Tag: Middle East

Marking the two weeks since the US and Israel launched their first attacks on Iran and since the Israeli military resumed strikes in Lebanon, Pope Leo XIV called for an immediate ceasefire.

A Maronite Catholic priest has been killed in southern Lebanon after an Israeli tank fired on a home in the border village of Qlayaa.

The Assembly of Catholic Patriarchs and Bishops in Lebanon issued a statement 5 March in which they called "for an immediate halt to the spiral of violence" currently taking place in the Middle East

As conflict in the Middle East escalated with Israeli airstrikes on nuclear sites in Iran and retaliatory drone attacks on Israel, Pope Leo XIV appealed for restraint and renewed the church's calls for nuclear disarmament and peaceful dialogue.

St Michael the Archangel Melkite Catholic Cathedral held an interfaith candlelight vigil on 19 March for the Syrians massacred in recent weeks, mostly members of the minority Alawite community who live on the nation’s coastline.

As the 15-month devastating war reached a point of a ceasefire 15 January, US Bishop A Elias Zaidan of the Maronite Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon expressed hope and optimism following the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, viewing it as a significant step toward peace in a region long marred by violence.

The Vatican's top diplomat met with papal representatives to various Middle Eastern countries to discuss possible avenues toward peace in the region and the state of the Catholic Church there.

Although Christian leaders in Syria are trying to stay positive about the new Islamist interim government in Damascus, others are pointing to worrying concerns about what lies ahead for the country's diverse population.

The seizure of the city of Aleppo by jihadist rebels leaves an uncertain future for some 25,000 Catholics in Syria.

With war and violence plaguing so many parts of the world, Christians can look to the saints to discover from their example the true meaning of peace, Maronite Auxiliary Bishop Paul Rouhana of Beirut told participants at the Synod of Bishops.

As the Israel-Hamas war expands to include attacks in Lebanon—where the Iran-backed Shia militia Hezbollah is based—OSV News interviewed Michel Constantin, regional director for the CNEWA-Pontifical Mission.

Maronite Bishop Antoine-Charbel Tarabay has called on all faithful to pray for peace, as Israel began a “targeted ground operation” in southern Lebanon on 1 October, following airstrikes that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and other senior commanders in a Beirut bunker on 27 September.