Baghdad suicide bombs throw papal trip into uncertainty
- Jan 22, 2021
Several leaders of Iraq’s Christian community have appealed to U.S. President Donald Trump not to withdraw troops from the nation, saying many of their problems were caused by American military intervention, and leaving now would only make the situation worse.
Appealing to Israel and the United States, Archbishop Michel Sabbah, retired Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, said it was time to move away from war.
Cardinal Nasrallah Butros Sfeir, an outspoken and feisty personality who also played a key role in shaping the country’s post-war politics, died in a Beirut hospital two weeks after he was admitted suffering from a chest infection.
Israel’s second largest annual Christian gathering became a vehicle to pray for peace as tensions between Israel and Palestinians living in Gaza intensified.
Letters from the Central African Republic and Syria, where Christians are suffering persecution, speak of hope.
The poorest of Jordan’s 10 camps for Palestinian refugees would seem to be the unlikeliest place from which to launch an international business, but SEP Jordan is no usual enterprise. Here, 350 Palestinian refugee women — and a few Syrians — practice their traditional craft of embroidery, but with a modern twist.