Newsfeed
Archbishop Hinder: Amid economic crisis and Covid-19, priority given to safeguarding Christians of Arabia
Publication Date: 4/6/2020
Source: AsiaNews.it
In a critical context due to the economic crisis and the new coronavirus pandemic, it is "important to preserve the links between Christian communities,” notes Msgr. Paul Hinder, apostolic vicar of southern Arabia (United Arab Emirates, Oman and Yemen), recently appointed apostolic administrator vacant seat of northern Arabia (Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bahrain).
The assignment was entrusted to him due to him following the death after a long illness of Msgr. Camillo Ballin, in mid-April at the age of 76.
Iraqi priest: Infections aside, COVID-19 is sinking the economy, helping the Islamic State
Publication Date: 29/5/2020
Source: AsiaNews.it
The virus of hunger “could be worse" than COVID-19 and there is a strong risk that the economic crisis triggered by the novel coronavirus "could fuel a crime wave and give new impetus to terrorist groups,” said Fr Samir Youssef, parish priest in Enishke, Diocese of Amadiya, Iraqi Kurdistan, speaking to AsiaNews.
Bishop Warduni: Baghdad Christian refugee centre closed because of COVID-19
Publication Date: 16/6/2020
Source: AsiaNews.it
The coronavirus outbreak is “getting worse in the capital,” and other parts of the country. "The situation is becoming more and more precarious, day after day,” this according to Mgr Shlemon Audish Warduni, Auxiliary Bishop of Baghdad.
Speaking to AsiaNews, the prelate noted that Christians too are becoming victims of the COVID-19 pandemic, more every day. What is more, the largest Christian centre for displaced people in the capital, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, was shut down by the Human Rights Commission.
In Lebanon, a growing rift between Hezbollah and their long-time Christian ally
Author: Mona Alami
Publication Date: 27/5/2020
Source: Al Arabiya
In Lebanon, Iran-backed Hezbollah and their Christian allies have heavily swayed internal politics for years, but now, there appears to be a growing rift within the Christian bloc, threatening the cohesion of in the once-solid alliance.
For years, the pairing allowed Hezbollah to dominate the Lebanese political system and influence major decisions related to the country’s foreign and defense policies.
Christians, Muslims hope Mosul project helps rebuild trust
Author: Dale Gavlak
Publication Date: 3/6/2020
Source: Crux Now
Christians and Muslims hope a project to reconstruct Mosul’s iconic places of worship, badly damaged by Islamic State militants during their 2014-2017 occupation of the city, will also help to rebuild trust between Iraq’s fractured religious communities.
“Walking in the streets of Mosul, I saw a young neighbor, probably born after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, who never knew peace time in the city,” French Dominican Father Olivier Poquillon told Catholic News Service from the northern Iraqi city of Irbil.
Bishop Aoun: The economic crisis has made the Lebanese 'desperate'; the Church is providing food and medicine
Publication Date: 21/5/2020
Source: AsiaNews.it
People are "desperate" because the government has "made so many promises" but can show no "concrete results,” said Bishop Michel Aoun of Jbeil-Byblos of the Maronites.
Speaking to AsiaNews, the prelate noted that one of the reasons for the existing inertia is the “high level of corruption” in government institutions; in fact, some of the people responsible for it are “still in power”. The net result is that Lebanon’s situation remains serious with an economy on its knees, made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lebanon: Shia Mufti calls for scrapping the Taif Agreement
Publication Date: 27/5/2020
Source: Middle East Monitor
A senior Shia religious figure has called for scrapping Lebanon’s decades-old power sharing system, part of the Taif Agreement, in a speech during Eid Al-Fitr, which marks the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan.
The speech, by Grand Jaafarite Shiite Mufti Sheikh Ahmad Qabalan, has ignited divisions among Lebanese over what is the best form of governance to prevent the country sliding into sectarian conflict.
Maronite Church to launch food and social assistance plan
Author: Fady Noun
Publication Date: 7/5/2020
Source: AsiaNews.it
Patriarch Bechara al-Rahi yesterday announced that the Maronite Church, alarmed by rising poverty in the Lebanese population, will undertake an ambitious country-wide plan to provide food and social assistance to families without income as a result of the current economic crisis.
The plan will be based on a survey conducted by parishes, bishoprics and monasteries as well as Caritas-Liban, the Church’s official charity, coordinated by the Maronite Center for Documentation and Research under Patriarchal Vicar Samir Mazloum.
Lebanon’s ‘Pillar’ of Catholic Education at Risk of Collapsing
Author: Doreen Abi Raad
Publication Date: 29/5/2020
Source: National Catholic Register
Catholic education — long one of the pillars of Lebanese society — is in danger of collapsing due to the country’s dire economic crisis.
A public letter to the president of Lebanon, signed by the General Secretariat of Catholic Schools in Lebanon sounded the alarm, warning that 80% of the country’s Catholic schools are at risk of closing for the coming school year “because of the economic situation and the neglect of the state in the performance of its duties.”
Christians and Muslims in Jerusalem describe life under Israeli occupation
Publication Date: 3/3/2018
Source: TRT
After the Church of the Holy Sepulchre closed its doors in protest of Israel's new tax law, we spoke with Christians in the Old City of Jerusalem and learned the realities of living in a Jewish state.
