Christians in the Middle East

The Latest

Archbishop Bashar Warda speaking at the R20 Summit in Indonesia, Nov. 2, 2022

Iraqi archbishop calls for courageous dialogue among religions, end to violent persecution

Nov 3, 2022

By AC Wimmer

Addressing the Group of Twenty’s first-ever forum on religion on Nov. 2, Archbishop Bashar Warda drove home the need for... Read more

Patriarch Raphaël Bedros XXI Minassian.

Armenian patriarch to represent Catholics at Middle East Council of Churches

May 27, 2022

By CNA Staff

Patriarch Raphaël Bedros XXI Minassian has led the Armenian Catholic Church since September 2021. Read more

The logo of ACI MENA, EWTN's new Arabic-language news agency, based in Erbil, Iraq.

EWTN launches Arabic-language news agency based in Iraq

Mar 25, 2022

By CNA Staff

EWTN Global Catholic Network has launched an Arabic-language news service headquartered in Erbil, Iraq. Read more

Pro-government demonstrators march in support of the regime after the weekly Friday Prayers, Jan. 5, 2018, in Tehran.

Iran is squeezing Christians and other minorities out of the Middle East, researcher says

Feb 22, 2022

By Jonah McKeown

A researcher with the Philos Project told journalists today that Iran is using incremental strategies to squeeze non-Muslims out of... Read more

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Holy Land Christians need more protection, Christian leaders in Jerusalem warn

Dec 16, 2021

By Kate Olivera

Christian leaders in Jerusalem are seeking an “urgent dialogue” with local authorities to discuss further protections for Christians in the... Read more

Pope Francis meets with a group of Afghan refugees at the Vatican on Sept. 22, 2021.

Pope Francis meets Afghan Christian whose parents were killed by the Taliban

Sep 22, 2021

By Courtney Mares

“It was beautiful,” one Afghan refugee told CNA after meeting the pope. Read more

Refugee children at a refugee camp in Duhok, Iraq, March 28, 2015.

Nonprofit seeks to provide computers to Iraqi Christian schools

Mar 12, 2020

By Perry West

While Christian schools in Iraq continue to suffer, a non-profit that promotes positive engagement in the Middle East is aiming... Read more

Al and Yousef Astfan, brothers from Syria in Krakow at World Youth Day 2016.

Bishops propose Arab World Youth Day for Middle East Catholics

Feb 28, 2020

By Courtney Mares

Bishops from the Middle East have proposed a regional youth gathering similar to World Youth Day for young Catholics from... Read more

Pope Francis meets with Patriarch of Eastern Catholic Churches based in the Middle East at the Vatican, Feb. 7, 2020.

Middle East patriarchs discuss plight of Christian minorities with Pope Francis

Feb 7, 2020

By Hannah Brockhaus

Six Catholic patriarchs from Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, and Iraq met with Pope Francis at the Vatican Friday to discuss the... Read more

Syrian Catholic Archbishop Youhanna Boutros Moshe of Mosul blesses a newly-erected cross in Bakhdida, Iraq, May 2, 2017. Photo courtesy SOS Chrétiens d'Orient.

Four aid workers missing in Iraq

Jan 29, 2020

Four men working in Iraq for the French humanitarian organization SOS Chrétiens d'Orient went missing last week in Baghdad.  Read more

Pope Francis meets Iraqi President Barham Salih Jan. 25, 2020.

Pope Francis and Iraqi president discuss securing a future for Christians

Jan 25, 2020

By Courtney Mares

Pope Francis met Saturday with Iraqi President Barham Salih, and discussed the need to secure the future of Iraq’s deep-rooted... Read more

Church of Saint Ananias, Damascus, Syria (Before Civil War), February 23, 2010.

Syrian Christians face new threat from Turkey, human rights group warns

Oct 8, 2019

Endangered Christian populations in the Middle East face renewed risks as the United States removes troops from Syria, a leading... Read more

Pope Francis receives U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo Oct. 3, 2019.

Pompeo meets pope to discuss religious freedom, Middle East Christians

Oct 3, 2019

By Matt Hadro

Pope Francis met with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to discuss the preservation of Christian communities in the Middle East... Read more

The Church of Mar Behnam and Mart Sarah in Qaraqosh, Iraq celebrates Christmas Mass Dec. 25, 2018 before the church's renovation.

Iraqi church formerly defaced by ISIS rededicated on Assumption feast

Aug 16, 2019

By Courtney Mares

An Iraqi church damaged and defaced by the Islamic State in 2014 was rededicated Thursday for the parish’s celebration of... Read more

Pope Francis blesses an image of Mary in St. Peter's Square May 3, 2017.

Pope Francis gives thousands of rosaries to Christians in Syria

Aug 15, 2019

By Courtney Mares

Pope Francis announced Thursday that he is giving 6,000 blessed rosaries to Catholic communities in Syria as a sign of... Read more

A center for internally displaced persons, most of whom are Christians, in Dawodiya, Iraq, April 10, 2016.

US Congress passes bill to relieve Christians, Yazidis in Iraq and Syria

Nov 28, 2018

By Christine Rousselle

The US House of Representatives passed Tuesday H.R. 390, a bill titled “Iraq and Syria Genocide Relief and Accountability Act,”... Read more

Abandoned ancient church in Iraqi desert located near Kirkuk city, Iraq.

Pope and Assyrian Patriarch: Blood of Middle East martyrs is ‘seed of Christian unity’

Nov 9, 2018

By Courtney Mares

Pope Francis and the Assyrian Patriarch Mar Gewargis III have pledged ecumenical unity in support of persecuted Christians in the... Read more

Cardinal Edwin O'Brien, Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre, speaks at a Holy See press conference, Nov. 7, 2018.

Cardinal O'Brien: Don't let Holy Land become a 'museum'

Nov 7, 2018

By Hannah Brockhaus

Cardinal Edwin O’Brien, Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre, told journalists Wednesday that the order of... Read more

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the Knesset Plenary Hall session ahead of the vote on the National Law on late July 18, 2018.

Controversial Israeli law excludes non-Jews, Latin Patriarchate says

Jul 31, 2018

A recently-adopted Israeli law that strongly affirmed the country’s link with the Jewish people and avoided mention of non-Jews wrongly... Read more

Syrian Catholic Archbishop Youhanna Boutros Moshe of Mosul blesses a newly-erected cross in Bakhdida, Iraq, May 2, 2017. Photo courtesy SOS Chretiens Orient.

Religious structures next step in Iraqi building process

Jul 4, 2018

By Elise Harris

Since 2014 international charity organization Aid to the Church in Need has spent some 40 million euros [$46.6 million] funding... Read more

Latest news

National Dialogue for Peace in Mexico.

Church in Mexico launches citizen accord to fight ‘dynamics of violence and destruction’

First edition of the Men’s Rosary.

40 countries to participate in Men’s Rosary on Oct. 7

A mourner holds up an image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus at the funeral on Sept. 27, 2023, of victims who were killed when a fire ripped through a crowded wedding hall in the mainly Christian northern city of Qaraqosh, Iraq, also known as Hamdaniyah. At least 100 people were killed, officials said, pointing to indoor fireworks as the likely cause for the blaze that sparked a panicked stampede for the exits.

Iraq archbishop calls for prayers after tragic wedding fire

Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Baltimore.

Names of accused in Maryland AG’s sex abuse report on Baltimore Archdiocese are released

Ruben Vardanyan, a former high-ranking official in the ethnic Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, was arrested by Azerbaijan authorities on Sept. 27, 2023, as he attempted to flee the region along with over 50,000 other ethnic Armenian refugees.

Former Nagorno-Karabakh Armenian leader arrested as over 50,000 refugees flee region

The 2023 Plenary Assembly of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) is being held Sept. 25-28, 2023, outside of Toronto, Ontario.

Canadian bishops address protection of minors and vulnerable adults at meeting

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California governor signs bills that would penalize schools that refuse to teach LGBT content

Father Marko Rupnik.

Discipline of sister who led community co-founded by Rupnik raises questions

Archbishop Andrew Fuanya Nkea of the Archdiocese of Bamenda in Cameroon.

Cameroon archbishop: ‘No room for distraction’ for delegates to Synod on Synodality

Pope Francis smiles during his general audience in St. Peter's Square Sept. 27, 2023.

Europe needs hope, Pope Francis says

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The Church of St. Mary of the Isle, located in Douglas on the Isle of Man in the British Isles.

Pope makes church first co-cathedral in history of British Isles

The Romeike family fled from Germany in order to home-school their children and now faces deportation from the U.S.

Family who fled Germany to home-school their kids faces deportation from the U.S.

Sudiksha Thirumalesh died Sept. 12, 2023, after a legal fight to circumvent a ruling in the United Kingdom that she was not competent to make decisions about her care.

Family of UK teen who died fighting rare disease speaks out

Cardinal Timothy Dolan.

Cardinal Dolan says Biden ‘doesn’t take my calls’ on migrant crisis in New York City

Newspaper publisher and pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai poses during an interview in Hong Kong in 2020.

Pro-democracy Catholic Jimmy Lai marks 1,000th day in jail awaiting trial