Newsfeed
Young people in Syria, Lebanon, to mark WYD at home
Publication Date: 24/7/2023
Source: Crux Now
With just under two weeks to go until World Youth Day celebrations begin in Lisbon, Portugal, young people from every corner of the globe are making final preparations ahead of their departure.
Explainer: From Stella Maris to St. Elijah, what is happening with the Christians in Haifa
Author: Ibrahim Husseini
Publication Date: 1/8/2023
Source: The New Arab
Over the past several months, members of an ultra-orthodox Jewish sect known as Berslav Hasidim have been making unwelcome visits to the Catholic monastery of Stella Maris in Haifa. The sect's followers believe that the grave of an Israelite prophet called Elisha is in the ancient monastery.
ACN gives Syrian and Lebanese youth a taste of World Youth Day
Author: Felipe d’Avillez
Publication Date: 24/7/2023
Source: Aid to the Church in Need
With financial and logistical difficulties making it almost impossible for most Lebanese and Syrian Christians to attend World Youth Day (WYD) in Lisbon, local initiatives are being planned to provide participants with a similar experience.
Blunting the Militia Campaign Against Iraq’s Christian Leaders
Author: Yaqoub Beth-Addai, Michael Knights
Publication Date: 25/7/2023
Source: The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
A U.S.-sanctioned, Iran-backed militia leader aims to sideline the country’s Chaldean Patriarch and take over billions of dollars’ worth of Christian property.
Iran: Former prisoner pardoned
Publication Date: 11/8/2023
Source: Middle East Concern
Iranian Christians are pleased that a two-year term of internal exile, which was part of sentences issued in 2017, has been dropped for Christian convert Zaman (Saheb) Fadaei.
SYRIA: Archbishops demand West lift sanctions crippling Christian community
Author: Amy Balog
Publication Date: 27/7/2023
Source: Aid to the Church in Need
Syriac-Catholic leaders told a member of the Italian government that the economic sanctions against Syria are crushing the country’s Christian community and must be relaxed.
Archbishop Jacques Mourad of Homs, west Syria, said that the embargo imposed by western nations negatively impacts the general population and Christians in particular, while having no effect on the government, its intended target.
In Iran, Christians Do Not Live an Easy Life
Publication Date: 23/8/2023
Source: FSSPX.News
Since the beginning of the summer of 2023, Iranian authorities have arrested several dozen Muslim converts to Christianity, as well as cradle Christians. The mullahs' crackdown on religious minorities intensifies as the first anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini approaches, an event that marked the beginning of an era of protest unprecedented in the country since the fall of the Shah in 1979.
Evangelical Alliance Accepts Iran Invite. Critics Claim Broken Engagement.
Author: Jayson Casper
Publication Date: 10/8/2023
Source: Christianity Today
Last June, the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) received a peculiar invitation. On the sidelines of the 53rd meeting of the United Nation’s Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva, the government of Iran organized a forum entitled “The Role of Religions in Promoting Human Rights.”
Archeparch Nassar: Syrian Christians lost their main assets, family and vocations
Publication Date: 31/7/2023
Source: Asia News
Syrian Christians lost two important assets, the family and vocations, as a result of the country’s brutal civil war and the serious economic crisis that followed, compounded by Western sanctions against the regime of President of Bashar al-Assad, this according to Maronite Archeparch Samir Nassar of Damascus.
Freedom Focus Report: Despite Government Persecution, the Iranian Church Grows
Publication Date: 24/7/2023
Source: Persecution - International Christian Concern
Escalating civil unrest in Iran has led to intensifying governmental pressure on Christians. Increasingly stricter laws concerning the hijab, which could land those “encouraging lax hijab” up to 10 years in prison for “moral corruption,” have sparked furious protests, leading to brutal repression through deadly force by the government.
