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Source: The Blaze It’s been two years since two top Christian clergymen were kidnapped by gunmen in Syria, prompting the brother of one of the victims – himself a senior cleric – to raise alarm that “the world is silent.” “We hope that the bishops are alive, but unfortunately the world is silent and nobody has provided physical evidence,” Orthodox Patriarch John X of Antioch said last week on the anniversary of their disappearance, the Catholic Herald reported. The two religious leaders, Syriac Orthodox Archbishop Yohanna Ibrahim and Greek Orthodox Archbishop Boulos Yazigi, were kidnapped by gunmen in April 2013…

Source: The Daily Star BEIRUT: A senior Orthodox Church official has urged Christians to take up arms to defend themselves and their holy places in the wake of the seizure of a group of nuns from the ancient village of Maaloula. Speaking to the Iraqi newspaper Az-Zaman, Bishop Luca al-Khoury said “we have many young men who are asking us [to take action], and there are those demanding that we take immediate action.” “I call on every young man who can take up arms to come forward,” Khoury said, adding that the initiative was meant to allow the community’s members to engage…

Source: ALMONITOR By: Jean Aziz for Al-Monitor Lebanon Pulse Summary: The fate of the two bishops kidnapped in Syria on April 22 is still unknown, but they are feared to have been abducted and killed by Chechen jihadists, according to a Lebanese official.  A multitude of grim indications have surfaced about the tragic kidnapping of two bishops at the hands of armed factions in Syria. This most heinous of kidnappings in the ongoing Syrian conflict began on April 22, when news spread that gunmen near Aleppo had abducted the city’s Syriac Orthodox Bishop Yohanna Ibrahim and Boulos Yazigi, Aleppo’s Greek Orthodox bishop, who…

Source: The Daily Star – Lebanon ISTANBUL: Two Orthodox bishops kidnapped in Syria last month are “in good health,” though there is no news on their whereabouts, an opposition official told reporters Saturday in Istanbul. “Two or three days ago, a doctor visited the two bishops. They are in good health,” said Abdul Ahad Steipho, member of the main opposition’s National Coalition and of its committee established to follow up on the kidnappings. Steipho added that his committee’s attempts to enter into direct telephone contact with the kidnappers or the bishops have so far failed. “We are receiving a lot…

Source: Aljazeera The appeal comes after a Christian group retracted its claim that the clerics had been freed. Pope Francis has called for the release of two Syrian bishops kidnapped by gunmen near Aleppo, after a Christian group appeared to retract its claim that the clerics had been freed. Aleppo’s Greek Orthodox Bishop Boulos Yaziji and Syriac Orthodox Bishop Yohanna Ibrahim were kidnapped on Monday by armed men en route from the Turkish border. Speaking to an audience of around 100,000 at the Vatican on Wednesday, Francis said there were “contradictory reports” about the fate of the bishops and asked…

Source: Russia Today The Organization of Islamic Cooperation joined in on Saturday calling for the “unconditional” release of two Christian bishops held captive in Syria. This follows similar statements from the Greek and Russian Orthodox Churches. Ekmeledin Ihsanoglu, the OIC secretary general, condemned the kidnapping of Aleppo’s Greek Orthodox Bishop, Boulos Yaziji, and the Syrian Orthodox Bishop Yohanna Ibrahim. The two were abducted last Monday by armed men while they were travelling to Aleppo from a town on the Turkish border where they were carrying out “humanitarian work.” The OIC statement urged for their “immediate and unconditional release because such…