The Voice of the suffering in Middle East

Syrian monk Father Jacques Mourad spent five months in 2015 as a captive of ISIS. He recently spoke about his experience at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.

Father Samir Khalil Samir, an Egyptian Jesuit priest and noted specialist in Islam, teaches at the Institute of Oriental Studies in Rome. He spoke with international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need on the eve of the visit of Pope Francis to Egypt.

In recent years, Easter has been a sad occasion for Aleppo’s Christians; Good Friday was ever-present, and the light of the resurrection seemed far away. Only last year, Sister Annie Demerjian told international Catholic Charity Aid to the Church in Need that “our children get coffins for Easter.”

Behind the scenes, quietly and discreetly, 82 women religious belonging to various congregations are serving the Church in Damascus. They are the great force, which, drawing strength from the breath of the Holy Spirit, gives life to charisms of the Gospel in a country torn apart by war.

In the wake of twin terror attacks on two churches in Egypt that killed 44 people, Coptic Catholic Bishop Kyrillos William of Assiut called on Christians around the world to pray for the victims.