Monthly Archives: November 2014

Ankawa.com – Exclusive Ankawa.com individually and for the second time publishes new numbers of our Christian people from the city of Mosul and Nineveh Plain displaced to the province of Erbil. The list includes the number of displaced families to the province and the number of families who were displaced from each region. Also the…

The encounter, with some 100 children from the Middle East and Africa, had been a personal request of Francis’. It included both Christian and Muslim children. “I share your sufferings,” the Pope told them. “Yours is the sad consequence of brutal…

In June of 2014, ISIS conquered the city of Mosul. This assault was followed by attacks in August on cities and towns throughout the Nineveh Plain, Tal Afar and the Sinjar regions. In the face of ISIS’ advance the Iraqi military and the Kurdish Peshmerga fled, offering no resistance to ISIS, leaving hundreds of thousands…

Pope Francis (left) and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople (right) speak to faithful after the Divine Liturgy at the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Istanbul, Nov. 30, 2014. Pope Francis began a visit to Turkey on Friday with the delicate mission of strengthening ties with Muslim leaders while condemning violence against Christians…

Associated Press ISTANBUL – Pope Francis stood Saturday for two minutes of silent prayer facing east in one of Turkey’s most important mosques, a powerful vision of Christian-Muslim understanding at a time when neighboring countries experience violent Islamicassault on Christians and religious minorities.…

In a study of contrasts, Pope Francis, all  simplicity in his white soutane, entered the $600 million palace of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo ? an and called for the “solidarity of all believers” in opposing religious fanaticism. In his address, Pope Francis praised Turkey as “a natural bridge between two…

Associated Press ANKARA, Turkey Pope Francis urged Muslim leaders to condemn the “barbaric violence” being committed in Islam’s name against religious minorities in Iraq and Syria as he arrived in neighboring Turkey on Friday for a delicate visit aimed at improving interfaith ties.…

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 29, ARMENPRESS. Pope Francis demanded respect for religious freedom during a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday, a call that will resonate particularly with Christians who say they suffer discrimination in a country where Islam has reasserted itself in the public sphere…

Peter Kenny Pope Francis and Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan leave after addressing to media at the presidential palace in Ankara November 28, 2014. Pope Francis begins a visit to Turkey with the delicate mission of strengthening ties with Muslim leaders while…

By NICOLE WINFIELD and SUZAN FRASER, Associated Press Francis condemns Islamic State attacks on religious groups Pope Francis is welcomed by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday at the presidential palace in Ankara. (Gregorio Borgia/AP)…

By Staff writer | Al Arabiya News oshua Landis, a top Syria expert and the director of the University of Oklahoma’s Center for Middle East Studies. (Al Arabiya) The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) controls a third of Iraq and a third of Syria, a…

ISTANBUL – Agence France-Presse An Iraqi refugee waits for interview with Vicar Francois Yakan (not pictured) on November 11,2014 in Istanbul. The Chaldean Catholics, members of Iraq’s Assyrian minority, have fled Baghdad and the now jihadist-controlled city of Mosul to escape the violence that has frequently targeted Christians since the US-led invasion of 2003. AFP…

Philippe Alfroy for AFP, Mardin Mardin Mort Schmuni Church is seen with the Mesopotamia plain in the background in Mardin, Turkey, last week (AFP Photo/Ozan Kose) Former exiles have high expectations for Pope Francis’ visit to the country, which begins Friday…

Preparations for Pope Francis’s visit take place at the church of St George in Istanbul. Photograph: Ozan Kose/AFP/Getty Images A man readies on November 27, 2014 the S Pontiff to try to tackle relations with Islam, Christian persecution in the Muslim world and the Catholic-Orthodox schism…

By Jay Gotera Pope Francis addresses the Council of Europe in Strasbourg on Nov. 25, 2014. Even if he has become the target of Islamic radicals, Pope Francis said his door “is always open” for peace initiatives, indicating his willingness to talk peace with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil).…

ISTANBUL, Turkey – A walk through the churches of Istanbul is a kaleidoscope of the different branches of Christianity since its birth: seven different congregations have been based here for many centuries. The city is now preparing for the visit on Saturday of Pope Francis, who will meet with…

By Ruth Sherlock, Izraa, Deraa Christianity is being extinguished in the land of its birth and the West is to blame, say Syria’s faithful Outgoing artillery shook St Elias church as the priest reached the end of the Lord’s Prayer.…

By Philippe ALFROY By Agence France-Presse Catholic people light candles at the St. Esprit Church during the Christmas mass at midnight, in Harbiye, downtown Istanbul, on December 24, 2009. AFP PHOTO/Mustafa Ozer…

Christians regarded as foreigners. Will Francis call attention to country’s Christian past? Since the beginning of the Iraq war in 2003, and especially since the eruption of the Syrian civil war in 2011, Turkey has become the destination—or passage way—for hundreds of thousands of refugees.…

By Sébastien de Courtois, Istanbul (Turkey) The Middle East is a small place. Turkey’s Eastern frontier rubs shoulders with those of Syria, Iraq and Iran. Since the beginning of the Iraq war in 2003, and since the eruption of the Syrian conflict in 2011, Turkey has found itself to be – willy-nilly – an obligatory…