The Voice of the suffering and persecuted​

"I can’t even begin to describe the joy I am feeling. After so much suffering and uncertainty, I feel safe again. I am filled with hope for a better life. Christmas reminds me of the feeling of security that comes from being in a family.”

“Christians are the soul of the country and they play a very important role in Middle Eastern societies. They are the peacemakers. Christians work for peace and peaceful co-existence and collaboration for the good of the country.”

“You forget about yourself when you see the joyful faces of the people. All that remains is the sincere affection of a humble and simple people. That is something that gives me great strength as a priest."

“I encourage everyone to always be happy and prepared to spread the message throughout the entire neighborhood that the Lord is here, that there is a truth here. The Lord wants us to be joyful and we have to show everyone our joy in the risen Lord, despite all the difficulties.”

"The [parents] are too poor to be able to afford the legal expenses to bring such cases to court. The result is that the abductors have an easy time of it, often thanks to the complicity of the police themselves who, instead of encouraging the parents to pursue the case, actually help abductors by advising them about the legal loopholes they can make use of.”

"Christians are facing the question of emigration, of looking for a better way of life. There’s a risk of losing the young generation: they don’t want to stay in Lebanon. There are too many question marks about the country’s future."

“Of course, we do all we can to help these brothers and sisters of ours, but we are above all a work of evangelization. Jesus healed, preached, blessed and lived among the people, just as we do at the Bethlehem Mission."

"The same God who had inspired in her her virginity, was now offering her maternity – the motherhood of the Promised One, the Awaited One of Israel. Virginity and motherhood, which in this case are not opposites but marvelously harmonious."

“Persecuted & Forgotten?” warns that the Church in the region could vanish if radical Islamists were to mount another attack on vulnerable communities—a threat highlighted by reports of jihadists escaping prison, as a result of renewed violence in northeastern Syria.