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Last Updated: 28 March 2015

CWN - A leader of the Assyrian Church of the East has sent a message to the leaders of the Islamic State, telling them that Christians are not supporting any of the armed groups fighting in Syria.

Christianity is “unrelated to the culture of weapons,” Assyrian Bishop Afram Athnil said. He said that armed groups that have been organized to defend Assyrian villages are not organized or supported by the Assyrian Church, nor has the Church sought an alliance with Kurds against the Islamic State.

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Last Updated: 28 March 2015

CWN - The secretary of the Congregation for the Eastern Churches has concluded a six-day visit to Syria to express the Holy See’s closeness to the war-torn nation.

Archbishop Cyril Vasil’ prayed at the tomb of a slain Jesuit priest, met with leaders of Caritas, and took part in a prayer vigil for peace at the Melkite Greek Catholic cathedral in Damascus.

During the vigil, he told the nation’s Catholic and Orthodox bishops that the Pope “will never forget you” and that he holds them in “constant prayer.”

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Last Updated: 28 March 2015

Catholic World News - March 18, 2015

Melkite Catholic Patriarch Gregory III Laham has argued against international intervention to protect Christians from the Islamic State.

“We are a sovereign country with a legitimate government which is responsible for protecting its citizens,” said that Syrian prelate. He told the Fides news agency that anyone truly interested in stopping the bloodshed in Syria should concentrate on stopping the flow of arms and weapons to the contending powers in the Syrian civil war.

Patriarch Gregory said that “all men of good will” should agree that prayer, relief programs to help refugees, and efforts to curb the supply of weapons are the best ways to secure peace.

The Melkite leader said that a decision to close the borders of Lebanon, halting a flood of people fleeing the conflict in Syria, “has aggravated the problem of Christian refugees.” But he told the AsiaNews service that the number of displaced people within Syria is “an even greater problem.”

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Last Updated: 28 March 2015

Catholic World News - March 18, 2015

The Vatican’s Secretary of State has issued a statement condemning a terrorist attack that killed at least 19 people at a museum in Tunisia.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin said that the assault was “cruel, inhuman, unthinkable, and deserving of absolute condemnation.”

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Last Updated: 28 March 2015

CWN - Reflecting on the collect of the Mass for the Solemnity of St. Joseph, Cardinal Robert Sarah, the prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, said in a brief article that the sacred liturgy is a treasure that is not ours, but something “received through pure grace.”

A humble attitude in the presence of this treasure leads priest and people alike to fulfill liturgical norms, he continued.

Guarding the sacred liturgy, Cardinal Sarah wrote, “does not mean remaining closed in the past,” but “maintaining sound tradition” and being open to “a legitimate progress.” Active participation in the liturgy, he added, leads to active participation in the life of the Church, including works of charity.

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Last Updated: 28 March 2015

CWN - Speaking at the Iraqi parliament, the head of the Chaldean Catholic Church has called for the prosecution of clergy who incite violence.

Patriarch Louis Raphael I Sako also called for a greater distinction between religious and political institutions in Iraq, according to a Fides report.