እቲ ቃል ስጋ ኮነ ።

  Sudan 'apostasy' woman arrives in Italy Mariam Ishaq had been spared death sentence for converting from Islam to Christianity but was barred from leaving Sudan.                                             A Sudanese woman who was spared a death sentence for converting from Islam to Christianity and then barred from leaving Sudan, has flown into Rome on an Italian government plane en route to the US, officials say. Mariam Yahya Ibrahim Ishaq, 27, whose sentence and detention stirred international outrage, arrived on Thursday at Rome's Ciampino airport with her family and Lapo Pistelli, Italy's vice minister for foreign affairs, television pictures showed. There were no details on what led up to Mariam Ishaq's departure from Khartoum, and there was no immediate comment from the Sudanese authorities. ...

Message of His Holiness Mor Ignatius Aphrem II Patriarch of Antioch and All the East Supreme Head of the Universal Syrian Orthodox Church Following the Meeting with Representatives of the Churches of Mosul Patriarchal Residence, Atchaneh – Bikfaya – Lebanon, July 23, 2014 Our people and beloved faithful in Iraq, Our Displaced Children from Mosul, Dear attendees, The incidents, that have been taking place since “Islamic State of Iraq and Syria” (ISIS) took control of a dear region of Iraq which is the cradle of humanity and the birthplace of our civilization, are considered barbarian and unprecedented acts in the history of the Christian Muslim relations in this region. ISIS systematically forced Christians and some Muslims out of the city of Mosul labeling them with racist signs and symbols, humiliating and luting them. Therefore, we strongly condemn these acts, and assert that this type of actions and this practice of Islam do not represent the Islam we have lived with for more tha...

MIDEAST-TWAL Jul-23-2014 (650 words) With photos. xxxi Jerusalem patriarch: Don't punish all Gaza Palestinians because of Hamas By Barb Fraze Catholic News Service WASHINGTON (CNS) -- It is impossible for Israeli military to target Hamas missiles without hitting civilians in the Gaza Strip, said Latin Patriarch Fouad Twal of Jerusalem. People might not agree with Hamas, which controls Gaza, but "we cannot punish all the population because you do not agree with Hamas," he told   Catholic News Service   in Washington July 23. Israeli soldiers wounded during an offensive in the Gaza Strip are evacuated July 23. Israeli forces pounded the Gaza Strip July 23 and said they were meeting stiff resistance from Hamas militants. (CNS/Reuters) "We have hundreds and hundreds of killed people, innocent people, 80 percent innocent," he said, noting the deaths of "mothers, children, students." "In Gaza, when (Israelis) strike, there is no shelter," he s...

Mosul's Last Christians Flee Iraq's Hoped-For Christian Stronghold (UPDATED) Historic community comes to 'a real end' after ISIS ultimatum tells Christians to convert, pay tax, or die. Kate Tracy   [ POSTED 7/21/2014 05:29PM ] STR/EPA [Added biblical archaeology finds in Nineveh] There are no Christians left in Iraq's second-largest city after a weekend ultimatum left Mosul residents with three choices: convert to Islam, pay   jizya   (a poll tax levied on non-Muslims), or die at the hands of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS). Mosul, home to the Old Testament prophet Jonah's tomb and the ruins of Nineveh, was intended by Iraq's government to anchor a future province where Christians could govern themselves . This past weekend, ISIS gave Christians until noon Saturday to choose between the three options. "After this date,"   read   the ISIS declaration, "the only thing between us and them is the sword."  ...

IRAQ-BISHOPS Jul-23-2014 (840 words) With photos. xxxi Expulsion of Christians a 'crime against humanity,' Mosul bishop says By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Backed up by death threats and property seizures, the expulsion of the entire Christian community from Mosul is "a crime against humanity," said an archbishop from Mosul. Chaldean Archbishop Amel Shamon Nona said the Islamic State, which took control of Iraq's second-largest city in early June, is carrying out "religious cleansing." "It's an ugly word, but it is what happened and is happening," he told Vatican Radio July 22. A girl walks past the site of a bomb attack at a market in Baghdad's Sadr City. (CNS/Reuters) Iraq's Christian leaders are tired of people making appeals and declarations about their plight without backing up their words with real action, the archbishop said. "Words do nothing today," he said. Support and prayers are...