In the midst of the civil war, churches and Christian-owned businesses have been targets of bombings by the Islamic State and other extremist groups, and there have been many reports of Christians being abducted, harmed and killed. Even so, many of Syria’s remaining Christians are committed to staying and rebuilding their country. Others are now returning home following IS’s military defeat.
Killing in Kessab
Further details have emerged of what’s been happening since the invasion of Kessab by Islamist rebels, which sent thousands of Syrians fleeing the predominantly Armenian Christian town. According to a World Watch Monitor source 23-year-old Kevork Jourian was killed by members of Syrian rebel groups as they were searching for guns […]
Homs priest killed by assassins
Frans van der Lugt, a Jesuit priest who refused to leave the embattled city of Homs, Syria, in solidarity with the few Christians still living there, was killed by assassins Monday in his garden. Known among the people as Abouna Francis, the native Dutchman had worked in Syria for more […]
New US-based Syriac Patriarch says he’ll return to Syria
The Syriac Orthodox Church, one of the oldest churches in the world and seated in the heart of war-ravaged Syria, has selected a US-based archbishop as its next patriarch. Mor Ignatius Aphrem II Karim, a native of Syria, has been Metropolitan and Patriarchal Vicar to the Archdiocese of the Syriac […]
Kidnappers release Syrian nuns
A group of nuns kidnapped in Maaloula, Syria, in December were released early Monday, tired but unharmed. “God did not leave us,” Mother Pelagia Sayyaf, superior of the Mar Takla monastery in Maaloula, told news reporters after the nuns had been released to Syrian authorities as part of a prisoner […]
ISIS makes Christians an offer
The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, or ISIS, has posted a list of options for Christians in the Syrian city of Raqqa: 1. Convert to Islam 2. Pay a tax equivalent to 1/4 ounce of gold. Remove all symbols of Christianity from public view. Pray only in private. […]
Syrian Christian beheaded
A Christian man was beheaded last week as he drove home from work in Homs, reports Fars News. Fides confirms that Fadi Matanius Mattah, 34, was killed and his friend Firas Nader, 29, was wounded as armed jihadists opened fire on their car. A priest told Fides that, noting that […]
12 nuns ‘abducted’ as rebels recapture Maaloula
Mar Takla, Maaloula.Richard / Flickr / Creative Commons The Vatican has reported that 12 nuns were abducted as opposition rebels captured Syria’s historically Christian town of Maaloula yesterday (December 2). The majority of the town’s Christian population is thought to have fled during clashes between government forces and rebels in […]
Pressure mounts on UN to refer Syria ‘war crimes’ to ICC
The village of Sadad was the scene of one of the ‘most serious and biggest massacre of Christians in Syria in the past two-and-a-half years’, according to one Syrian Archbishop.Hovic / Flickr / Creative Commons A month on from the massacre in the Syrian village of Sadad, Human Rights […]
Christians ‘held’ in Syrian town
Following a reported Islamist invasion on the town of Deir Atieh in Syria, north of Damascus, Fides reports that Christians are being prevented from leaving. “The militiamen examine the identification documents of those who intend to leave the city and retain those who have Christian names,” states Fides.
Jihadists could end Christianity in Syria if given power, says nun
An outspoken Catholic nun living in Syria has denied suggestions that she believes the toppling of President Bashar al-Assad would bring an end to Christianity in Syria. Instead, Mother Agnes-Mariam says that could be the consequence if religious extremists were to seize on a power vacuum left by his deposition. […]