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There appears to be no end in sight for the suffering of Christians in North Syria, as Turkey and its allies in the region continue military escalation and bombardment, pushing remaining Christians to flee and preventing others from returning to their homes and properties.
Ten years after Syria’s bloody civil war began, most of the fighting is now over. Yet the country is now facing a massive economic, social, and humanitarian crisis in which rampant poverty is the next major battle it faces.
A badly damaged Catholic Cathedral has resurrected after at least three missile attacks amid the Syrian civil war. The Maronite Cathedral of St. Elijah in Aleppo reopened July 20 following years of restoration when the church was bombed by jihadists in 2013.
In a new interview, Syrian President Bashar al Assad responded publicly to a letter he received from Pope Francis over the summer voicing concern about civilian casualties in the country’s ongoing civil war.
Myrna Nazzour, a Catholic from Syria, said she has seen an image of the Virgin Mary in her home ooze olive oil and has experienced the wounds of the crucified Christ on her hands, face and sides.
We tend to think that in any situation there should be a clear way to decide what we should do. And we want to believe that the right decision will always bring good consequences. But sometimes reality is more complicated than that as the situation in Syria shows.
The patriarch of the Syriac Catholic Church pleaded for “immediate and lasting peace in northeastern Syria and the preservation of innocent lives, especially for Christians, who are the original and founding component of Syria.”
When Hevrin Khalaf, a young Syrian politician and advocate on behalf of women and religious and ethnic minorities in Kurdistan, was murdered by a Turkish-backed fringe group on Saturday amid Turkey’s new offensive in Syria, her death sparked outcry from around the world.
Pope Francis on Oct. 13 appealed for the international community to work for peace in Syria, noting that Christian families are in the areas currently under attack by Turkish forces.
Pope Francis is giving 6,000 rosaries that he blessed personally to Catholic communities in Syria as a symbol of his closeness to them on the Feast of the Assumption, he announced during his Angelus message on August 15.
