Syria Archives

Pope: Clergy in Middle East must be the ‘last among the least’
- Catholic News Service, Vatican
- June 23, 2017
Pope Francis called clergy in the Middle East to “learn to be the last among the least,” and lamented the continued plight of Christians suffering due to persecution. “Let us not forget,” the pope said, that “Christians — it doesn’t matter whether they are Catholic, Orthodox or Protestant — shed their blood as a seal of their witness.”
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‘Roughly half’ of Iraqi, Syrian Christians have fled since 2011
- Catholic News Agency, Global Church
- June 17, 2017
The Christian population of Syria has been halved, from about 2 million since 2011, according to a new report by Christian advocacy groups Open Doors, Served, and Middle East Concern. The report found that between 50 and 80 percent of Christians have fled the countries of Iraq and Syria and that about 35 percent more wish to leave.
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More than 40,000 children at risk in Syria’s Raqqa as fighting continues
- Associated Press, Global Church
- June 10, 2017
A major offensive backed by the United States is trying to drive the Islamic State group out of the northern Syrian City of Raqqa. Human rights groups are worried that the civilian population is getting caught in the crossfire.
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House praised for passing bill to help ISIS genocide victims

The United States House of Representatives has passed a bipartisan bill, the “Iraq and Syria Genocide Emergency Relief and Accountability Act of 2017.” The proposed law would provide help and hope to suffering members of religious minorities in Iraq and Syria who have been “left out and left behind.”

House OKs bill to aid genocide victims; Senate urged to act quickly on it

The U.S. House of Representatives passed the bipartisan Iraq and Syria Genocide Emergency Relief and Accountability Act, or H.R. 390, in a voice vote. The bill will provide emergency relief and aid to the victims of genocide in Iraq and Syria, particularly the Christians in the Middle East as well as other religious minorities.

Memo to Pope and Trump: Here’s a breakthrough for you

Although agreement between Pope Francis and President Donald Trump on May 24 may be elusive on many fronts, one concrete step that could result from the meeting, and that both men presumably would approve, is for some share of U.S. overseas aid earmarked for ISIS victims to be administered by churches to ensure that it actually reaches suffering Christians.