Newsfeed
Churches in Middle East hapless as Christians migrate en masse
Author: Ben Joseph
Publication Date: 8/2/2022
Source: UCA news
Pervasive persecution, at times amounting to genocide, has seen millions of Christians in the Middle East killed, kidnapped, uprooted, imprisoned and discriminated against.
It has taken a toll on the survival of the oldest Christian communities in the world, located in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Palestine, where the Abrahamic faith was born.
Iraqi government must support Christians, Chaldean Catholic patriarch says
Publication Date: 2/12/2022
Source: Catholic News Agency
ACI MENA, the Arabic-language new service based in Erbil, Iraq, conducted an exclusive interview Nov. 21 with Chaldean Catholic Patriarch Cardinal Louis Sako at the patriarchal residence in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.
Baghdad: Christians celebrate the ordination of three new priests
Publication Date: 19/12/2022
Source: Asia News
The priesthood "takes within itself" the entire essence of a person, of a Christian, and permeates "his thinking, his feelings and his activity," reflected Patriarch of Baghdad of the Chaldeans, Card. Louis Raphael Sako, during his homily at the ordination mass of three new priests of the Iraqi Church.
UN: Iraq Christians were victims of Islamic State war crimes
Author: Edith M. Lederer
Publication Date: 2/12/2022
Source: Associated Press
Evidence collected in Iraq strengthens preliminary findings that Islamic State extremists committed crimes against humanity and war crimes against the Christian community after it seized about a third of the country in 2014, a U.N. investigative team said in a report circulated Thursday.
From Normandy to Iraq : a new set of bells for the Christian Church of Mosul
Publication Date: 14/12/2022
Source: UNESCO
It was a cornerstone of Mosul’s music and social life, as well as symbol of Mosul diversity and multi-religious landscape for almost two centuries, and a beacon of Christian communities in the Middle East. Al-Saa’a Church (Conventual Church of Our Lady of the Hour) dominated the Mosul Skyline, side by side with other architectural landmarks and minarets. Its destruction has been more than an architectural tragedy, it has affected the people of Mosul, Muslims and Christians alike, to their core.
At Qatar’s Church City, Sunday Comes on Friday
Author: John Branch
Publication Date: 4/12/2022
Source: The New York Times
Behind closed doors on Friday, in small rooms usually used for teaching catechism, the children celebrated Christmas.
There was food, drink and songs. Wreaths and stockings decorated the walls. A few adults wore red Santa hats.
Christian-Shiite dialogue Conference scheduled for March 2023, two years after the Pope's visit
Publication Date: 10/12/2022
Source: Agenzia Fides
In March 2023, two years after the apostolic visit to Iraqi land, Iraq will host a Christian-Shiite dialogue Conference. The initiative will involve high Christian and Shiite representatives and it will take place between Baghdad and the Shiite holy city of Najaf and will be an opportunity of a meeting and exchange of views in the wake of the historic meeting that took place on March 6, 2021 in Najaf between the Bishop of Rome and Ayatollah al-Sistani. On the afternoon of Friday, December 9, a delegation of authoritative Shiite scholars from Najaf (in the photo) were received in Baghdad by Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako, Patriarch of the Chaldean Church.
Young Christians from all over Syria hopeful for the future: “I want to stay in my country!”
Publication Date: 14/11/2022
Source: Aid to the Church in Need
Before the war, Syria had a vibrant and stable Christian community, but 12 years of conflict and economic crisis forced many to flee. Those who remained have faced hardship and rising levels of poverty. In the first initiative of its kind, ACN has helped bring together dozens of young Christians who want to make sure they have a future in their country.
Why ‘Persecuted’ Is Not the Best Way to Describe Christians in the Gulf
Author: Hrayr Jebejian
Publication Date: 7/12/2022
Source: Christianity Today
In November, officials in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) made a surprise announcement. Discovered among the white-hot sand dunes of Siniyah Island were the ruins of a 1,400-year-old Christian monastery, likely predating the rise of Islam.
Iranian Christians receive asylum in the Netherlands after being detained
Publication Date: 7/11/2022
Source: Christian Network Europe
A Christian family from Iran that spent five weeks in detention and was threatened with deportation to their home country has received asylum now anyways.
