Tag: Syria

Up to 1000 Christian families flee Iraq’s second city

June 10, 2014 Iraq Alqosh, Dohuk, Islamic State, Mosul, Qaraqosh, Syria

Christian families fled Mosul in February 2010 successive to at least 12 people being killed in anti-Christian violence. Some of the refugees gathered in this monastery in Al Qosh.World Watch Monitor A mass exodus is underway from Iraq’s second largest city Mosul after its seizure by the ISIS, the . . . Read More

Documents indicate Turkey connection to bishops’ kidnappers

May 19, 2014 Syria Al-Nusra Front, Boulos Yazigi, Greek Orthodox, Syria, Turkey, Yohanna Ibrahim

When police arrested Magomed Abdurrahmanov in Turkey about a year ago, word spread quickly that the suspected kidnapper of two prominent Syrian bishops had been caught. The Turkish government, however, said the man they had arrested, and his companions, were nothing to worry about. Officials said they were foreigners with . . . Read More

Keeping hope alive in Syria

May 7, 2014 Syria Education, Homs, Syria

A friend and colleague of murdered Jesuit priest Father Frans van der Lugt has received more aid to continue to helping destitute families in Syria. Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need is supporting a pastoral centre in the city of Homs headed by Fr Ziad Hilal SJ. The . . . Read More

First Christian ever to run for Syrian presidency

May 1, 2014 Syria Bashar al-Assad, Syria

Shamih Mikhael Moussa, born in Btaiha, Syria in 1963, is the first Christian trying to run for President of the Arab Republic. The deadline for submitting one’s application for candidacy to the Constitutional Court expired on May 1, but the country’s 3 June presidential elections, anticipates another win by President . . . Read More

Christianity and genocide?

April 20, 2014 Global News -- No Particular Country Angela Merkel, David Cameron, Genocide, Islamic extremism, Lord Alton, Shahbaz Bhatti, Syria, UN

In the lead-up to Easter, UK Prime Minister David Cameron committed his government to fighting the persecution of Christians abroad, saying no group is under more pressure for its faith. Cameron is not alone in making the claim. In February, US Congressman Chris Smith said “The global persecution of Christians . . . Read More

Killing in Kessab

April 17, 2014 Syria Aleppo, Armenians, Islamic extremism, Syria

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 . . . Read More

Homs priest killed by assassins

April 7, 2014 Syria Arab Spring, Civil War, Homs, Syria

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 . . . Read More

New US-based Syriac Patriarch says he’ll return to Syria

April 1, 2014 Syria Aleppo, Damascus, Syria, Syriacs, Yohanna Ibrahim

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 . . . Read More

3000 Syrian Christians flee Armenian village as Islamist rebels take control

March 27, 2014 Armenian Genocide, Armenians, Human rights, Islamic extremism, Syria, Turkey

An Armenian* Syrian pastor, whose family is from Kessab, close to Syria’s northern border with Turkey, has reported that they have fled the village after Syrian rebel jihadists took control of the area. The fighting in the predominantly Armenian Christian town started Friday March 21st. World Watch Monitor has seen . . . Read More

Turkey returns less than half of monastery land it seized

March 13, 2014 Turkey Europe, Mardin, Mor Gabriel Monastery, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Syria, Syriacs

The Turkish Ministry of EU Affairs welcomed March 2 the return of property, seized by the country’s treasury, to the world’s oldest Syriac Orthodox monastery, Mor Gabriel. In February, the head of the Mor Gabriel Religious Foundation, Kuryakos Ergun, received the property deeds to 12 plots of land totaling 244,000 . . . Read More

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