Newsfeed
Brisbane plays a role as churches help Iraqi Christians displaced by Islamic State
Publication Date: 24/11/2021
Source: The Cathilic Leader
Walking through the mainly Christian town outside of Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, it’s easy to see many changes since the victims of Islamic State militants fled here for safety seven years ago.
Gone are the tents and caravans that dotted church yards and open fields to house those escaping forced conversion to Islam or death at the hands of the Islamic State militants in 2014.
Syrian government loosens travel restrictions on Christian clergy
Author: Mohammed Hardan
Publication Date: 23/12/2021
Source: Al Monitor
The Syrian Cabinet issued Nov. 30 a decision exempting some categories — including Christian clergy, such as patriarchs, bishops and their drivers, priests, deacons, monks and nuns — from paying $100 in exchange for Syrian currency when entering the country provided that they carry a paper slip proving that they are on a church mission between Syria and Lebanon.
Documentary chronicles historic religious fraternity in United Arab Emirates
Author: Christopher White
Publication Date: 19/11/2021
Source: National Catholic Reporter
Pope Francis' landmark 2019 document on "Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together" is widely considered a major advancement in the Catholic Church's relationship with the Muslim world. The document, which was signed in Abu Dhabi when Francis became the first pope to visit the Arabian Peninsula, calls for a "culture of mutual respect" — and has been heralded by Islamic, Jewish and Christian leaders around the globe.
Chaldean priest: Christians in Syria are in desperate need of help
The Jazira Region is in northern Syria, east of the Euphrates, on the border with Turkey and Iraq, and is largely controlled by the Kurdish forces. Almost all Christians, mostly Assyrians, have left their villages. There are many churches in these 38 villages, but due to migration, only two are still active. Out of 21,000 Syriac Orthodox present in the area before the war, only 800 remain today.
Rebuilding the country, growing in faith: the message of young Iraqi Christians
Author: Dario Salvi
Publication Date: 23/11/2021
Source: Asia News
To be part of the reconstruction of a nation battered by war, violence and the Covid-19 pandemic, to strengthen belonging to the Chaldean Church and to live one's mission in the service of others with a "spirit of charity". This is the message that some young people, present at the meeting promoted by the Chaldean Church from November 18 to 20 in Baghdad, wanted to entrust to AsiaNews. Three days of discussion and prayer that allowed 450 boys and girls to "get closer" to the faith and to reflect on the future of the Christian community and of the Iraqi nation itself. As the Patriarch, Card. Louis Raphael Sako, underlined in his introductory speech, they are "our pride" and have an essential role thanks to their "creative impulse" to build a Church that is increasingly "alive and strong".
Young Christians and farmers united in the "Community market of agricultural producers", against the specter of the food crisis
Author: GV
Publication Date: 21/12/2021
Source: Agenzia Fides
Christians in Lebanon are preparing to celebrate Christmas in a country ravaged by chronic political instability and, above all, by a devastating economic crisis that affects the daily lives of millions of Lebanese, pushing the majority of the population below the poverty line and making medicines, fuel and even basic foods unavailable.
Iraq churches rebuilt after jihadist destruction
Publication Date: 19/11/2021
Source: France24
Cymbals, prayers and Chaldean Catholic liturgy resounded on Friday in Mosul's Saint George monastery, where Iraqi faithful marked the restoration of two churches destroyed by jihadists in their former stronghold.
Israel responds to the Heads of Churches: your accusations are baseless and risk fueling violence
Author: GV
Publication Date: 22/12/2021
Source: Agenzia Fides
The accusations made by Patriarchs and Heads of the Churches of the Holy Land regarding factors that threaten the presence of Christians in the land of Jesus "are baseless and distort the reality of the Christian community in Israel".
Abu Dhabi introduces personal status law for non-Muslim foreigners, shakes up domestic and international family law
Author: Lena-Maria Möller
Publication Date: 11/11/2021
Source: Conflict of Laws
On 7 November 2021, Abu Dhabi, the largest of seven emirates that form the United Arab Emirates, announced the passing of a new personal status law for non-Muslim foreigners. The law carries forward a series of recent legal reforms that aim at providing greater legal certainty for the country’s large expatriate population. The law’s novelty lies in the fact that it combines aspects of substantive and international family law. It is significant also because it introduces civil marriage – albeit only for non-Muslim foreigners – into the country’s domestic family law regime. While generally welcomed as possibly easing judicial procedure and court proceedings, the new legislation also raises several questions, especially as regards the law’s application alongside the Emirati conflict-of-laws rules.
Lebanon’s top Christian party signals possible end of Hezbollah alliance
Publication Date: 21/12/2021
Source: Al Arabiya News
Lebanon’s top Christian party has indicated it is considering ending a political alliance with Iran-backed Hezbollah, threatening a fragile union that has shaped Lebanese politics for nearly 16 years.
