Newsfeed
Card Sako: 'I asked the Pope: ‘Are you happy? A lot!' he said
Author: Louis Raphael Sako*
Publication Date: 8/3/2021
Source: Asia News
Before leaving I asked Pope [Francis]: ‘Are you happy?’. And he said, ‘A lot’,” reads the message of the Chaldean primate, Card Louis Raphael Sako, posted on the website of the Chaldean patriarchate. These remarks exemplify the enthusiasm and success of the apostolic journey to Iraq, which ended this morning with the pontiff's return from Baghdad to Rome.
Pope’s visit to Iraq, ‘a symbol of hope'
Publication Date: 5/3/2021
Source: UN News
The Pope’s arrival in the Christian northern heartland, will come as a “message of peace and unity supported on a pillar of diversity”, UNESCO said. “This message is at the core of our mandate, where inclusion and diversity are critical to understanding, mutual respect, and ultimately a more peaceful and just world”, it added.
Pope Francis listens to Quran recitation in Abraham’s birthplace
Publication Date: 6/3/2021
Source: Daily Sabah
Pope Francis listened to a Quran recitation in the ancient Sumerian city of Ur, believed to be the hometown of Prophet Abraham in southern Iraq in a historic meeting on Saturday.
Pope urges Iraq to embrace its Christians on historic visit
Author: Nicole Winfield and Samya Kullab
Publication Date: 5/3/2021
Source: Associated Press
Pope Francis opened the first-ever papal visit to Iraq on Friday with a plea for the country to protect its centuries-old diversity, urging Muslims to embrace their Christian neighbors as a precious resource and asking the embattled Christian community -- “though small like a mustard seed” -- to persevere.
Pope Francis visits regions of Iraq once held by Islamic State
Publication Date: 8/3/2021
Source: BBC
The Pope Francis visited parts of northern Iraq once held by Islamic State (IS) militants on the third day of his historic trip to the country.
Christians were among those targeted by IS when they seized the region in 2014, carrying out human rights abuses.
How Cairo’s Heliopolis heritage managed to remain uncovered
Publication Date: 15/2/2021
Source: Al-Monitor
Residents of Cairo’s affluent district of Heliopolis have recently succeeded in stopping at the last minute the construction of a bridge in the heart of the neighborhood that in the eyes of its residents would have threatened its main heritage area. The project was part of the Egyptian authorities' ongoing plans to develop the capital's infrastructure with the aim of solving its increasing traffic problems and improving the connection with surrounding cities.
The new bridge in Heliopolis would have stretched 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) across the neighborhood’s largest and oldest heritage sites, according to the Heliopolis Heritage Initiative, a civil initiative aiming to protect and revive the district’s quality of life that led efforts in stopping the construction of the bridge. The bridge would have run across the most important square in Heliopolis, where its famous 108-year Basilica is located, several buildings of historical importance and Ittihadiya Palace.
Pope Francis meets Iraq’s Shia leader al-Sistani
Publication Date: 6/3/2021
Source: Al Jazeera
Pope Francis has met with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, one of the most senior leaders in Shia Islam, in Iraq’s holy city of Najaf to deliver a message of peaceful coexistence, urging Muslims to embrace Iraq’s long-beleaguered Christian minority.
The historic meeting on Saturday in al-Sistani’s humble home was months in the making, with every detail painstakingly discussed and negotiated between the ayatollah’s office and the Vatican.
Egypt's plan to remove Quran from school textbooks faces backlash
Publication Date: 27/2/2021
Source: Al-Monitor
Egypt’s parliamentary Defense and National Security Committee, chaired by Maj. Gen. Kamal Amer, discussed during a Feb. 14 meeting a plan by the ministries of culture, religious endowments and education to remove Quranic verses and hadiths (the prophet's sayings) from textbooks, and limit their inclusion to books for religion courses.
The meeting was held upon the request of the committee’s member Farid el-Bayadi, who put forward the plan aimed to counter extremism, and in the presence of Deputy Minister of Education Reda Hegazy.
Pope to visit Iraqi cities of Erbil, Mosul and Qaraqosh on Day 3 of Apostolic Visit
Author: Fr. Benedict Mayaki
Publication Date: 7/3/2021
Source: Vatican News
On Sunday, at the start of the third day of his Apostolic Journey to Iraq, Pope Francis flew from Baghdad to Erbil where, upon his arrival, he was welcomed by the President, the Prime Minister of the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan, as well as civil and religious authorities.
The Pope then met with the President of the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan, Nechirvan Barzani, and the Prime Minister, Masrour Barzani at the Presidential VIP Lounge of the airport.
Missionary forced to leave Turkey appeals to ECHR: 'God called us there'
Author: Leah Marie Ann Klett
Publication Date: 10/2/2021
Source: The Christian Post
David Byle, a Canadian-American Christian who was forced to leave Turkey after 19 years because of his evangelistic work, has filed a deportation complaint with the European Court of Human Rights.
Alliance Defending Freedom International announced it filed an application on Byle’s behalf with Europe’s top human rights court.
“Everyone has the right to choose their religion and to express it publicly and privately. Being forced to suddenly leave the country you have called home for two decades simply because of what you believe is the stuff of nightmares,” said Robert Clarke, deputy director of ADF International.
