Monthly Archives: June 2015

BY PRESIDENT DR. RAMSAY F. DASS, MD MAY 22, 2015 TO MAY 31, 2015 From May 22-31, 2015, Dr. Ramsay F. Dass, MD, President of the American Middle East Christians Congress, traveled to the Holy Land on a fact-finding mission, pilgrimage, and analysis of the political, social, and religious welfare of the Middle East Christians…

Siranush Ghazanchyan Pope Francis and the patriarch of the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch expressed their desire to work toward full communion of the two churches, according to the National Catholic Reporter. The Pope met with Patriarch Ignatius Aphrem II at the Vatican Friday. This was…

Patriarch Ignatius Aphrem II Pope Francis received the Syriac-Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch, His Beatitude Patriarch Ignatius Aphrem II on Friday, continuing a tradition started by Patriarch Ignatius Jacob III and Blessed Paul VI in 1971. Pope Francis said that historic first meeting was the beginning of a “holy pilgrimage” towards full communion between the two…

Andre Mitchell Reuters Pope Francis (R) talks with Ignatius Aphrem II, Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch, during a meeting at the Vatican, on June 19, 2015. Will Christians all over the world be celebrating Easter at the same time soon? Pope Francis recently expressed openness to setting a common date for the Feast of the…

The Daily Star BEIRUT: The international community should take action to help Iraq’s Christians stay in their country, Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai said Friday during a one-day visit to Irbil. “Christians should remain in Iraq because their history is rooted in Iraq, where they…

Chaldean protesters Members of San Diego’s Chaldean community gather outside the Otay Detention Facility to draw attention to the plight of 20 asylum seekers who fled Iraq out of fear of persecution by the radical group Islamic State. (John Gastaldo) By GREG MORAN U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement…

By CNA Pope Francis. Photo Casa Rosada, Wikipedia Commons. Speaking to a global gathering of priests, Pope Francis signaled an openness to changing the date of Easter in the West so that all Christians around the world could celebrate the feast on the same day.…

Bishop Urges Christians to ‘Go Together’ and ‘Attack the Gates of Hell’ to Keep Evil From Prevailing By Samuel Smith , CP Reporter Bishop Jammo Chaldean Catholic Bishop Mar Sarhad Yawsip Jammo speaks at Skyline Wesleyan…

Issues: Foreign Affairs WASHINGTON — U.S. Representatives Jeff Denham (R-Calif.), Jeff Fortenberry (R-Neb.) and Anna G. Eshoo (D-Calif.) issued the following statement after meeting with the White House National Security team to urge assistance to persecuted Christians and other religious minorities in the Middle East. The lawmakers suggested a…

Iraqi Christians who fled violence in Mosul have taken refuge in Erbil, Kurdistan – AFP (Vatican Radio) Calling Catholic Eastern rite Churches the “martyrs of our times,” Cardinal Sandri, Prefect of the Congregation for Eastern Churches, has asked for prayers for peace and justice across the Middle East – particularly in Syria, Iraq and the…

by Catholic News Service Displaced Iraqi children stand in a classroom of a school used as a shelter in the city of Ramadi (CNS) Archbishop Yohanna Moshe of Mosul said if western nations can’t help protect Iraqi refugees, they should ‘open their doors’ to them…

By George MarlinJune Photo: Reuters Here we go again. ISIS’s butchers this week kidnapped 88 Eritrean Christians in Libya. Pray for them. Last month, the jihadists captured Ethiopian Christians and executed them. In February, it beheaded 21 Egyptian Copts.…

Refugees who have fled from ISIS and arrived in Ankawa, in the northern part of Erbil, Iraq. Credit: www.ankawa.com. By John Pontifex New York City, N.Y., Jun 13, 2015 / 07:43 am (Aid to the Church in Need).- A leading Iraqi prelate has called on world governments to increase their efforts to defeat ISIS and…

BY VINCENT FUNARO , CHRISTIAN POST REPORTER (PHOTO: REUTERS/AHMED SAAD) Iraqi Christians attend mass at Mar George Chaldean Church in Baghdad, March 1, 2015. Iraqi Christians say they have no intention of leaving the country despite the recent abduction of over 100 Assyrian Christians by the Islamic State.…

By Leah Marieann Klett (news@gospelherald.com) Members of the Syrian National Defense Forces (NDF) stand behind a statue of Virgin Mary perched on the cliffs overlooking the ancient Christian town of Maalula on June 13, 2015 after the statue was restored to its original place. AFP Photo/ Louai Beshara…

Posted by ACN News By Marta Petrosillo (Chaldean Archbishop of Erbil (northern Iraq), Bashar Matti Warda © Aid to the Church in Need) “The Islamic State is a cancer and we must prevent it from spreading” – Archbishop Warda of Erbil “The support of Aid to the Church in Need was immediate and decisive. Without…

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM) Catholic Online (www.catholic.org) Syriac Catholic Archbishop Yohanna Moshe of Mosul, Iraq asks for help in protecting religious minorities There is a continuing frustration among Middle Eastern clergy about what they believe…

Ankawa.com – Dohuk – Nasim Sadiq Translated by Rashwan Issam Al-Daqaq The last Saturday (13th June 2015) death of the displaced young Christian man from the town of Telkeaf, and in the village of Jellak near the village hall, had occurred under mysterious circumstances.…

By Suzette Gutierrez-Cachila (news@gospelherald.com) A Christian cross falls to the ground as a member of the Islamic State terror group erects a black flag in its place atop St. George monastery in northern Iraq. Photo: MEMRI JTTM ISIS is converting the Syrian Orthodox Church of St. Ephraim into a mosque for Jihadist…

‘I can’t understand what is going on around me. It is a nightmare’ Christian militias such as this one in Iraq have formed in an effort to protect Christian neighborhoods. They have received no help from the U.S. Obama administration and have had to rely on private donations and training from private U.S. citizens.…