Newsfeed
Family of murdered Coptic man forced to leave North Sinai, faced online threats
Author: Basma Mostafa
Publication Date: 26/5/2021
Source: Mada Masr
Shoes and a phone were what Peter Habashy found on the street in front of his father Nabil’s house in Bir al-Abd, North Sinai, after the neighbors called him and told him they’d heard gunshots last November. Nabil Habashy had been kidnapped earlier that evening.
The Coptic family later received a phone call from the kidnappers, according to Marina Habashy, Nabil’s daughter. They asked for a ransom payment of LE3 million, which they called a jizya (a tax Muslim emprires historically levied on non-Muslim residents). They said if they didn’t have the money within 48 hours, they would behead Nabil, Marina told Mada Masr.
The Holy Family Nursery brings joy, hope to Christian community in Iraq
Author: Maria Lozano
Publication Date: 1/7/2021
Source: Church in Need
The little Chrildren of the Holy Family Nursery in the Christian town of Baghdeda (Qaraqosh), some 15 miles from Mosul in northern Iraq, smile broadly as they talk about what they want to be when they grow up. Abanoub and Andrian want to be engineers, little Mekel dreams of being a doctor and Rozalina would like to become a nun. They all attend the Holy Family Nursery next to the convent of the Ephrem Sisters, named after a Mesopotamian saint of the third and fourth centuries who is particularly important for Eastern Christianity.
UN experts condemn Egypt's execution of Coptic Christian monk
Publication Date: 31/5/2021
Source: Middle East Monitor
United Nations human rights experts have condemned Egypt's execution of Wael Mikhil (Father Isaiah), a Coptic Christian monk, on 9 May, 2021. Mikhil was convicted of murder based on an alleged forced confession.
In a press release published by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the experts confirmed that Mikhil was reportedly arbitrarily detained, tried, convicted and sentenced to death on 22 April, 2019, for allegedly killing an abbot at a monastery.
Experts say Iraqi government struggling to secure Christian future
Author: John Lavenburg
Publication Date: 37/6/2021
Source: Crux
In March, Pope Francis made history by becoming the first Roman pontiff to visit Iraq. His visit was a sign of solidarity with one of the Middle East’s oldest Christian communities, a small minority in the Muslim-majority country.
Some even credit the mere scheduling of the trip as an agent for change in Iraq. After the trip was announced, the Iraqi Parliamentary Assembly voted unanimously to declare Christmas an annual national holiday, and Salih ratified a law benefitting Yazidi survivors of the 2014-2017 ISIS genocide.
Turkey's illegal renditions of Syrian nationals back in spotlight
Author: Amberin Zaman
Publication Date: 1/7/2021
Source: Al Monitor
The rendition of Syrian nationals to Turkey, where they are prosecuted and jailed on thinly evidenced terror charges, has returned to the spotlight with the life sentencing by a Turkish court of three men of the Syriac Orthodox Christian faith to life in prison. Lawyers say the June 22 verdict violates Turkish and international humanitarian law and reflects the unlawful actions of Turkish forces and their Sunni rebel proxies in the large swaths of territory that Turkey occupies in northern Syria.
Iran's Christian Boom
Author: Daniel Pipes
Publication Date: 24/6/2021
Source: Newsweek
Something religiously astonishing is taking place in Iran, where an Islamist government has ruled since 1979: Christianity is flourishing. The implications are potentially profound.
The future of Christianity in Lebanon and the wider region
Publication Date: 8/7/2021
Source: FACE Charity
The Catholic foundation Fellowship and Aid to the Christians of the East (FACE) is hosting a webinar with His Beatitude Cardinal Béchara Boutros Raï, O.M.M. Patriarch of Antioch, and head of the Maronite Church Archbishop Paul Nabil El-Sayah Curial Bishop Emeritus of Antioch His Eminence Cardinal Michael Fitzgerald, M.Afr. Patron of FACE on the future of Christianity in Lebanon and the wider region. On Thursday 8 July 2021 at 18:00 (BST) via Zoom
What will a Raisi presidency mean for Iran’s Christians?
Publication Date: 22/6/2021
Source: Article 18
As the dust settles on Ebrahim Raisi’s unsurprising election victory, amid record low voter turnout, Article18 assesses what the result means for Iran’s Christians.
In his first press conference yesterday as Iran’s new president-elect, current head of the judiciary Ebrahim Raisi said that in all his endeavours to date, he had always sought to “defend human rights”.
Pope Francis discusses protection of Christians with Iraqi prime minister
Author: Hannah Brockhaus
Publication Date: 2/6/2021
Source: Catholic News Agency
Pope Francis and Iraq’s Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi discussed the importance of protecting the Christian presence in the Middle East during a meeting at the Vatican on Friday.
According to a Vatican press release, the roughly 30-minute private meeting included conversation about Pope Francis’ visit to Iraq in March “and the moments of unity experienced by the Iraqi people.”
Fr. Ibrahim on the drama of Aleppo's Christians
Publication Date: 24/6/2021
Source: Asia News
The priest tells of the difficulties of a city facing many emergencies: food, education and health for Covid. Prices are constantly rising, sanctions are inhumane and the population is starving. The goal of opening a hot canteen for the poorest. To young people: in a critical phase, getting married is "a heroic act of faith".
