Newsfeed
Patriarch Pizzaballa makes solemn entry into the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem
Author: Courtney Mares
Publication Date: 4/12/2020
Source: Catholic News Agency
“I cannot but experience feelings of fear in the face of a mission that exceeds my capacities. But I accept this new obedience, which I wish to fulfill with joy. It is certainly a cross, but a cross that bears fruit of salvation each time it is embraced in joy,” Patriarch Pizzaballa said Dec. 4.
Feeling alienated, Iraqi Christians tempted to emigrate
Publication Date: 23/11/2020
Source: The Arab Weekly
The bells of St. Joseph’s Chaldean Cathedral echo across Baghdad, signalling the start of Mass for the dwindling congregation that has stayed in the scarred Iraqi capital against all odds.
Cardinal says papal visit to Iraq will encourage return of Christians
Author: Claire Lesegretain
Publication Date: 9/12/2020
Source: La Croix International
Cardinal Louis - Raphaël I - Sako has never stopped hoping that this day would come: the announcement of a papal visit to his martyred homeland of Iraq.
Bartholomew I slams the conversion of Hagia Sophia into a mosque, says it offends Orthodox identity, history and culture
Author: Marian Demir
Publication Date: 9/11/2020
Source: Asia News
The conversion of the Basilica of Hagia Sophia and the Monastery of Saint Savior in Chora into mosques "offends our identity, history and culture,” said Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I speaking to the Sputnik agency and reported by some Turkish newspapers on Wednesday.
“A few months ago, Hagia Sophia was converted into a mosque,” he said. “Later, Saint Saviour in Chora, one of the most beautiful monasteries, was transformed into a mosque. Turkey’s “leaders made these decisions hurriedly, as if the city didn’t have enough mosques, as if there was a need for places of worship for the believers of the majority religion of this country.
Pope Francis to make risky trip to Iraq in early March
Author: Philip Pullella
Publication Date: 7/12/2020
Source: Reuters
Pope Francis will make the first visit by a pope to Iraq next March, the Vatican said on Monday, a risky four-day trip that has eluded his predecessors.
Orthodox Christians in Turkey seek reversal of Hagia Sophia conversion
Publication Date: 9/11/2020
Source: Ahval News
A group of Turkish Orthodox Christians took legal action against the reconversion of Istanbul's Hagia Sophia to a mosque, saying that minority rights of Orthodox Greeks in the country were violated, HaberTürk reported on Monday.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan declared Hagia Sophia a mosque on June 10, after the country's top administrative court, the Council of State, annulled the 6th-century historical site’s conversion to a museum in 1934.
UAE National Day 2020: churches praise a tolerant nation
Publication Date: 30/11/2020
Source: The Bharat Express News
The UAE is home to people of 200 nationalities, different ethnic groups and religions. They live together in peace, worship in a tolerant land and enjoy the fruits of their labor.
Pompeo skips Ankara, meets with Christian leader in final Turkey visit
Author: Diego Cupolo
Publication Date: 17/11/2020
Source: Al-Monitor
During a brief stop on a seven-nation tour, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with the spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians in Istanbul Tuesday, drawing criticism for not meeting with state officials before leaving the country.
Pompeo paid a visit to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, the leader of roughly 300 million Orthodox Christians, who he said in a tweet Tuesday was “a key partner” in efforts “to champion religious freedom around the globe.”
Ahead of the visit, Turkey’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement in which it condemned Pompeo’s visit as “irrelevant,” stating Turkish citizens’ religious freedoms were protected by law and instead prompting the US official to “look in the mirror” at incidents of racism, Islamophobia and hate crimes in his own country.
Iraqi Christians ‘living with hope’ as stability slowly returns to Nineveh Plains
Author: Hannah Brockhaus
Publication Date: 23/11/2020
Source: Catholic News Agency
Iraqi Christians are trying to face challenges with strength and hope as they continue to rebuild their lives after the Islamic State invaded in 2014, a Chaldean Catholic priest has said.
Turkey offended by Pompeo’s plan to discuss religious issues
Publication Date: 11/11/2020
Source: AP News
Turkey took offense at a U.S. statement that said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo would promote religious freedom during an upcoming visit to Istanbul and called Wednesday on Washington to focus on racism and hate crimes in the United States instead.
The State Department said in a statement Tuesday that Pompeo would travel to Istanbul to meet with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, the spiritual leader of the world’s Greek Orthodox Christians. The top U.S. diplomat plans to discuss religious issues in Turkey and to promote “our strong stance on religious freedom around the world,” the statement read.
