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

Pressure on Christians grew in 2013

Pressure on Christians grew in 2013
More than ever, some of the hardest places for Christians to live are fragile or failed states where militant Islamist movements flourish, according to an annual report on Christian religious freedom. Pressure on Christians intensified worldwide in 2013, according to Open Doors International, a charity that provides support to Christians . . . Read More

UK Parliament is told Christianity is ‘most persecuted religion’

UK Parliament is told Christianity is ‘most persecuted religion’
The Bishop Moussa Coptic Church in Minya was destroyted by pro-Morsi supporters in Egypt, many of whom blamed Christians for his overthrow.David Degner, Getty Images   The plight of Christians around the world was discussed in a three-hour debate at the Houses of Parliament in London yesterday. Members of the . . . Read More

‘Biggest massacre yet’ in Syria

Rebel forces in Syria have carried out the “most serious and biggest massacre of Christians” since the conflict began, Syrian priests told Fides. In the Christian town of Sadad, near Homs, 1,500 families were held hostage in the last week of October and 45 killed and thrown into mass graves, . . . Read More