U.S. Catholics are being encouraged to join a Day of Fasting and Prayer for Peace in Syria, the Middle East and the World Sept. 7 as the U.S. government considers its role in the ongoing struggle in Syria. Pope Francis called the world’s Catholics to the day of fasting and prayer for peace. The statement […]
Syria
Pope Francis Meets the King of Jordan
by Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) – As international leaders increasingly discussed the possibility of some form of armed intervention in Syria, the Vatican announced Pope Francis would interrupt the last week of his summer break in order to meet Aug. 29 with Jordan’s King Abdullah II. Jordan and Syria share a border, and Jordan […]
Syrian Christians Are Endangered Population
by Mary Sayad Syria was known as Antioch. Peter, the apostle, evangelized in Antioch. Christ’s believers and followers were first called Christians in Antioch or Syria. Currently Syria is under attack by rebellious citizens as well as mercenaries sent from countries in the Middle East. Some of the various opposition political groups are Hezbollah, Hamas, […]
Still No Sign of Priest ‘Kidnapped’ in Syria
by Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) – After more than a week with no word from Jesuit Father Paolo Dall’Oglio, an Italian priest who worked for decades in Syria, Italian Foreign Minister Emma Bonino said, “it seems he has been kidnapped by an Islamist group” that is a “local version of al-Qaida,” the terrorist group. […]
Search in Syria for Jesuit Presumed Kidnapped
by Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) – The war in Syria is like a factory churning out nothing but death, destruction and suffering, said Archbishop Mario Zenari, Vatican nuncio to Syria. Even though the Vatican was unable to confirm July 30 news reports that a Jesuit priest had been kidnapped in Syria, the nuncio said […]
Patriarchs Seek Release Of Kidnapped Bishops
by Doreen Abi Raad BEIRUT (CNS) – Lebanon’s Maronite Catholic patriarch and Syria’s Greek Orthodox patriarch called for the release of two Orthodox bishops kidnapped in Syria. “We demand the kidnappers and the countries concerned” to release the two bishops and the two priests kidnapped before them, and all those who have been kidnapped on […]
Journalist Slain in Syria Was Native of the Diocese
OYSTER BAY, (CNS) – The mother of slain journalist Marie Colvin told reporters the day after she was killed Feb. 22 in Homs, Syria, that her daughter was “totally committed to what she did.” She knew “the importance of telling the story and writing it and getting it out to the world no matter what. […]
Christians in Syria Are Trying to Flee Country
A senior bishop in Syria has described how the country is “locked in a murderous stalemate” and has told how his people say farewell to one another after Sunday Mass, uncertain if they will meet again. Archbishop Samir Nassar of Damascus emphasised that the Syrian people were being “subjected to enormous pressures” with economic disaster […]