Showing posts with label Syria. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Syria. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Church and School Are Shelled: 9 Children Killed and 27 Wounded



(Damascus) Islamist rebels have fired two shells into the predominantly Christian district of Al-Qassaa of Damascus. The Christians' Holy Cross Church and St. John's School were struck. Nine children have died, 27 were injured.

As the news agency Sana reported, the children were in a school bus that had just arrived from school in order to bring them to class. The nearby school and the church were also struck.

According to witnesses, the shells fell in the Holy Cross Church and the St. John School. Already on the 7th of October, the Islamists had shelled the church and next to a Christian school. Samaan, a Christian from Al-Qassaa reports that the Islamists "always work this way. They fire shells, then wait a month and then shoot it again."

In kindergarten, there were no casualties in October, because the attack took place on a Sunday. It was apparently the church and potential church visitors. The attack on the school was on a work day this time and caused a bloodbath.

There is still fighting around the Syrian capital, although Assad made a concession to the rebels in order to include all sides in the Geneva II Peace Conference. In Qudsaya is not being fought over presently. The city is located west of Damascus. It is in rebel hands, but is surrounded by government troops. The concession by President Assad to stop the fighting, freed the trapped people from a hopeless situation. The agreement includes that trucks with food such as flour, wheat, water and milk powder may be brought into the city.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
 Image: Tempi
Trans: vekron99@hotmail.com
Link to katholisches...

Thursday, November 7, 2013

Murdered Christians: "Why Does Not the World Raise Their Voice?" -- Islamists Plunder Saint Symeon Monastery

Edit: now we probably begin to understand more of what motivated the men who travelled thousands of miles on foot to fight the Turk.

(Damascus) In the meantime details about the murder of 45 Christians in Sadad are becoming known. A whole family was thrown alive into a well by the Islamists, where they died. Islamist rebels in the north also targeted the "Rock of Symeon" from the 5th Century. The "rock of Simeon" in Arabic, Kalat Siman, is a large monastery with cathedral from the early Byzantine period. It originated as a spiritual center in the place where the saint Symeon the Stylite lived on a column until his death after 37 years. Symeon Stylites died in 459 and became the first pillar saint in Church history.

During his lifetime he was sought by thousands of pilgrims, seeking advice and assistance, as Symeon was not had a reputation for holiness, but God worked many miracles through him. Even Emperor Theodosius II (401-450) climbed up the column in order to ask him for advice. The rush of pilgrims was also so great after his death, that the Byzantine Emperor Zeno (425-491) established the Symeon Cloister on the road to Antioch, 35 km to the north west of Aleppo. During his reign the mighty cathedral and the monastery was built as a pilgrimage center. At the center of the great crossroads is the 15-18 meter high pillar on which according to tradition the saint had lived on a wooden platform.

Saint Symeon the Stylite Islamic conquest in 1164

After the conquest of Islam had rolled over it several times , the monastery was near the border between the Byzantine Empire and the Islamic sphere. In the 10th Century, the monastery was fortified because of the increasing Islamic pressure. 1164 saw the conquest by the Seljuk Turks and the Muslim decline.

The jihadists of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant control part of the city of Aleppo have recently put the Cathedral of Saint Symeon the Stylite in the crosshairs. They destroyed what was left to destroy that was recognizably Christian and dragged away what was more valuable, reported Le veilleur de Nineveh. The impressive ruins are a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

"How Can You Commit Such Inhuman and Brutal Acts?"

The area of ​​Aleppo near the Turkish border is in a dramatic situation, as the Christian Claude Z. says: "The situation is critical: we have had no electricity for ten days, there is a lack of food, rebels and army are fighting and the Islamist terrorists have introduced Sharia law in the areas they where they control part of the city. "

As Kirche in Not [The Catholic relief organization in German Zone] has reported, 30 of the 45 CHristians killed in Sadad were found in two mass graves. Many of the dead showed signs of abuse. Among them were old people, women and the disabled. Six members of a family, including a 90-year-old woman were thrown alive into a well by the Islamists , where they perished miserably.

The Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarch of Antioch, Gregory III. Laham said, "How can one commit such inhuman and bestial acts to older people and their families? I do not understand: Why does not the world raise their voice against such brutality. Extremism and fanaticism have overtaken Syria. What has happened in Sadad exemplifies what experience of all Christians in Syria is."

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
 Image: Wikicommons
Tancred: vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches...

AMGD

Thursday, October 31, 2013

Every Fourth Christian Has Fled and Been Driven From Syria -- 45 Christians Murdered by Islamists in Sadad

(Damascus) There were some two million Christians living in Syria at the beginning of the Civil War. At least 450,000 Christians have fled the country since March 2011 because of the war. According to Gregory III. Laham, Patriarch of the Melkites Greek Catholic Church united with Rome, every fourth Christian has been expelled from his home. The violence of the Islamists exaggerating the Christians to flee, the Patriarch of Antioch and the whole East told the BBC.

"The Christians will Survive"

There is not an exact number of Christians who've fled. According to Open Doors there are even many more Syrian Christians on the run. Patriarch Gregory III. Laham still firmly believes that "the Christian community will survive." As mentioned on an earlier occasion repeated the head of the Melkite that Christians are an important part of Syria for two thousand years. "They will again be an important building block for the country's reconstruction after the war, and do not need Assad to survive in Syria." Words with which the church leader wants to indicate to all warring parties that Christians are not a party in this conflict.

Islamists Have Killed 45 Christians in Sadad Because of Their Faith

In the Syrian Civil War 115,000 people have so far been killed, mainly civilians, including many Christians. The Christians are a favorite target, especially for the Islamists and al-Qaeda terrorists. The latest example is the attack on the Christian city Sadad. Today, Archbishop Boutros Selwanos Alnemeh, the Metropolitan of the Syrian Orthodox Church of Homs and Hama announced that "perpetrated the greatest massacre of Christians since the outbreak of the war" by the Islamists in Sadad. In the city of "innocent civilians were murdered simply because they are Christians. A total of 45 Christians were killed, including women and children. Most were buried in a mass grave," said the Archbishop.

30 are seriously wounded and ten are missing in the Christian community in the city. "1,500 families will be held by the Islamists as hostages and human shields," said the Metropolitan.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
 Image: Tempi
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to katholisches... AMGD

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Imam Destroys Marian Statue -- "We Tolerate None But Allah"



(Damascus) Islamist rebels have destroyed a statue of Mary in Syria. "Only God can be worshiped in this country." A video shows Imam Omar Gharba how he destroyed a statue of the Mother of God in Idlib province, a city under the control of Islamist militias. "We will not tolerate anyone except Allah."

Wahhabi Imam Destroyed Statue

A Wahabi Imam (Wahabism is the most radical form of Islam and is regarded officially as state doctrine in Saudi Arabia) let himself be filmed in the act with the cry Allahu Akbar (Allah is the Greatest) destroying a statue of the Virgin Mary. The incident occurred in the city Yaaqoubiya in the Syrian province of Idlib, near the border with Turkey.

"Only Allah"

The city is Yaaqoubiya in the Levant is controlled by the Islamist militia Islamic State of Iraq and is associated with Al-Qaeda. The militia is responsible for the destruction of many churches in Syria. The video was released on Monday on the Internet. Omar Gharba includes a statement that "only Allah is worshiped in the land of the Levant, and only the law of Allah is allowed." That Christianity alone worships God, the Mother of God but worshiped, is a distinction of the Wahabit does not seem to know.

The Destruction

During his statement, the Islamist held the statue constantly in his hand: "We accept nothing but Allah's religion and the Sunnah of the Prophet of Allah, Muhammad." Then he smashed the statue of Mary to the cheers of enthusiastic Islamist bystanders.

 Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Bild: Screenshot
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
Link to Katholisches....



AMGD

Saturday, September 7, 2013

Christians in Maalula Are Fleeing Muslims -- Jihadists Tear Crosses from Domes



Edit: what would have inspired men from all over Europe to take up the sword in one hand and a cross in another, today inspires Leftist politicos to join in on the looting and the day of  reckoning for Christians living in the Middle East.

(Damascus) The Christians of Maalula are on the run. From the only village in the world in which Aramaic, the language of Jesus, is spoken, the vast majority of Christians have fled. The town was devastated by the attack of Islamists. The jihadists began the systematic destruction of the building on behalf of the Free Syrian Army, which wants to move the U.S. President Barack Obama to bring the U.S. into the war. Of the 3,000 inhabitants only a few hundred have returned to the place of the attack to protect the homes from looters. The majority of Christians remain hidden. For great is the fear of the Islamist militias.

A priest of Maalula is quoted by Asianews quoted as saying: "This morning, the terrorists have torn the crosses from the domes of the St Sergius Monastery. This is an open declaration of war against the Christians. By the removal of the crosses they want to send an unmistakable message: Now you Christians get your turn, now anything can happen."

The priest reported that the Islamists wanted to penetrate some quarters on Thursday evening, but then withdrew again. "Our youth have defended the monasteries, churches and our homes. But they are not warriors, they are not trained, these are contrary to peace. That left only the flight. All flee Maalula, because there is no life here with Islamists. "

The priest criticized the Free Syrian Army. While these have always denied links to Al-Qaeda and even released on videos on Youtube that allegedly show their fighters in the defense of Christian churches. "These videos are just propaganda," said the priest. The only "free" in this army is the word in the name. "In reality, they threaten us Christians. You have always told us that your hour comes, we'll take care of you. And now they say your hour has come."

Maalula is a World Heritage Site according to Unesco. The town is located some 40 kilometers north of Damascus. The monasteries of the place are the destination of numerous pilgrims.

Text: Paix Liturgique / Giuseppe Nardi Image: Una Fides

Link to katholisches...

Thursday, September 5, 2013

Green Pedophile Cohn-Bendit Supports Invasion of Syria in Support of Jihadis

Self-professed child molester-literatur and chairman of the Green Party in the European Parliament, Daniel Cohn-Bendit, apparently wants to leave Syrian children to the mercy of Jihadis and U.S. terror bombing.

Christian Girl Martyred to Death in Syria [Image: Alertadigital] 



The War Pig Green Cohn-Bendit

He shared this with the publication known for its Nazi entanglements , in a conversation with"Spiegel".

The Green Daniel Cohn-Bendit is thus supporting the proposed cleansing in Syria by Barack Hussein Obama.

For this ethical [sic] cleansing, foreign terrorists, supported by the U.S. and its European satellite states Al-Qaeda will be included as allies.

The Syrian children will especially be affected. These are suddenly no longer the focus of the "Kinderfreunds" by Cohn-Bendit.

Syria's al-Qaeda-opposition

If it goes according to his will and that of Barack Hussein Obama,these foreign al-Qaeda terrorists who have already long been the "opposition" in Syria, will dedicate the land to allah, recognize sharia including the stoning ritual.

Thus the sexual revolution envisaged by the Greens for Syria, is then probably that raped women are to be stoned by men because of extramarital sexual intercourse.

Hillary Clinton: "We created Al-Qaeda"

Al-Qaeda is an Islamist private army established by the U.S. for aggressive economic and financial imperialism. Al-Qaeda has staged coups with the support of the CIA putting obedient holy warriors of Allah from Africa to Asia into power - Europe has to wait a bit.

See the video " Hillary Clinton: We created Al-Qaeda ":

Rogue State U.S.A.

The United States is the head of global terror in the name of "human rights." The head chopping jihadists are financed, organized and armed to end Russian influence in Syria by Nobel Peace Prize Obama and the EU. Thus they will kill off the Syrian people.

This Green-pacifist, pedophile scribbler seems happy to promote it. Also, the Green Party leader in the European Parliament was even openly accused by Rep. Marie Le Pen of pedophilia:

See: "Le Pen traite Cohn Bendit Pédophile de au Parlement "

America's future as a global superpower is dependent on Al-Qaeda and imminent Antichrist. Al-Qaeda leads geopolitical wars in the U.S. interest.

It may - as was seen in the U.S. attack on Afghanistan's Taliban - well come to disagreements.

Poison gas in Syria

In Syria a (small) part of the army have defected along with the military equipment to the rebel insurgency. Probably including the chemical weapons.

Cui bono?

The U.S. government has threatened Syria with a military strike, if it uses poison gas.

And suddenly there was a poison gas alarm. Just as the rebel hordes increasingly came under the pressure of the government troops.

Al-Qaeda has produced here an ordered pretext for the next U.S. imperialist military attack, so that the U.S. bombing of the military can "tip" the balance of power in favor of the Islamists?

The applause of the green pedo-writer, Cohn-Bendit seems safe to them.


Link to kreuz.net...


How much more fitting now does a decadent Rock band's music appear nowadays.

Carmelite Nun Says Gas Attacks Were Faked: Would-be US Allies are Muslim Jihadists



Edit: this article from Haeretz is hardly defender of Christians in Syria, but it does put a light on their plight. Of course, she seems to have definitively crossed the line from contemplative to active life in her approach to what is a terrible emergency:

Why a Carmelite nun believes the chemical attack in Damascus was faked. By Gideon Levy | Sep. 1, 2013 | 8:25 AM | 29 Sister Agnes-Mariam de la Croix in Jerusalem this week: Chemical attacks were faked. Photo by Alex Levac

Sister Agnes-Mariam de la Croix feared that the United States would attackSyria on Saturday night. She expected the attack to be massive and would bring disaster to Syria and the entire region. According to Sister Agnes-Mariam, there are today 150,000 well-trained jihadist fighters from 80 countries in Syria, with arms they have received from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Turkey, and even from the United States. She says some of them are in a drugged state, induced by Captagon pills.

The nun lives in Syria and is the abbess, or mother superior, of the Monastery of St. James the Mutilated. She argues that these jihadi fighters control 60 percent of the populated areas of Syria. She claims that Islamic-Syrian rebel group Jabhat al-Nusra, which the United States has designated a terrorist group, is responsible for the acts of mass murder, rape and looting that have been committed in Syria. She also claims the Chechen fighters are exceptionally cruel and that, among the foreign fighters, there are a fairly large number of released prisoners and citizens of western countries. In her opinion, most of Syria’s citizens support the regime of President Bashar Assad because they fear a takeover of the country by Islamic extremists.

She calls on the world not to attack Syria, and to stop the flow of foreign fighters into its territory and the supply of arms they are receiving. When she journeys through Syria today, she feels as if she is in Afghanistan or Somalia. An American attack on Syria will hurt its army and open the door to a complete seizure of the country by the global jihad movement, she firmly believes. “If this regime is toppled,” she says, “it will be worse than Iraq. It will have consequences for Lebanon, Israel and Jordan, and it’s not a situation that will promote security.”

She also believes the pictures of the victims of last month’s alleged chemical attack in east Damascus are fabrications.

I met Sister Agnes-Mariam this week in a convent in Jerusalem’s hills, not far from Abu Ghosh. She is visiting Israel for a few days and next week will return to Syria, where she has been living for the past 19 years. Her life story is as surprising as her statements about the situation there.

She was born Fadia al-Laham, 61 years ago in Jounieh, Lebanon (her parents had fled Nazareth in 1948). When she was 15 her father died, and, as she herself admits, over the next few years she became a hippy and flower child who used drugs and drifted between Nepal and India. On her palm, concealed by her nun’s habit, she still has a few tattoos from India – a memento of that time in her life. She says she loves to listen to The Doors, The Rolling Stones and Santana. Her Indian experiences led her to embrace a cloistered life and, for 22 years, she lived in utter solitude in a Carmelite monastery in Lebanon’s highland region.

Sister Agnes-Mariam moved to Syria 19 years ago and, together with two other nuns, rebuilt the ruins of a monastery on the main road between Damascus and Homs, not far from the village of Qara. She became mother superior of the Monastery of St. James the Mutilated. In addition to the nuns of the convent, there are 20 Sunni refuges who have sought asylum from the horrors of the war.

She was forced to leave the monastery in June 2012, after the threats on her life increased because she was suspected of being an agent of the Assad regime. Her monastery is situated between the area controlled by the Free Syrian Army and the area controlled by the “foreign legions.”

Currently she lives in Damascus and is an international peace activist trying to warn the world of the dangers of a jihadist takeover of her adopted country. She is fighting what she considers a pack of lies, trying to counter the propaganda and disinformation in the Arab and international media, and documenting the atrocities of the war for the organization she has established. She arrived this week to visit relatives in Nazareth and to participate in an interfaith conference in Israel.

Read further...

Monday, September 2, 2013

USA Blocks Russia's Television Broadcaster RT

The U.S. has interrupted the transmission of the television station "Russia Today", reports the editor in chief Margarita Simonyan at the transmitter Twitter. "I always expected that you would begin to block our stations in the U.S.. Now it has happened. Long live the freedom of speech," she wrote.

Later, she added that the account of the sender was blocked at the Internet Resource "Reddit". More than one million people subscribe to the news of "Reddit".

RT, formerly Russia Today, is geared to international audiences, a publicly funded television station based in Moscow. It is broadcast in English, Arabic, Spanish and Russian. The stated goals of the transmitter are to present Russian perspectives on international affairs to the public and reduce old prejudices and stereotypes about Russia.



Sources: extremnews.com / Voice of Russia from 30.08.2013

Original at Pravda in Deuthsch... H/t: Cohors Regia.on Facebook.

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Patriarch of Antioch Refuses to Leave Syria

Zakka I Iwas rejects speculation about internal church dispute over abducted bishops of Aleppo Vatican City (kath.net / KAP) The Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch, Mar Ignatius Zakka Iwas, does not want to leave his headquarters in Damascus. He made it clear to his office, reported the press service Vatican Fides on Monday. In a statement, the to Fides, it has denied rumors that Zakka I Iwas wanted to move the seat of the Patriarchate because of the Syrian civil war to Turkey. Such a move only magnify the risk that the Syrian Orthodox Church would be "wiped out".

Since the beginning of the fighting there were multiple bombs detonated in the Christian Quarter of Damascus and dozens of people were killed. Radical Islamic fighters among the ranks of the rebels are allegedly suspected to be behind the attacks.

"We don't want only the survival of the See of Antioch in Syria, but also that all people across the country to stay here," he says in the letter. This applies to "our Muslim brothers" just as we hope for the other Christian communities in Syria. The 80 year old Patriarch further informed the office he is in good health. Speculations were rejected with indignation, according to which there has been an intra-church dispute over the abduction of the two Archbishops of Aleppo. There is no sign that bishops Mar Gregorios Yohanna Ibrahim (Syrian Orthodox) and Boulos al-Yazigi (Greek Orthodox) missing since since the 22nd of April re still alive. Copyright 2013 Catholic Press Agency, Vienna, Austria

Kath.news...

Thursday, July 25, 2013

The Kidnapped Bishops: Three Months and No Word

Wikicommons.
Edit: just a word from Notes on Orthodoxy:


by Claire Lesegretain

In the absence of proof of their death, it is not possible to confirm that they were killed by their kidnappers.

But we can wonder why international authorities, who are in contact with the Syrian rebels, are not demanding proof that they are alive or evidence that negotiations are ongoing.

This past Monday, July 22, made three months that we are without any news of Bishop Paul Yazigi, Greek Orthodox Metropolitan of Aleppo, and Bishop John Ibrahim, Syriac Orthodox bishop of the same city. “We have no information,” confirms Mgr Pascal Gollnisch, director of Œuvre d’Orient, who emphasizes the urgency and seriousness of this question. “Since seizing bishops demonstrates that priests and faithful are no longer safe in Syria, it threatens all the Christians of this country,” he says.


Notes on Arab Orthodoxy: The Kidnapped Bishops: Three Months and No Word

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Franciscan Hermit Murdered in Syria

Edit: he helped everyone. He helped Muslims, Christians, anyone who was in need and now he's gone. May his soul rest in peace.

(Damascus) Father Francois Mourad, a Syrian hermit, died in the Franciscan monastery of Saint Anthony of Padua in Ghassanieh. The hermit was a guest at the monastery when it was attacked by Islamist rebels. The Franciscan Monastery is located in the district of Jisr al-Shughur in the province of Idlib, near the Syrian-Turkish border. The area belongs to the Chaldean Syrian territory. The Franciscan Authority in the Holy Land confirmed the death of the hermit. The monastery was partially destroyed and looted.

Link to Katholisches...

News story..

Thursday, May 30, 2013

Russian-Ukrainian Volunteer Corp Wishes to Enter the Syrian Conflict

[Stimme Russlands] In the Russian-Ukrainian Volunteer Corp, which is being formed to support Syria's President Al-Assad in the struggle against extremists, there has already been a response of several thousand men.   This was  explained by the one who started forming the Corp, retired Colonel Sergei Rasumoski, who heads the "All-Ukrainian Union of Homeless Officers".

Rasumowski had published a video address on the creation of a volunteer force.  He directed his appeal "to all veterans of military services in the Soviet Union, to the entire Russian and Ukrainian officer corp."  Ukrainian authorities have not responded to the Colonel on this initiative.

Source Russian Voice...

Monday, May 20, 2013

Silent March for the Kidnapped Metropolitans in Amman

Damascus / Beirut, 20.5.13 (Yarmulke) On Tuesday the Christian churches organized a silent march in which they are demanding the release of the two Bishops abducted a month ago in Aleppo, Metropolitan Mar Gregorios Yuhanna Ibrahim and Boulos Yazigi. "The initiative is to have all Christian denominations connected,” said Archbishop Maroun Lahham, Vicar General for Jordan of the Latin Patriarchate Jerusalem for Vatican news agency Fides.

At the same time in the Old City of Jerusalem, the release of the two metropolitans Aleppo is required. On Tuesday, the Christian churches call in Amman, Jordan in a silent march for the release of the two. (Photo: Andrea Krogmann, 2013) Also on Tuesday there will be an international conference on the situation of Christians in the Middle East, in which the situation of the disappeared Aleppo metropolitans and the other victims of abduction will be raised, at Notre-Dame-du-Mont monastery in Beirut. It has been organized by the World Council of Churches, together with the Near Eastern Churches MECC conference, for which 150 participants are expected, in particular, it should also address questions of Christian-Muslim relations, the threat of extremism and social justice. [Oh, that slippery concept again.]

In the last MECC General Assembly, a proposal was drawn up, which was taken by the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches in 2011. The Central Committee noted at the time that "the living faith of Christians has its roots in the Middle East. This faith is nurtured by the unbroken testimony of the local Churches, whose roots go back to apostolic times." Without the Christian presence there, the coexistence of peoples of different religions and cultures in the Middle East, which is "a sign of God's love for all humanity", would be in danger.

Solidarity and Ecumenism

Michel Nseir, who is responsible for the activities of the World Council of Churches Middle East, emphasized now that the "ecumenical concern for the importance of the Christian presence in the Middle East" significantly differs from the attitude of those "who want to inflame Islamophobia". Just down the road on the forthcoming 10th Assembly of the World Council of Churches in Busan, it was necessary in the "pilgrimage for peace and justice” to involve the churches in the Middle East and their take concern with "generous solidarity and a truly ecumenical spirit of unity in action". Among the speakers at the conference - scheduled for the 25th of May - is the General Secretary of the World Council of Churches, Samuel Kobia, the Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, John Cardinal Onaiyekan, the Former (Orthodox) Lebanese Minister Tarek Mitri and the Coptic scientist and former adviser Mursi Samir Morcos.

Assad talks about the Abduction

Syrian President Bashar Assad has taken the first time publicly on the fate of the two abducted Aleppo metropolitans position. In an interview published at the weekend with the Argentine daily newspaper "Clarin" he was asked, among other things about the two bishops. Assad replied: "We have preliminary information that they are close to the Syrian-Turkish border. We are pursuing this matter very closely and cooperating with the Orthodox patriarchates, so that the Metropolitans will be freed from the hands of terrorist groups, by whom they have been kidnapped."

(Kipa / cap / on)

Edit: just for once it would be nice to have something like this not become co-opted by agitating Socialist entities like the World Council of Churches (another ape of the Catholic magisterium) and their quest for “social justice”, however, any ecumenical effort on behalf of these men is something most Catholics can agree upon.

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Religious Leaders Demand the Release of Syrian Bishops


Edit: earlier it was reported from many different sources that two Bishops who were kidnapped in Syria were to be released.  It turns out that they are still in captivity, and increasingly, the reports of this tragedy have aroused even the major news media.

[charismanews] Religious leaders from around the world have stepped up their pleas for the safe return of two Syrian bishops who were kidnapped April 22 by armed men as they were driving near the war-torn city of Aleppo.

The kidnappers, who have not been identified, abducted Greek Orthodox Metropolitan Boulos Yazigi and Syriac Orthodox Metropolitan Youhanna Ibrahim, both of Aleppo, while they were undertaking a “humanitarian mission” to help Syria’s Christian minority, according to Syrian Christian expatriates in the U.S.

The bishops’ Syrian Orthodox driver was killed in the attack.
Since 2011, more than 70,000 Syrians have died in fighting in the bloody civil war between forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad and rebels seeking to oust Assad’s strong-arm regime.

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Both Syrian Bishops Released by Rebels

(Damaskus) Two Syrian Bishops who were kidnapped yesterday, the Syrian-Orthodox Bishop Yohanna Ibrahim and the Greek Orthodox Boutros Yazigi should be free again and released in Aleppo. This was reported by by the Orthodox Partriarcate to Reuters. Already this afternoon there was a report released by Arabic section of Catholic News Service Zenit. Zenit states that the release had been made possible through negotiation by "the head of the Russian Orthodox Curxh, the Greek Foreign Minister and the UN special envoy for Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi".

From Aleppo there has been no report this far. In any case the communication with the embattled city is difficult. The report of the release has been released by another important source, the Oeuvre d’Orient, a Christian relief organization from France, which traditionally has good contacts to Syria's Christians. "According to our Surian sources both bishops were released around 2pm and can be found in the Greek Orthodox Church of St. Elias of Aleppo", is what the Internet site of Oeuvre, that was "pleased" over the release of the Bishops. "At the same time the relief organization condemned the murder of the Syrian-Orthodox Deacon, who was driving the car for both bishops.“. The perpetrators had shot him immediately at the time of the abduction..

The Oeuvre d’Orient appealed to the international community of nations, to work for the release of two abducted priests who have been held for months at an unknown location.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Bild: Missionline

http://www.katholisches.info/2013/04/23/die-beiden-in-syrien-entfuhrten-bischofe-sind-frei/

Friday, February 22, 2013

Syria: Christian Dragged From Bus and Shot, Because he Wore a Cross

(Damascus) A Syrian Christian of the Armenian Church was put to death by Islamists on the road to Aleppo. As the news agency Fides reported while Christians were traveling on a bus towards Aleppo,  the bus was stopped by armed Islamists, who had set up a roadblock. The Islamists were scanning the bus, to relieve the passengers relieved  of possessions and looking for potential victims of kidnappings for ransom.  On the 9th of February two priests were  kidnapped in this way. The Armenian Catholic priest Michel Kayyal and the Greek Orthodox priest Maher Mahfouz. Both are still in the hands of Islamist gangs.
As the Islamists in the bus investigated the travelers, they also encountered a Syrian Christians Yohannes an  Armenian, who wore a cross on a necklace. They dragged him out of the bus and shot him at close range. For safety reasons,  as Fides reports, they omitted the messenger service on the publication of his full name in order to protect the family of the victim. As the Armenian Church announced, he is a "martyr", because the Christian was killed in "odium fidei", out of hatred for the Christian faith.
Just recently, a group of Christians to reach Beirut to escape the perilous situation in Syria. Their bus was hit by a rocket in flight. Two Christians, Boutros and his 22 year old fiancée Naraya, who wanted to get married soon, were killed. Islamists then stole everything they could steal in this bus brutally brought to a halt.
The Christian churches in Syria have decided not to pay a ransom for kidnapped Christians. A decision that was made after much consideration, as Fides reported, because Christians do not want to be prisoners of a lucrative Islamist kidnapping industry. If they were to pay, it would just such but inflame.
Instead, call the churches to the international community to take action against the inhumane practice of kidnapping in Syria. The Christians of Syria urge all Christians to support through prayer and spiritual sacrifices. Fides reported that the church tours in Syria, it is agreed that the rescue of the hostages, including the two priests, is to lead a spiritual battle and not as fundraising to collect money  for ransom payments.
Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Faith

Link to katholisches...

Saturday, February 9, 2013

Syria: Islamic Rebels Plant Bomb in Church

Rampaging and plundering of the main church of the Syrian border town of Ras al-Ayn

Damaskus (kath.net/KAP)  The Syrian-Orthodox Archbishop Matta Roham has complained again of the dramatic situation in the Hassake-Djazira region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The Bishop has reported to the relief organization CSI-Österreich that there are almost no Christians living any longer in the midst of the border city of Ras al-Ayn. Islamic rebels have wanted to drive them off, along with their priests. The last eye witnesses report a plundered and desolate church.

Is was there that a 75 year old Christian found a hidden bomb in the main church, which was later disarmed by Christian-friendly Kurds. Archbishop Matta Roham: "The rebels wanted to blow the church in the air along with the rectory as well as the Christian school." Since then the rebels have desolated the city and posted death threats on the street walls against Christians everywhere. The messages are clear. "These Islamic groups want to drive Christians from Ras forever," says the Archbishop.

A ray of light is, says Matta Roham, the Kurds, who want to live in peace with native Christians and are themselves in solidarity: "The Church is holy. Rebels get out" is an written in the inner walls of the damaged churches in their language, reported the Archbishop.

Ras al-Ayn located in northeastern Syria on the Turkish border. It has around 24,000 inhabitants, the off - composed Syriacs (Syrians and Assyrians), Arabs, Kurds, Armenians, Turks and Chechens - now sold.

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Trappist Nuns In Syria Do Not Fear Fate of Trappists in Algeria

(Damascus)  They came to the near East in 2005 with the intention to live out the Christianization of the first centuries after Christ.   Their history is comparable to the Trappist monks of Tibhirine in Algeria, who in 1996 were murdered by a moderate Islamic group.  Xavier Beauvaus created a memorial for them and their martyrdom by the film "Of Men and Gods".

The comparison is more pressing when one things of the five Trappists, who left their peaceful and isolated Cloister in Valserena in Tuscany, Italy, in order to go to Syria.  A land whose internal situation had been already tense and in the midst of a civil war with thousands of deaths and flooded with hundreds of thousands of refugees.

Why have they decided to found a new Cloister in an unstable country like Syria?  "Because Christianity had developed here and spread from here to Asia Minor, Greece, Rome, Armenia, India and China", say the sisters.  "in the first centuries the mission was led by a living Monastic movement, which existed alone and independently of one another here and in Egypt."  The sisters recall St. Ephraem the Syrian, Saint Simeon the Stylite, St. John Chrysostom or St. John of Damascus, whose traces they follow.  "Going out from our Latin and Benedictine Tradition we want to follow the stream, because we are convinced of the rich fruits, which will come about in an exchange between the West and Eastern heritage of Christendom."


So the Cloister of Azeir exists amidst the civil war afflicted cities of Homs and Tartous in Central Asia. The sisters feel a mission in that, which resembles that of the monks of Tibhirine:  to help Christians and Muslims without respect to religion, to be a lighthouse of peace and harmony in the civil war,  which they did not foresee when the five Trappists set foot for the first time on Syrian soil. "Now we belong to these people.  The fate of the Syrians is our fate,"  says Abbess Monica to AsiaNews.

The nuns reported on their internet site established and independent of all propaganda of one of the other sides of the civil war and the fate of Syria's Christians.   Some of the letters of the last months could have been called out.  They described for everyone the suffering of the civilian population.  For them the Cloister is clearly a sign of hope, because it is "a place, where God is really present through the Eucharist and through the Church, through the prayer and the brotherly community.  It is a blessing for all."

"Why should we go away?" was the astonished response of the sisters.  "The people here ring our door.  They seek help, diverse help.   They ask for food, they seek consolation, young men have started to come to us, because they are seeking someone to help them to understand things, to reflect, to grow innerly."  The Cloister offers already numerous people sanctuary and accommodation, people, who are have been made refugees by government troops or the rebels, people who are pursued by one side or the other.  Even as a place for secret business, the Cloister is on hand.

"We are called to give a witness of our Christian hohpe, which is stronger than all worry.  Why should we go away from a place, where the people so desperately need this hope",  said the Abbess to Asia News.

Text: Religion en libertad/Giuseppe Nardi
Bild: Valserena

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

News Clips -- Planned Attack on Marriage at Bishops' Synod

Conspirators Handled as Advertised -- Objection to Illegal Criminal Penalty ---- Settlers Storm an Abandoned Outpost -- Bad Comparison -- The Crimes of Syrian Terrorists

Plotters Handled as Advertised

Vatican.  The conspirer Bishop Felix Gmur of Basel stood in -- as it had been long planned before -- on behalf of adultery at the Bishops' Synod.  Msgr Gmur the specially drilled journalists, how the Church addresses people, who "live in other family forms".  He prated on of two divorced bigamists, who have lived for fifty years in adultery.  Bishop Gmur would like to know if fifty years of fornication "can't be really valid in our eyes".  The Church should recognize adultery -- demanded Msgr. Gmur.

Objection to Illegal Criminal Penalty

Germany.  The British SSPX Bishop Richard Williamson has lodged a claim against the new German penalty.  The penalty was conformed to a non-existing sin, according to international legal standards, of "inciting hatred".  Another hearing will take place next year.

Settlers Storm an Empty Outpost

Occupied Palestine.  Dozens of Jewish settlers recently attack -- under the protection of heavily armed occupation soldiers -- in the abandoned outpost of the settlement Tarsala south of the 40,000 population city of Jenin in the northerly West Bank.  Witnesses reported that fourteen vehicles with bands of settlers stormed the place.  After that security patrols were led into the streets between Jenin and Nablus.  The inhabitants were threatened and insulted.

Poor Comparison

Germany.  The New Evangelization must be begun by individuals.  The Neoconservative Cardinal Joachim Meisner said this for the to the press official of the Diocese of Basel.  As Christianity received its freedom under the Emperor Constantine in 313, it didn't give Christian families and Christian schools:  "Then one began at point null and we appear to be again at that point."  Only:  Then, Catholics were highly motivated and anchored firmly in the faith.

Crimes of the Syrian Terrorists

"The refugees from the terrorist infested part of Aleppo report of abortion, kidnapping, abuse and burned from their homes and their cars stolen.  'My son was shot by a sniper of the [so-called] Free Syrian Army', shouted a father infuriated in an abandon school functioning as a refugee camp.  The boy has a cast on his foot and metal rods in his bones after an operation.

From an article on the online-edution of 'Springer' daily news 'Welt' about the foreign terrorists inciting a Syrian civil war on the 25th September.




Saturday, October 13, 2012

Melkite Archbishop Injured in Attack

Erzbischof Jean Clément Jeanbart
© Pressefoto
On Thursday, a Catholic Archbishop was injured in an attack in north Syria.

(kreuz.net)  Archbishop Jean Clément Jeanbart (69) of Aleppo was wounded in an attack on Thursday.

This was reported by the site 'lesalonbeige.blogs.com' on Thursday.

Particulars are not presently known.

His Residence Was Plundered in August

The crime was perpetrated by imported jihadists, who are supported by Western regimes.

Msgr. Jeanbart belongs to the Melkite Catholic Church.   These are Byzantine Catholics who speak Arabic.
Already in August the residence was plundered by Islamic terrorists.

Aleppo is a 1.7 million population city in outer northwestern Syria.  It is located 150 km from the Turkish border.

Approximately 15 to 20 percent of the population is Christian.


Assad is increasingly popular

A collaboration between Saudi and Turkish secret services in the attack is not ruled out.

The US CIA, British MI-6 as well as the German 'Bundnachrichtendienst' deliver weapons and communications equipment to the terrorists.

In the course of the battle Assad is considered even more popular and heroic with the general population, regardless of religion, as he ever was.

He can depend on the help of Russia, Lebanon, Cyprus, China, India as well as Shi'ite Iran.

He Warns the USA

The Western Jihadis are leading a brutal campaign against the minorities -- especially against Christians.

Their most serious enemies are the various Bishops, who call for peace, or the various Sunni Imams, who call for dialog with the government of the Alawite President Baschar al-Assad (47).

As the US imputed that his country had weapons of mass destruction and so that they could support Iraq in 2003, Archbishop Jeanbart explained:

"That the USA has designs is very possible, and we must prepare ourselves, because they spread disinformation."

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