Abby Sewell, Author at Crux

Louis Sako, patriarch of Iraq's Chaldean Catholic Church, speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Baghdad, Iraq, April 21, 2025. (Credit: Hadi Mizban/AP.)

Church in the Middle East

Cardinal Sako, head of Chaldean Church in Iraq, retires as war engulfs the region

by Nicole Winfield and Abby Sewell March 11, 2026

People attend the lighting of a Christmas tree at the Greek Orthodox Mar Elias Church, months after the church was the site of a deadly suicide bombing, in the Dweila neighborhood of Damascus, Syria, Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025.(Credit: Omar Sanadiki/AP.)

Church in the Middle East

Syrian church marks Christmas and reaffirms faith months after deadly attack

by Abby Sewell and Associated Press December 25, 2025

A billboard displays an image of Pope Leo XIV, ahead of his upcoming visit to Lebanon, near the grain silos at Beirut's port that were heavily damaged in the massive 2020 explosion as a graffiti in Arabic reading "Victims of the Beirut port explosion" is seen in the foreground, Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Church in the Middle East

Pope Leo XIV’s visit rekindles hope in war- and crisis-battered Lebanon

by Kareem Chehayeb, Abby Sewell and Associated Press November 25, 2025

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