Syriac Christians

Iraqi priest says Pope’s visit an act of ‘bravery’ and ‘madness’
- Feb 24, 2021
Father Naim Shoshandy has plenty of reasons to be angry: On March 23, 2014, the terrorist organization known as Islamic State murdered his 27-year-old brother, for no other reason other than the fact that he was a Christian. Today, he welcomes Pope Francis’s “bravery” in deciding to visit the “martyred nation” of Iraq.

By Inés San Martín
For Iraqi Christian youth, papal visit brings Church closer to home
- Feb 20, 2021
A priest from Qaraqosh helping to prepare the city’s youth for Pope Francis’s visit next month has said the fact that a pope is coming has shown young people that the Church, which can often seem far away, is close to them.

By Elise Ann Allen
Catholics in Qaraqosh, Iraq, call it ‘miracle’ that pope will visit
- Feb 12, 2021
The largest Syriac Catholic congregation in the world is preparing physically and spiritually for Pope Francis’ upcoming visit to Qaraqosh, Iraq.

By Doreen Abi Raad

Middle East Catholic patriarchs urge Christmas hope amid despair
- Dec 28, 2020
Amid suffering and despair, further darkened by the coronavirus pandemic, Catholic patriarchs of the Middle East urged their faithful at Christmastime to hold on to hope.

By Doreen Abi Raad

Pre-Christmas celebration gives hope to Iraqi refugees still in Lebanon
- Dec 15, 2020
More than 100,000 Christians driven out from Iraq’s Ninevah Plain by the Islamic State in the summer of 2014 are living as refugees in Lebanon.

By Doreen Abi Raad
Syriac patriarch: ‘Our martyrs are the torches of faith’
- Nov 2, 2020
Commemorating the 10th anniversary of the massacre by Islamic militants at Our Lady of Deliverance Church in Baghdad, Syriac Catholic Patriarch Ignace Joseph III Younan reminded the faithful that “our martyrs are the torches of faith that illuminate our paths of life and ignite in us the fire of love toward everyone.”

By Doreen Abi Raad
Christians, others warn Turkey is ‘weaponizing water’ in northeast Syria
- Aug 30, 2020
Parts of Syria’s north where Kurds, Christians and Yazidis have practiced religious freedom in recent years are reportedly again under attack by mainly Turkish military and their allied Syrian Islamist fighters.

By Dale Gavlak
Middle East patriarchs speak of faith, hope, during Easter homilies
- Apr 14, 2020
Catholic patriarchs of the Middle East, in Easter messages from churches barren of the faithful due to the coronavirus, lamented the scourge of the pandemic while evoking the hope of the Resurrection.

By Catholic News Service