Bishop of Aleppo Performed Marian Consecration on Saturday

Marian consecration in North Syria coincides with the papal trip on the 12th and 13th of May in Fatima - Bishop: In the Marian Month of May, "all the churches are full of the faithful who pray the Rosary, kneel before the exposed Eucharist and recite litanies"

Rome (kath.net/KAP) The Christian community in Aleppo is preparing to celebrate the Fatima Jubilee and dedicate Syria's second-largest city to the Mother of God of the Fatima Apparition of Portugal. This was reported by the Chaldean bishop of Aleppo, Antoine Audo, on Wednesday, according to the Roman mission news agency "AsiaNews". According to this, the consecration should bear testimony of a faith which "remained strong" in the time of the affliction on Saturday, May 13th. In the past few years the feeling of a "deep fellowship" reaching beyond confessional boundaries has developed, the bishop said.

The Marian Consecration in North Syria coincides with the Apostolic Journey of Pope Francis on the 12th and 13th of May. In Fatima, 100 years ago Mary appeared to the shepherd children, Francisco Marto, Jacinta Marto, and Lucia dos Santos; Francisco, the sibling of Marto, already beatified in 2000, will be sanctified in Fatima on Saturday.

"It must be said that the whole month of May is important to the Christian communities of Aleppo," said Bishop Audo, "all the churches are full of the faithful who pray the Rosary, kneel before the suspended Eucharist and recite litanies Very important time, it is a tradition that is deeply rooted and has lasted all the time. "

The three days of the festivities dedicated to the Mother of God of Fatima in Aleppo, organized on the initiative of the Latin parish of St. Francis, began on Thursday, 11 May, with a prayer at 5 pm. The highlight of the celebrations was Saturday, May 13th, with the Pope's Mass in Fatima, a solemn Eucharistic celebration in the St. Francis Cathedral, in which all the bishops and priests who are present in Aleppo and the surrounding area are participating. The faithful of all confessions in the largest north-Syrian city are invited to the Mass.

"The long-standing epicenter of the Syrian conflict is dedicated to Our Lady of Fatima - after a procession with the statue by the streets," said Audo. This highly symbolic gesture is linked with the hope "that it can help to restore peace not only in Syria but throughout the Middle East after decades of conflict."

"The consecration of Aleppo to Mary and the issue of peace are a source of hope and a sign of our presence as a Church," said the Chaldean bishop: "We also want to use the event to address the themes of dialogue, unity and invitation to the Church. And not only among the various Christian denominations, but also with the inclusion of the Muslims by taking advantage of the huge echo produced by the Pope's visit to Egypt."

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
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Iraqi Franciscan Freed in Syria

Orontem region especially dangerous for Christians. Aleppo / Jerusalem (kath.net/ KNA) A week ago in the Syrian province of Idlib, a kidnapped Iraqi religious is free again. As the Franciscan Administration of the Holy Land in Jerusalem announced on Friday night, apparently police investigations led to the release of 41-year-old Iraqi.

The Franciscan Dhiya Aziz, a minister in Jacoubieh, was arrested last Saturday by an unknown armed group of fighters southwest of Aleppo and brought for questioning to the local emir. Since then, there has been no contact with him. According to information of the Order it was initially suspected that Jabhat al-Nusra, an al-Qaeda affiliated rebel group, had participated in the kidnapping.

Born in Mosul, Aziz had first worked in Egypt and Jordan, from which he volunteered to go to Syriac Lattakieh and was then assigned to Jacoubieh. The region on the Orontes is considered particularly dangerous, since it has fallen under the control of al-Nusra Jabhat.

In June, a Catholic priest was also killed in an attack on a Franciscan monastery by rebels in the province of Idlib. The monastery was robbed. A friar also living at the place and sisters were unhurt. (C) 2015 Catholic News Agency KNA GmbH. All rights reserved. Link to kath.net... Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com AMDG

Islam or Death? -- Islamists Take 2,000 Christians as Hostages and Threaten with Being Shot

(Damascus) Two thousand Christians are hostages in the hands of the Islamists. On Saturday night the rebel Salafist Brigade Al-Nusra took the Christian town of Kanaye. Since then, they have kept the Christians of the place hostage, as the retired Bishop of Aleppo, Bishop Giuseppe Nazzaro reported. A resident of Kanaye, who escaped, called the bishop and brought him the bad news. The Islamists offer the Christians two the alternatives: Islam or death.

"Based on the information available to me, I can say that the Al-Qaeda fighters have invaded the village on Saturday. First, they occupied the church and prevented the priest from sounding the bells of the church tower and alarm to warn the Christians," said Bishop Nazzaro. He fears for the lives of Christians of Kanaye, one of the many Christian places of Syria. "The Islamists have blocked all access routes to Kanaye and Christians explained that Islamic law is now in effect in Kanaye. The Islamists threatened the Christians: If even one woman is found unveiled on the road, all Christians would be executed. People are terrorized. Communication is unfortunately broken. Today it was not possible for me to make contact. What is currently happening in Kanaye, I can not say," said the bishop.

  In Aleppo, 15 Children Were Killed

Another village was taken in 2012 in the same manner by he Islamist group Ghassanieh,  near Kanaye, in the region Idlib. The churches and holy places were looted, Christians symbols were destroyed, especially the cross. The homes of Christians were seized by the Islamists. The Christians had to give up their homes and fled. "The same fate now threatens Kanaye. We would currently be happy if we knew that the Christians could get away with their lives," said Msgr Nazzaro.

In Aleppo, the Syrian Air Force flew an attack on the rebel-controlled part of the city. In this case, 83 people were killed, including 15 children.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
 image: Asianews
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
Link to katholisches....
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Murdered Christians: "Why Does Not the World Raise Their Voice?" -- Islamists Plunder Saint Symeon Monastery

Edit: now we probably begin to understand more of what motivated the men who travelled thousands of miles on foot to fight the Turk.

(Damascus) In the meantime details about the murder of 45 Christians in Sadad are becoming known. A whole family was thrown alive into a well by the Islamists, where they died. Islamist rebels in the north also targeted the "Rock of Symeon" from the 5th Century. The "rock of Simeon" in Arabic, Kalat Siman, is a large monastery with cathedral from the early Byzantine period. It originated as a spiritual center in the place where the saint Symeon the Stylite lived on a column until his death after 37 years. Symeon Stylites died in 459 and became the first pillar saint in Church history.

During his lifetime he was sought by thousands of pilgrims, seeking advice and assistance, as Symeon was not had a reputation for holiness, but God worked many miracles through him. Even Emperor Theodosius II (401-450) climbed up the column in order to ask him for advice. The rush of pilgrims was also so great after his death, that the Byzantine Emperor Zeno (425-491) established the Symeon Cloister on the road to Antioch, 35 km to the north west of Aleppo. During his reign the mighty cathedral and the monastery was built as a pilgrimage center. At the center of the great crossroads is the 15-18 meter high pillar on which according to tradition the saint had lived on a wooden platform.

Saint Symeon the Stylite Islamic conquest in 1164

After the conquest of Islam had rolled over it several times , the monastery was near the border between the Byzantine Empire and the Islamic sphere. In the 10th Century, the monastery was fortified because of the increasing Islamic pressure. 1164 saw the conquest by the Seljuk Turks and the Muslim decline.

The jihadists of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant control part of the city of Aleppo have recently put the Cathedral of Saint Symeon the Stylite in the crosshairs. They destroyed what was left to destroy that was recognizably Christian and dragged away what was more valuable, reported Le veilleur de Nineveh. The impressive ruins are a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

"How Can You Commit Such Inhuman and Brutal Acts?"

The area of ​​Aleppo near the Turkish border is in a dramatic situation, as the Christian Claude Z. says: "The situation is critical: we have had no electricity for ten days, there is a lack of food, rebels and army are fighting and the Islamist terrorists have introduced Sharia law in the areas they where they control part of the city. "

As Kirche in Not [The Catholic relief organization in German Zone] has reported, 30 of the 45 CHristians killed in Sadad were found in two mass graves. Many of the dead showed signs of abuse. Among them were old people, women and the disabled. Six members of a family, including a 90-year-old woman were thrown alive into a well by the Islamists , where they perished miserably.

The Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarch of Antioch, Gregory III. Laham said, "How can one commit such inhuman and bestial acts to older people and their families? I do not understand: Why does not the world raise their voice against such brutality. Extremism and fanaticism have overtaken Syria. What has happened in Sadad exemplifies what experience of all Christians in Syria is."

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
 Image: Wikicommons
Tancred: vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches...

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Patriarch of Antioch Refuses to Leave Syria

Zakka I Iwas rejects speculation about internal church dispute over abducted bishops of Aleppo Vatican City (kath.net / KAP) The Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch, Mar Ignatius Zakka Iwas, does not want to leave his headquarters in Damascus. He made it clear to his office, reported the press service Vatican Fides on Monday. In a statement, the to Fides, it has denied rumors that Zakka I Iwas wanted to move the seat of the Patriarchate because of the Syrian civil war to Turkey. Such a move only magnify the risk that the Syrian Orthodox Church would be "wiped out".

Since the beginning of the fighting there were multiple bombs detonated in the Christian Quarter of Damascus and dozens of people were killed. Radical Islamic fighters among the ranks of the rebels are allegedly suspected to be behind the attacks.

"We don't want only the survival of the See of Antioch in Syria, but also that all people across the country to stay here," he says in the letter. This applies to "our Muslim brothers" just as we hope for the other Christian communities in Syria. The 80 year old Patriarch further informed the office he is in good health. Speculations were rejected with indignation, according to which there has been an intra-church dispute over the abduction of the two Archbishops of Aleppo. There is no sign that bishops Mar Gregorios Yohanna Ibrahim (Syrian Orthodox) and Boulos al-Yazigi (Greek Orthodox) missing since since the 22nd of April re still alive. Copyright 2013 Catholic Press Agency, Vienna, Austria

Kath.news...

Syria: Christian Dragged From Bus and Shot, Because he Wore a Cross

(Damascus) A Syrian Christian of the Armenian Church was put to death by Islamists on the road to Aleppo. As the news agency Fides reported while Christians were traveling on a bus towards Aleppo,  the bus was stopped by armed Islamists, who had set up a roadblock. The Islamists were scanning the bus, to relieve the passengers relieved  of possessions and looking for potential victims of kidnappings for ransom.  On the 9th of February two priests were  kidnapped in this way. The Armenian Catholic priest Michel Kayyal and the Greek Orthodox priest Maher Mahfouz. Both are still in the hands of Islamist gangs.

As the Islamists in the bus investigated the travelers, they also encountered a Syrian Christians Yohannes an  Armenian, who wore a cross on a necklace. They dragged him out of the bus and shot him at close range. For safety reasons,  as Fides reports, they omitted the messenger service on the publication of his full name in order to protect the family of the victim. As the Armenian Church announced, he is a "martyr", because the Christian was killed in "odium fidei", out of hatred for the Christian faith.

Just recently, a group of Christians to reach Beirut to escape the perilous situation in Syria. Their bus was hit by a rocket in flight. Two Christians, Boutros and his 22 year old fiancée Naraya, who wanted to get married soon, were killed. Islamists then stole everything they could steal in this bus brutally brought to a halt.

The Christian churches in Syria have decided not to pay a ransom for kidnapped Christians. A decision that was made after much consideration, as Fides reported, because Christians do not want to be prisoners of a lucrative Islamist kidnapping industry. If they were to pay, it would just such but inflame.

Instead, call the churches to the international community to take action against the inhumane practice of kidnapping in Syria. The Christians of Syria urge all Christians to support through prayer and spiritual sacrifices. Fides reported that the church tours in Syria, it is agreed that the rescue of the hostages, including the two priests, is to lead a spiritual battle and not as fundraising to collect money  for ransom payments.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Faith

Link to katholisches...

Melkite Archbishop Injured in Attack

Erzbischof Jean Clément Jeanbart
© Pressefoto

On Thursday, a Catholic Archbishop was injured in an attack in north Syria.

(kreuz.net)  Archbishop Jean Clément Jeanbart (69) of Aleppo was wounded in an attack on Thursday.

This was reported by the site 'lesalonbeige.blogs.com' on Thursday.

Particulars are not presently known.

His Residence Was Plundered in August

The crime was perpetrated by imported jihadists, who are supported by Western regimes.

Msgr. Jeanbart belongs to the Melkite Catholic Church.   These are Byzantine Catholics who speak Arabic.
Already in August the residence was plundered by Islamic terrorists.

Aleppo is a 1.7 million population city in outer northwestern Syria.  It is located 150 km from the Turkish border.

Approximately 15 to 20 percent of the population is Christian.


Assad is increasingly popular

A collaboration between Saudi and Turkish secret services in the attack is not ruled out.

The US CIA, British MI-6 as well as the German 'Bundnachrichtendienst' deliver weapons and communications equipment to the terrorists.

In the course of the battle Assad is considered even more popular and heroic with the general population, regardless of religion, as he ever was.

He can depend on the help of Russia, Lebanon, Cyprus, China, India as well as Shi'ite Iran.

He Warns the USA

The Western Jihadis are leading a brutal campaign against the minorities -- especially against Christians.

Their most serious enemies are the various Bishops, who call for peace, or the various Sunni Imams, who call for dialog with the government of the Alawite President Baschar al-Assad (47).

As the US imputed that his country had weapons of mass destruction and so that they could support Iraq in 2003, Archbishop Jeanbart explained:

"That the USA has designs is very possible, and we must prepare ourselves, because they spread disinformation."

Link to original...

Aleppo's Bishops to Pope: Syria is Desparate

The six Catholic bishops of Aleppo have called for ending the bloody conflict in Syria in an urgent message to Pope Benedict XVI.

Aleppo / Beirut (kath.net / KNA) Six Catholic bishops of Aleppo have called for ending the bloody conflict in Syria. In a message to Pope Benedict XVI. on the 24th of September, who is currently on his travel abroad in Lebanon, they ask the head of the church to demand from the international community a peaceful solution for Syria. The current conflict is destroying the country and bringing poverty and despair to the people.

For more than two months, the city is located in the center of the fighting between the Syrian army and armed opposition groups, say the Catholic bishops of Aleppo. In this situation, we have refrained from participating in the Pope's Lebanon-visit and to remain at the side of the Syrian believers. Benedict XVI. should advocate an end to the fighting on Syrian soil and encourage the parties in a "serious and effective dialogue for national reconciliation" to the heads of state and international organizations. The appeal was signed by a Greek Catholic, Syrian Catholic, Armenian Catholic, Maronite, Chaldean and the Latin bishop of Aleppo. (C) 2012 Subject Catholic News Agency KNA GmbH.