Middle East

Syriac Catholic bishops from around the world met for their annual ordinary synod in Iraq, the first to be held outside Lebanon — where the patriarchal seat is located — in more than 125 years.

Most of the Gaza population is made of youth, and most of them have never been involved in violent acts. But they pay the price of trauma for violence between Israel and Palestine over the years. Father Gabriel Romanelli, who serves Gaza Holy Family Parish, is on a mission to change it.

For the last stop of his four-day journey, Pope Francis chose to visit Sacred Heart Church, which was consecrated in 1939 and was the first church built in a Gulf nation.

“Amid deep fault lines and economic, religious, confessional and political conflicts, we are called to offer our witness to unity and peace,” the pope said Feb. 23 as he joined 60 bishops from Europe, the Middle East and North Africa at the end of a five-day meeting in the southern Italian coastal city of Bari.

Christianity is disappearing from towns and cities in parts of the Middle East, warns a new report from the papal foundation Aid to the Church in Need.

Sam Brownback, ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, urged more prayer and action to continue supporting persecuted Christians in the Middle East.

As war continues to threaten the land of Jesus’ birth and to undermine the existence of Christian communities there, the international community must learn from the errors of the past and do more to bring lasting peace to the Middle East, Pope Francis said.

Pope Francis will travel to Bari, the southern Italian Adriatic port city, July 7 to host a day of reflection and ecumenical prayer for peace in the Middle East.