Patriarch Ignace Joseph III Younan Archives

Syriac Catholic patriarch pleads for peace in northeastern Syria

Catholic News Service, Church in the Middle East
Oct 14, 2019

The patriarch of the Syriac Catholic Church pleaded for “immediate and lasting peace in northeastern Syria and the preservation of innocent lives, especially for Christians, who are the original and founding component of Syria.”

Syriac Catholic bishops optimistic amid dispersion of their faithful

Catholic News Service, Church in the Middle East
Jun 25, 2019

Faced with the migration of Christians from Syria and Iraq, Syriac Catholic bishops meeting in Lebanon for their annual synod called upon church members “scattered everywhere in the East and West” to cling to their faith with hope so they “can be witnesses to the joy of the Gospel wherever they are.”

New Syriac Catholic bishop hopes Christianity will thrive again in Iraq

Catholic News Service, Church in the Middle East
Jun 11, 2019

Syriac Catholic Auxiliary Bishop Nizar Semaan begins his new mission in Iraq with hope “that Christianity will flourish again” in his homeland.

Mideast patriarchs urge hope of Resurrection in Easter messages

Catholic News Service, Church in the Middle East
Apr 23, 2019

Catholic patriarchs from the Middle East invoked hope in their Easter messages to people suffering from terrorism, wars, displacement and economic hardship.

Cardinal Tagle, Syrian prelates visit Ghouta, see ‘unspeakable suffering’

Catholic News Service, Church in the Middle East
Mar 7, 2019

Catholic prelates in Syria, accompanied by Philippine Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, president of Caritas Internationalis, visited the eastern Ghouta region outside of Damascus and saw “unspeakable suffering.”

Amid uncertainty, patriarchs urge Mideast faithful to keep hope

Catholic News Service, Church in Asia/Oceania, Church in the Middle East
Dec 26, 2018

Amid Lebanon’s political and economic strife and uncertainty in the Middle East, Catholic patriarchs urged their faithful to forge ahead in hope at Christmastime.