by Nabil Antaki* A high rate of unemployment, poverty and a mad cost of living are the friars’ lot. The violence linked to the Turkish offensive in the north-east seems to follow a “well-worn script”. Christians take steps to deal with huge needs. The war might be at an end, but peace is still faraway. Aleppo (AsiaNews) – The US pull-out, Turkey’s Continue reading →

Tal Tamr (Syria) (AFP) Since fleeing her hometown in northeastern Syria, Suad Simon prays every day for the safety of her husband, who stayed behind with other fighters to defend their majority-Assyrian village. Assyrian Christians like Simon, who escaped the town’s occupation by the Islamic State group in 2015 and did not choose to emigrate, Continue reading →

Peter W. Galbraith Donald Trump and Recep Tayyip Erdo?an; drawing by Tom Bachtell The full consequences of President Trump’s decision on October 6 to withdraw American troops and give Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdo?an a green light to invade northeast Syria are not yet clear. Erdo?an claimed that he wanted to create a Continue reading →

Kevin Clarke Armenian Catholic Father Hovsep Ibrahim Bedoyan of Qamishli, Syria, is pictured in an undated photo. He and his father were killed by alleged terrorists Nov. 11, 2019, en route Hassakeh to Deir el-Zour to inspect the restoration of the Armenian Catholic Church in the city. (CNS photo/courtesy Middle East Council of Churches) The Continue reading →

OAN Newsroom During a joint press conference between President Trump and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish leader told One America News that Christians may start reclaiming the sanctuaries they have lost in Northern Syria. However, there’s still concerns among some Christians over the hostility the religious group has faced Continue reading →

Syriac Christian minister Hoseb Abraham Bedoian and his father were shot dead by two motorcycle gunmen who ambushed their car on the road from Qamishli to Deir al-Zor, in north-east Syria, on 11 November. Another church leader managed to escape the unidentified assailants, who attacked their un-escorted vehicle around midday. Some Continue reading →

Written by Robert Smith Detroit – All he wants is for his daddy to come back home. That’s what a 10-year-old boy said through tears during an emotional rally of Iraqi Christians and supporters, who gathered Wednesday at the McNamara Federal Building to hear legal strategies underway and protest the recent arrest of 114 local Continue reading →

Written by Robert Smith Netta Hana fled Iraq with her family in 1992 and since then all have become U.S. citizens and professionals, except one brother — who was among dozens of local Chaldeans facing deportation as federal immigration agents ramped up its arrests over the weekend. Hana’s brother, whom she declined to name out of fear, Continue reading →

Smoke is seen as Turkish fighter jets bomb Tel Tamir town in northeastern Syria, November 15, 2019. NRT/Tayif Goran SULAIMANI — The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have reached an agreement with the Syrian government and Russian forces to give Tel Tamir town over to Russian trusteeship, the Syrian Observatory for Human Continue reading →

Written by Robert Smith The Arab-American Civil Rights League and ACLU of Michigan have filed an amended federal lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump’s revised executive order limiting travel from six predominantly Muslim countries. The 104-page complaint for declaratory and injunctive release was filed Thursday in Detroit’s U.S. Continue reading →

Erdogan Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York, September 25, 2018.Reuters Turkish President Tayyip Recep Erdogan has said that churches in Syria will be restored so that Christians “can go back and start praying there again”. He was Continue reading →

By Nina Shea | Fox News Lebanon’s 1 million to 2 million Christians face dire threats as their country hurtles toward economic collapse and political anarchy. Catholics, Orthodox Christians and Protestants are now at risk of disappearing in Lebanon – following the desperate flight of most Iraqi and Syrian Christians this century. Lebanon Continue reading →

Written by Robert Smith After spending 33 years, six months and 21 days in prison, faces another debt some say is too steep: Deportation back to Iraq, a country where he knows no one, doesn’t speak the language and fears being killed by Islamic State militants because he is Christian. Shaou is among hundreds of local Iraqi Christians Continue reading →

Rihan Hanna Ayoub urges the government to solve the crisis before it “gets out of control”. Protesters have “legitimate demands”. Violent police repression continues with more victims in Baghdad. Christians have joined protesters under the same Iraqi flag. Continue reading →

By Carl Anderson Enlarge Image Assyrian Christians, who had fled the unrest in Syria and Iraq, carry placards and wave Assyrian flags during a gathering in front the UN house in Beirut, Lebanon. EPA What happens in the next few weeks in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon is crucial for Mideast Christians — and the stability and pluralism of these Continue reading →

By Jared Szuba A patient arrives at Tel Tamer hospital, Syria, November 14, 2019. Image: © Jared Szuba/The Defense Post TEL TAMER, Syria – During a press conference with Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the White House on Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump said that a supposed ceasefire to halt a Continue reading →

Washington D.C., Nov 15, 2019 / 04:28 pm (CNA).- The U.S. bishops and the Knights of Columbus have professed their solidarity with the people of Iraq and Lebanon, telling the Catholic patriarchs of the region that they are praying and working for peace and security. “The Catholic bishops of the United States and the Knights of Columbus stand Continue reading →

Red sails

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Pauls Shalita Assyrian
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More than 300 souls roamed around the sad Iraq map,
And red sails roaming the streets and roads,
Light up revolutionary barricades, Continue reading →

Father Hovsep Bedoyan, who was killed by Islamic State terrorists, at the altar of the St. Joseph’s church in Qamishli, Syria ANCA Calls on Trump to Raise Killing During Meeting with Erdogan on Wednesday Pope Francis and official Yerevan have condemned the brutal killing of an Armenian Catholic priest and his father on Monday in Continue reading →