plans for Pope Francis to visit the country next year as, essentially, a done deal.
Iraqi Christianity May Soon Be Persecuted to Its End, Archbishop Warns
The Tablet Staff Archbishop Bashar Matti Warda of Iraq is warning that Christianity in his country is close to disappearing. “One of the oldest Churches, if not the oldest Church in the world, is perilously close to extinction. Those of us who remain must be ready to face martyrdom,” Archbishop Warda, a Chaldean Catholic […]
B’klyn Maronite Bishop Asks Focus on Christian Persecution
Maronite Bishop Gregory J. Mansour called on the bishops of the United States to bring wider attention to the persecution of Christians in the Middle East to their parishes and political leaders.
Lebanese Cardinal: Peace Needs Justice, Repatriation
A permanent solution to the refugee crises in the Middle East requires lasting peace and the repatriation of refugees, not resettlement to third countries, said Cardinal Bechara Rai, patriarch of the Maronite Catholic Church, on a pastoral visit to the U.S.
Patriarch Says World Has Lost Conscience
Lebanon’s Maronite Catholic patriarch, visiting war-torn Syria, condemned “the death of the world’s conscience” in its response to the violence in the Middle East.
Pope Says He Hopes to Travel to Middle East
By Francis X. Rocca VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Francis deplored the “abuses and inhuman acts” of Islamic State militants, and called on all religious leaders to condemn them “unanimously and unambiguously.” He also said he hoped to travel to the Middle East to comfort persecuted Christians there. The pope’s words appeared in a Christmas […]
Voice from Middle East Cries Out in Brooklyn
On the front page of last week’s edition, we reported about the mass religious persecution that is taking place in Iraq, especially in the city of Mosul, where Christians were told they would have to convert to Islam or pay a tax or get out of the country.
Books Offer Middle East Reality Check
by George Weigel The humanitarian and strategic disaster of Syria should focus Catholic minds on the hard fact that there is no easy or quick path to peace in the Middle East, a very dangerous part of the world where Christians of all persuasions are at daily risk of their lives. Two recently published books […]