Where a Roman Catholic deacon ponders the world
A glimpse at life in one corner of war-ravaged Aleppo, Syria, from AFP: The aging Christians holed up inside a retirement home in the devastated northern Syrian city of Aleppo have no light, no telephone lines, and little idea of what is happening in the outside world. But fellow Christians and rebel fighters still ensure [...]
Sobering news for Christmas: Christianity faces being wiped out of the “biblical heartlands” in the Middle East because of mounting persecution of worshippers, according to a new report. The study warns that Christians suffer greater hostility across the world than any other religious group. And it claims politicians have been “blind” to the extent of [...]
Amazing. Read on: The Vatican’s ambassador to Iraq and a number of monks held the first mass in 1,500 years in one of the oldest monasteries in the Iraqi city of al-Hira (south of Najaf), and met with the top Iraqi Shiite cleric, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. Hira had been a spiritual capital for Christians, and [...]
It couldn’t be a more timely or urgent declaration. Details: Pope Benedict XVI presented a major document calling on Catholics in the Middle East to engage in dialogue with Orthodox, Jewish and Muslim neighbors, but also to affirm and defend their right to live freely in the region where Christianity was born. In a ceremony [...]
That’s from Archbishop Bashar Matti Warda, who serves the Chaldean Catholic Archdiocese of Erbil in northern Iraq. He spoke with Tim Drake of the National Catholic Register: What are three things you would like American Catholics to know about Catholics in Iraq? First, that Christianity has had a presence in Iraq for 2,000 years. It’s [...]
Sad and sobering news, from the New York Times: Iraq’s dwindling Christians, driven from their homes by attacks and intimidation, are beginning to abandon the havens they had found in the country’s north, discouraged by unemployment and a creeping fear that the violence they had fled was catching up to them. Their quiet exodus to [...]
“The so-called ‘Arab Spring’ sweeping the Middle East holds much promise, yet we must remain vigilant. The Church abhors the use of violence to meet any goal. Violence can never be justified. We want to see a Middle East renewed in its respect of human rights and dignity, especially for her minorities. We want to [...]
Join the Discussions of the Year of Faith
Click here throughout the Year of Faith, as the Catholic Channel at Patheos.com invites Catholics of every age and stripe to share what they are gleaning and carrying away from this gift of timely focus.
Follow Patheos on
Copyright 2008-2013, Patheos. All rights reserved. Terms of Service | Patheos Privacy Policy | Site developed by Avalon Consulting, LLC
Follow Patheos
Catholic: