On February 6, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake devastated large areas of central Turkey and northwest Syria. The death toll has surpassed 22,000 and continues to climb. The earthquake is the worst to strike Turkey this century. Later that day, the region experienced a second magnitude 7.7 quake. Across affected areas …

By AC Wimmer CNA Newsroom, Feb 6, 2023 / 09:23 am Pope Francis and local Church leaders on Monday reacted with dismay and calls for prayer following a devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria. According to Reuters, the series of earthquakes — up to 7.8 magnitude — killed about 1,700 people …

On Oct. 17, the Roman Catholic Church remembers the early Church Father, bishop, and martyr Saint Ignatius of Antioch, whose writings attest to the sacramental and hierarchical nature of the Church from its earliest days. Eastern Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Christians celebrate his memory on Dec. 20. In a 2007 …

by Courtney Mares Rome Newsroom, Sep 17, 2020 / 11:00 am MT (CNA).- When asked by his superior if he wanted to leave Aleppo during the Syrian Civil War, Fr. Edward Tamer replied that he would remain with the people “to die with them and for them.” Now, having survived …

By Walt Schaefer An oil painting on the wall of Ahmad Darouich’s Bond Hill home depicts a police officer, arm outstretched, one hand up, telling the viewer to stop.      It has a deeper meaning to Darouich, who came to the United States from Aleppo, Syria, 11 months ago. …

Two of my grandchildren saw war – real war — for the first time in August. They saw the picture of five-year-old Omran Daqneesh, sitting dazed and bloody in the back of an ambulance in Aleppo, Syria. It was published on the front page of the Wall Street Journal. His …

By Doreen Abi Raad Catholic News Service  BEIRUT — Mideast Catholic and Orthodox patriarchs denounced the “total international silence” on the persecution of Christians in the Middle East and called for Muslim religious authorities to issue fatwas, or legal edicts, banning attacks against Christians and “other innocents.”

USCCB Release WASHINGTON — The Administrative Committee of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), of which Archbishop of Cincinnati Dennis M. Schnurr is a member, issued an urgent call for a political solution to the crisis in Syria. The bishops issued the statement on the first day of their …

By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — For the thousands of people who turned out for a solemn vigil in St. Peter’s Square, the power of prayer and hopes for peace are still mightier than the world’s weapons and wars. “Instead of using hatred, we are using prayer …