We ask you, urgently: don't scroll past this
Dear readers, Catholic Online was de-platformed by Shopify for our pro-life beliefs. They shut down our Catholic Online, Catholic Online School, Prayer Candles, and Catholic Online Learning Resources essential faith tools serving over 1.4 million students and millions of families worldwide. Our founders, now in their 70's, just gave their entire life savings to protect this mission. But fewer than 2% of readers donate. If everyone gave just $5, the cost of a coffee, we could rebuild stronger and keep Catholic education free for all. Stand with us in faith. Thank you.Help Now >
Syrian Church BOMBED and DESTROYED as Christian priest is abducted in Middle East
FREE Catholic Classes
Before and after photos of a Syrian church in Aleppo surfaced over the internet after a church was ruthlessly bombed. The photo shows the after photo of just how devastated the church was, with its roof completely torn off.
Highlights
Catholic Online (https://www.catholic.org)
7/10/2015 (9 years ago)
Published in Middle East
Keywords: bombing, syria, terrorism, ISIS, church, priest, abduction, kidnap, Christian, Catholic, Islam, Muslim
MUNTINLUPA, PHILIPPINES (Catholic Online) - There is no available information regarding when the attack actually happened or which armed force was the mastermind in the latest development. The worries of the Christian minority and their overseas supporters are heightened by several reports that a Syrian priest was also kidnapped and another church in Iraq was bombed by ISIS.
According to The Custody of the Holy Land, which oversees the activity of the Franciscan Order in the Near East, it lost communication with one of its priests in Syria and fears the possible abduction of the priest by the Al Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front. Father Dhiya Aziz was a parish priest in the principally Christian hamlet of Yacoubieh in the northwestern Idlib province.
"Some militants of an unknown armed brigade, perhaps connected with the Nusra Front, came to take him away for a brief interview with the emir of the place," explained The Custody of the Holy Land. "From that moment we do not have any more news and we are unable to trace his whereabouts at the present moment. We are doing everything possible to locate the place of his detention and secure his release."
The group asks for prayers for his well-being.
If the reports are true, it means that Father Aziz now has joined other leading Christian figures in the region abducted, including Greek Orthodox Bishop Boulos Yazigi, Syriac Orthodox Archbishop Gregorius Yohanna Ibrahim, and Jesuit Father Paolo Dall'Oglio, all missing for two years.
It was reported, last Tuesday, ISIS had additionally bombed the remarkable Mother of Aid church in Mosul, Iraq.
---
'Help Give every Student and Teacher FREE resources for a world-class Moral Catholic Education'
Copyright 2021 - Distributed by Catholic Online
Join the Movement
When you sign up below, you don't just join an email list - you're joining an entire movement for Free world class Catholic education.
-
- Easter / Lent
- Ascension Day
- 7 Morning Prayers
- Mysteries of the Rosary
- Litany of the Bl. Virgin Mary
- Popular Saints
- Popular Prayers
- Female Saints
- Saint Feast Days by Month
- Stations of the Cross
- St. Francis of Assisi
- St. Michael the Archangel
- The Apostles' Creed
- Unfailing Prayer to St. Anthony
- Pray the Rosary
God’s Wrath Is Falling on the Democratic Party – And Rightfully So
Corpus Christi: This is My Body, Given Up for You
Federal Appeals Court Upholds Trump’s Authority to Deploy National Guard in Los Angeles
Daily Catholic
- Daily Readings for Sunday, June 22, 2025
- St. Thomas More: Saint of the Day for Sunday, June 22, 2025
- Prayer to Live as a Child of God: Prayer of the Day for Sunday, June 22, 2025
- Daily Readings for Saturday, June 21, 2025
- St. Aloysius Gonzaga: Saint of the Day for Saturday, June 21, 2025
- Prayer for a Happy Death: Prayer of the Day for Saturday, June 21, 2025
Daily Readings for Sunday, June 22, 2025
St. Thomas More: Saint of the Day for Sunday, June 22, 2025
Prayer to Live as a Child of God: Prayer of the Day for Sunday, June 22, 2025
St. Aloysius Gonzaga: Saint of the Day for Saturday, June 21, 2025
Copyright 2025 Catholic Online. All materials contained on this site, whether written, audible or visual are the exclusive property of Catholic Online and are protected under U.S. and International copyright laws, © Copyright 2025 Catholic Online. Any unauthorized use, without prior written consent of Catholic Online is strictly forbidden and prohibited.
Catholic Online is a Project of Your Catholic Voice Foundation, a Not-for-Profit Corporation. Your Catholic Voice Foundation has been granted a recognition of tax exemption under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Federal Tax Identification Number: 81-0596847. Your gift is tax-deductible as allowed by law.