The Voice of the suffering in Middle East

Baghdad offering incentives for Christians to return to Iraq. Al-Zaidi’s words will be discussed at the upcoming meeting of Catholic bishops. Iraq’s Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi has declared the return of Christian families a national priority and pledged to include returnees in a government program that is offering 1 million residential plots. “The return of Christians who were forced to leave the country due to the difficult circumstances Iraq endured is a national and government priority. Iraq’s true strength lies ...

Blessed Elias Hoyek, founder of the Maronite Sisters of the Holy Family, a project partner of Aid to the Church in Need, is considered father of “Greater Lebanon.” On Saturday, July 25, thousands of faithful will gather in Dimane, the summer residence of the Maronite Patriarch, to celebrate the beatification of Elias Hoyek, founder of the Maronite Sisters of the Holy Family in 1895. Hoyek, who was Patriarch of the Maronite Church from 1898 to 1931, continues to be one ...

Head of the Chaldean Church reveals what he discussed in recent meeting with Iraq’s prime minister. Eleven years after jihadists forced him to leave his homeland, the newly-elected Patriarch of the Chaldean Church heard a promise directly from Iraq’s prime minister: Iraqis who choose to return to the country will receive the gift of a new home and land. Patriarch Paul III Nona of Baghdad met recently with Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Falih al Zaidi, and the churchman was struck ...

Bishops in Pakistan say that a recent Supreme Court decision is part of a cycle of injustice for victims of persecution. Bishops in Pakistan have spoken of their dismay after the country’s Supreme Court quashed the sentences of three men convicted of killing a Christian man and his pregnant wife, who were burned to death after being thrown into a brick kiln. In interviews with Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), Bishops Samson Shukardin and Indrias Rehmat ...

City authorities want religious organizations to be subject to the “Arnona.” A bishop explains why an exemption should continue to be granted. Israel’s municipal property tax, known as “Arnona,” has become the center of a new standoff between Churches and the municipality of Jerusalem. Christian leaders fear that challenging the exemptions enjoyed by certain ecclesiastical properties could compromise their religious, educational and social activities. In a conversation with Aid to the Church in Need International (ACN), Bishop William Shomali, Auxiliary ...

Initially scheduled for March, the festival was postponed due to the conflicts that have affected the Middle East. The Pope has encouraged more than 700 young people who lived through Iraq’s jihadist occupation to be the light of the world. In a video shown on Wednesday, July 8 at the Ankawa Youth Meeting (AYM), Pope Leo XIV urged young believers to persevere in faith and become peacemakers despite the region experiencing conflict and instability. “You must be Christ’s light in ...