‘We won’t let diversity of ME disappear’

A UN conference has announced a plan to protect minorities persecuted by the so-called Islamic State in the Middle East. Speaking at the conference in Paris of 60 countries on Tuesday, 8 Sep., French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said several countries would announce financial pledges in the coming months for . . . Read More

Death threats target Turkey’s Protestants

Death threats target Turkey’s Protestants
Fifteen Turkish Protestant congregations and their leaders have been targeted since 27 Aug. by a strident campaign of death threats sent to their Facebook, email, websites and mobile telephones. The threats followed the style and jargon typically used by the so-called Islamic State (IS), vowing to kill, massacre and behead . . . Read More

Another ancient Assyrian monastery bulldozed

Photographs posted Thursday on Twitter accounts linked to the Islamic State destroyed in the past six months by jihadist fighters. The 5th century Mar Elian Monastery in Syria’s western Homs province was located on the outskirts of Qaryatain city, captured by IS militants two weeks ago from Assad regime control. An . . . Read More

Jihadists release Syrian priest, 22 elderly Assyrians

Jihadists release Syrian priest, 22 elderly Assyrians
Five weeks after Fr. Antoine Boutros and his driver were kidnapped on their way to Sunday mass in southern Syria’s Suweida province on July 12, the Catholic parish priest has been released. Disclosure of the 50-year-old priest’s release on Aug. 15 came from the Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarch of Antioch, . . . Read More

Recommended reading

has penned that reads, in one sitting, like World Watch Monitor’s past year of coverage of Iraq’s Christians. The 26 July article provides a concise summary of the complex and often contradictory political currents that complicate attempts to preserve a Christian presence in the Middle East. Griswold also relates further . . . Read More

ISIL in Libya kidnaps more Christians

The Islamic State has released news that it kidnapped three African Christians in Libya, says Reuters. In a statement on social media, IS said the men are from Egypt, Nigeria and Ghana. The group published the men’s passport pictures for verification. They are believed to have been captured around 11 . . . Read More