Monthly Archives: August 2016

Hazel Torres Members of the Yazidi sect, among some 200 elderly and infirm released by ISIS militants, are welcomed back by their families on the outskirts of Kirkuk, Iraq, on April 8, 2015. Now it’s clear: The Islamic State (ISIS) is selling captive Christian and Yazidi girls and women — even young children — as…

By Stoyan Zaimov , Christian Post Reporter (Photo: Reuters/Lucy Nicholson (L) and Jim Urquhart/File Photos) A combination photo shows U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton (L) and Republican U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump (R) in Los Angeles, California on May 5, 2016 and in Eugene, Oregon, U.S. on May 6, 2016, respectively…

Lorraine Caballero A pastor from Syria fled persecution from his own country and settled in Finnsnes, Norway, thinking he and his wife would be safe there, only to face death threats in his new host country. Pastor Saeed Ziadah led a small church and evangelized Muslims in Syria despite the…

A Humanitarian Appeal from the Patriarchs of Syria to the International Conscience and the Concerned Countries Since the beginning of the crisis in Syria in 2011, the impact of the economic and financial sanctions increased on the daily lives of Syrian citizens. This constituted a huge burden which deepened the suffering of the Syrian people.…

Dear Madam, Dear Sir, The Syrian regime continued a week ago its repeated aggression and attacks against the people of Al-Hassakah. The escalation of the violence committed by the regime demonstrated that it refuses to abide previously agreed ceasefires.…

Megynkelly Mon 22 Aug 2016 12.36 GMT – Despite the threat of ISIS 100 Christian children received First Communion in Alqosh, Iraq on the Feast of the Assumption. The first communion Mass in Alqosh was an historic moment” for a “frontier town” that has been…

(EGYPT) on 23-25 November 2016 the Cairo University will held the Second Congress of Aramaic and Syriac Studies in November 2016, and the title of Aramaic and Syriac Studies conference in the world conference Panels are : Aramaic and Syriac Studies Comparative studies between Oriental languages and Aramaic and Syriac…

The good news: Things are looking bleak for “IS” in Iraq. The bad news: The upcoming battle for the liberation of the city of Mosul will cause an unprecedented crisis – and hundreds of thousands of refugees. Irak Angriffsvorbereitungen auf Mossul Peshmerga fighters are closing in on Mosul. The Kurdish troops are only about 20…

By Marshall Connolly (CALIFORNIA NETWORK) Catholic Online (www.catholic.org) It may be the tragedy of the 21st century, and it’s still ongoing, but most of the world seems to have forgotten. Two years ago, there was a massive outpouring of support for Christians in Syria and Iraq. Today, there’s no more mention of them. What happened?…

“THE Lord is my shepherd,” says the psalmist, but Nicodemus Daoud Sharaf is finding it devilishly hard to tend his flock. As archbishop of Mosul’s Syriac Orthodox church, he has been chased out of one of Christianity’s oldest dioceses. Most of his congregation fled when the city was conquered by the jihadists of Islamic State…

Kirkuk, Iraq has seen significantly reduced violence since 2014 (Al Bawaba/Adam Lucente) Christians throughout the Middle East celebrated the Assumption of Mary Monday, which celebrates her ascension to heaven, according to the Christian tradition. Known as the Virgin Mary by Christians and Our Lady Mary by Muslims, she is an important figure in Middle Eastern…

On Thursday August 18, 2016, His Holiness Patriarch Mor Ignatius Aphrem II received His Excellency Mr. M.J. Akbar, Indian Foreign Minister, at the Patriarchal Residence in Atchaneh, Bikfaya – Lebanon. Foreign Minister Akbar is on an official trip to Lebanon, Syria and Iraq. His Holiness congratulated His Excellency on the occasion of the seventieth…

by Madeleine Davies Star appeal: the actor and UNICEF Ambassador Ewan McGregor meets displaced children at the Debaga IDP camp, in northern Iraq at the end of July, where he called for help for children “ripped from their homes” MINORITY communities in Iraq are “on the verge of disappearance”, a report from the charity Minorities…

Iraqi military personnel distribute water to Shabaks displaced by fierce fighting between Kurdish peshmerga forces and jihadi militants from the Islamic State after arriving on the road between Kirkuk and Erbil, Aug. 8, 2014. (photo by MARWAN IBRAHIM/AFP/Getty Images) BAGHDAD — The Shabak community is one of the cultural minorities in Iraq, speaking…

Extremists across the region are enslaving, killing and uprooting Christians – acts totally inconsistent with Islamic teachings. Iraqi Christians who fled the violence in the village of Qaraqush, about 30 kilometres east of the northern province of Nineveh, take shelter at the Saint-Joseph church in the Kurdish city of Arbil, in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region,…

In this Saturday, Aug. 13, 2016 photo, a soldier from the 1st Battalion of the Iraqi Special Operations Forces in the role of an Islamic State militant runs through green smoke during a training exercise to prepare for the operation to re-take Mosul from IS, in Baghdad, Iraq. (AP Photo / Maya Alleruzzo)…

By Judit Neurink 18-year-old Lamya Taha (center) who survived ISIS captivity and lost an eye while fleeing the group, speaking to European MPs. ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Several European parliamentarians have formed a special Yezidi Friendship Group to help attract more attention for the community’s plight, says Yezidi activist Mirza Dinnayi, an adviser to the…

Displaced people from the minority Yazidi sect, fleeing violence from forces loyal to the Islamic State in Sinjar town, walk toward the Syrian border, on the outskirts of Sinjar Mountain, near the Syrian border town of Elierbeh of Hasakah province, Aug. 10, 2014. (photo by REUTERS/Rodi Said)…

Michael F. Haverluck (OneNewsNow.com) no crossAfter Islamic State militants forced them to flee from their homes two years ago, Iraqi Christians now living in refugee camps are still committed to stay in their war-torn country and help rebuild it, despite the terrorist group’s remaining threat.…

by Katherine Backler Syriac Catholics given ‘power, hope, and courage’ by ordinations in chapel in mainly Christian camp in Iraqi Kurdistan Iraqi priests ordained in refugee camp two years after fleeing Islamic State Three Syriac Catholic priests have been ordained in a refugee camp near the Iraqi Kurdistan city of Erbil two years after they…