Milan -- The rise of the Islamic State with its trail of bloodshed, devastation and death; the withdrawal of the presidential decree recognising his patriarchal authority, a wound that remains open; the exodus of Christians which, over 20 years, has reduced Iraq's original population to a third of its former size.
Cairo -- A powerful theatrical portrayal of the suffering and resilience of the Assyrian people earned international acclaim this week as Krawa, produced by Iraq's Bema Theatre, captured the festival's highest honor at the Cairo International Monodrama Festival. The production won Best Performance, while playwright and director Thamer Mikhael received the Best Director award.
Baghdad -- Promises by Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi to encourage the return of Iraq's Christians and the Assyrian people to their ancestral towns, provide access to residential land allocation projects, and support investment in the health and education sectors have been welcomed by Christian communities in Nineveh Plains, Mosul, and the diaspora.
Archbishop Mor Anthimos Jack Yakoub, Vicar Patriarchal of the Syriac church in Jerusalem, together with a number of other Palestinian Christian leaders, assured me that they need our love and prayers--but they also badly need practical support if Christianity is not to die in our lifetime in the land that gave birth to our common religion.
Hundreds of Syriac Christians from across Türkiye and Europe gathered in Midyat's Bağlarbaşı neighborhood for the inaugural mass, as clergy entered the church to traditional prayers. High-ranking clergy, including Turabdin and Mor Gabriel Monastery Metropolitan Mor Timotheos Samuel Aktaş, led the four-hour service that coincided with Mor Kuryakos Day.
A fragment of an ancient stele dating to the reign of the Assyrian King Ashurbanipal 2,600 years ago was discovered at the Bab Shamash archaeological site in Iraq's Nineveh province. The stele's discovery, announced on social media in late June by both the Nineveh Antiquities Inspectorate and Iraq's Antiquities and Heritage State Board, was unearthed by a joint Iraqi-American archaeological...