The Voice of the suffering in Middle East

In 2019, most Lebanese dioceses saw their money in the banking system vanish overnight, making it difficult for them to afford to pay for the tuition and formation of their seminarians.

They were travelling together April 22, 2013, when their vehicle was stopped by suspected islamist militants. Their driver, a Syriac Orthodox deacon, was shot and killed on the spot, but the two hierarchs were taken and have not been heard from since.

“Over the past year, some of our churches, funeral processions, and places of public gathering have become targets of attack; some of our holy sites and cemeteries have been desecrated; and some of our ancient liturgies, such as the Palm Sunday Procession and the Holy Fire Ceremony, have been closed off to thousands of worshipers."

"We don't ask for anything special as Christians, we want to be treated just as Iraqi citizens, equal to anybody else, no more, no less. We want our human dignity to be respected as all other Iraqi people.”

He was injured during the Syrian war, in 2012, when a staircase collapsed during a bombing, crushing his hands and much of his face.

Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) has committed to providing more than US$550,000 in aid to help Christians return to their apartments and houses, and support families with rent for temporary accommodation in the meantime.