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Photo: Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I embrace.
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CWN - An Orthodox prelate in Jerusalem has blasted an Israeli court decision allowing Jewish settlers to purchase properties near the basilica of the Holy Sepulchre.
Archbishop Atallah Hanna said that the properties, which surround monasteries in the Old City of Jerusalem, “were built by bishops, priests, and monks,” and form “part of the heritage of Jerusalem and its cultural, spiritual, and national identity.” He charged that the sellers “do not represent our Arab Church,” and said that they should not be identified as Orthodox.
The archbishop said that the sale of the properties, historically owned by Orthodox believers, played into a scheme to eliminate the Christian presence in Jerusalem.
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CWN - The Christian population in nine Middle Eastern states is 14,526,000, down from 14,740,000 in 2010, according to a report published by the Vatican newspaper.
The total population of Cyprus, Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, and Turkey is 258 million.
The report draws on a recent study by the Catholic Near East Welfare Association on Christians in the Middle East. The study documented sharp recent and historical declines in Christian population:
- in Syria, from 2.2 million (2010) to 1.2 million
- in Egypt, from 19% of the population (1910) to 10%
- in Lebanon, from 53% (1932) to less than 40%
- in Jerusalem, from 20% (1946) to less than 2%
- in Palestine, from 20% (1948) to 1.2%
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CWN - International Christian Concern, an organization that advocates on behalf of persecuted Christians, reported that the Vatican recently ordered the closure of eight churches in Baghdad.
The churches were closed “in May of 2017, after nearly seven years of low or no attendance” as Catholics fled Iraq, the organization reported. “After the regional Catholic Church authority visited the churches, the Vatican decided that it was best to close the doors for good. While this makes logistical sense, it represents a symbolic defeat for the church in the capital of Iraq.”
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CWN - The bishops of the Maronite Catholic Church, an Eastern church in full communion with the Holy See, called for a global plan to repatriate Syrian refugees.
At least a million Syrians have fled to neighboring Lebanon, a nation of 6.1 million.
“Despite our solidarity with the refugees, the Lebanese hope that the process will be reconsidered in order to ensure a safe return in their own country by setting aside the various political positions that hinder the desired solutions,” said Cardinal Bechara Boutros al-Rahi, the Maronite patriarch, according to a Fides report.
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CWN - The Maronite Catholic bishops have called for a “global plan” to help refugees from Syria return to their homes, saying that their continued presence in Lebanon is straining that country’s resources.
Lebanon, a country of just over 6 million people, is now hosting more than 1 million refugees from Syria. The Maronite bishops, meeting under the leadership of Patriarch Bechara Boutros Rai, voiced their solidarity with the refugees, but said that a realistic plan is needed to allow their safe return to their native land.
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CWN - Lara Yussif Zara has been chosen as mayor of Algosh, a small town in Iraq’s Nineveh Plains region.
The unanimous selection of the city council, She is the first Christian woman ever to hold office as a mayor in Iraq. (A Muslim woman, Zekra Alwach, was elected mayor of Baghdad in 2015.)
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