Monthly Archives: May 2015

A damaged Syrian church. File photo Hasakah, Syria – Radicals of the Islamic State’s (IS/ISIL) withdrew from several Assyrian villages in Tel Temir countryside in northeastern Syria, after battles with Kurdish and Assyrian forces. The group has reportedly destroyed most of the churches in the area before withdrawal,…

John Newton Archbishop Bashar Warda The bishop overseeing the needs of displaced Christian families in northern Iraq called on an ecumenical delegation to ensure Britain does not forget the plight of Iraq’s suffering Christians. Chaldean Archbishop Bashar Warda of Erbil made the plea to UK Christian leaders from the Catholic, Oriental Orthodox and Anglican communities…

The very first Assyrian Protestant Church in the southeastern province of Mardin is undergoing restoration and will be re-opened for prayer this year. Priest Ender Peker told that he was assigned to the Assyrian Protestant Church in Mardin from the Protestant Church of Diyarbak?r two years ago. He said that…

UNESCO World Heritage Site Palmyra will likely join the list of humanity’s collective heritage that has been destroyed by the Islamic State. What has the world lost already? Why are the militants doing it? An IS fighter attacks a face on a wall in the 2000-year-old UNESCO World Heritage site of Hatra in Iraq. AP,…

Banner Icon THE NEW IRAQ Bullets whistled overhead, a black Islamic State flag flapping in the distance, but all Friar Najeeb Michaeel could think of as he fled the jihadists was how to save hundreds of ancient Iraqi manuscripts in his possession. “You are going to get us killed with your archives,” Michaeel’s assistant Watheq…

By John Newton and Marta Petrosillo ANOTHER priest has been kidnapped in Syria – with local Christians fearing Islamic extremists have seized him. Father Jacques Mourad was travelling in Qaryatayn with a co-worker yesterday (Thursday 21st May) when two motorcycles drew up alongside their car.…

by Abigail Frymann Rouch Iraqi Catholics who have fled to Britain are looking for a spiritual home where they can save their language and customs from dying out, the head of their mission said. Fr Nadheer Dako, who ministers to the 4,000 Chaldeans across Britain who have escaped increasing hostility in Iraq, said that when…

Returning from Europe decades after fleeing war, ancient community asserts new multicultural identity in Aramaic, German by Dalia Mortada @dalia_mortada The town of Kafro (Elbe?end? in Turkish), now populated by about a third of the families that lived there before the fighting between the Turkish military and the Kurdistan…

carey-lodge Carey Lodge Christian Today Journalist Reuters A church in the Assyrian village of Abu Tina, one of those captured by Islamic State fighters. The Assyrian Christian villages raided and inhabited by Islamic State militants in February have now been retaken by Kurdish forces, local clergy have confirmed.…

Kurdish and Syriac forces regain Assyrian villages from jihadists A Kurdish YPG fighter at the top of a destroyed tank, which was hit during clashes with ISIS militants in Hasakah countryside. Photo: ARA News Sere Kaniye, Syria – Subsequent to fierce battles with the Islamic State group (IS/ISIL), the Kurdish forces of the People’s Protection…

By Dale Gavlak Catholic News Service A general view of ancient graves is pictured in Palmyra, Syria, May 19. (CNS photo/Reuters) Syria-Lebanon map 2AMMAN, Jordan (CNS) — Church bells are ringing once again in the Assyrian Christian villages dotting the Khabur River in northeastern Syria after…

By Leah Marieann Klett (news@gospelherald.com) Syrian Refugees A Syrian refugee comforts her child. (Photo : UNHCR) Assyrian Christian children captured by ISIS were forced to witness numerous beheadings carried out by the extremist group, a disturbing new report has revealed.…

By Natasha Dado Salwan Georges DEARBORN—Salwan Georges missed six years of school while growing up as a refugee in Syria. Georges, 25, was born in Baghdad during the Gulf War. His family resettled in Syria to escape the political turmoil in Iraq, but Georges was not able to attend school because of his refugee status.…

Czarina Ong Reuters Franklin Graham discusses why America should care for Iraq and Iran. Evangelist Franklin Graham is asking: Why should America care about Iraq and Iran? Both countries desperately need the prayers of Christians from all over the world, because its people are facing threats to their lives, and the ripple effects of their…

THE bishop overseeing the needs of displaced Christian families in northern Iraq called on an ecumenical delegation to ensure Britain does not forget the plight of Iraq’s suffering Christians. Chaldean Archbishop Bashar Warda of Erbil made the plea to UK Christian leaders from the Catholic, Oriental Orthodox and Anglican communities visiting northern Iraq…

BEIRUT – There are fears that the historic Syrian city of Palmyra could go the way of similar locations in Iraq, following news that Islamic State of Syria and Iraq (ISIS) militants had captured it from pro-government forces on Wednesday. The Unesco World Heritage Site, home to some of the world’s most breathtaking…

By Stoyan Zaimov , Christian Post Reporter Assyrians hold banners as they march in solidarity with the Assyrians abducted by Islamic State fighters in Syria earlier this week, in Beirut, Lebanon, February 28, 2015. Militants in northeast Syria are now estimated to have abducted at least 220 Assyrian Christians this week, a group monitoring the…

Florian Neuhof An Iraqi fighter from the mostly Shiite Popular Mobilisation Units monitors from his position in the area surrounding the village of Nukhayb in the embattled province of Anbar on May 19, 2015. Mohammed Sawaf/AFP Photo ERBIL // Residents of Ramadi are bracing for the next round of bloodletting as pro-…

Iraqi reinforcements heading to Ramadi(0:50) The Iraqi government dispatched military reinforcements towards Ramadi, aiming to retake control of the strategic city recently captured by the Islamic State. (AP) By Hugh Naylor May 19 at 7:04 PM…

By Isaiah Narciso (news@gospelherald.com) Assyrian Christians Children of a Christian family, who fled from the violence in Mosul two days ago, stay at a school in Arbil, in Iraq’s Kurdistan region June 27, 2014. (PHOTO: REUTERS/AHMED JADALLAH) The U.S. State Department may have sent a signal to an Anglican bishop in Iraq that…