Syria

By BosNewsLife News Center VATICAN CITY/BUDAPEST (BosNewsLife)-- Pope Francis has called a Christian Syrian woman "a martyr" after hearing she was killed by Islamic militants for refusing to deny her faith in Jesus Christ. The leader of the world's one billion Catholics told the faithful in St. Peter's Square that he spoke with the young woman's widow during his visit Saturday, April 16, to the Greek island of Lesbos where he also visited refugees held in an overcrowded detention center.

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service DAMASCUS, SYRIA (BosNewsLife)-- Christians in Syria face a difficult Easter after the feared Islamic State (IS) group launched attacks on several Christian villages along the Khabur river in north-eastern Syria, Christians told BosNewsLife.

Listen to this report via Vatican Radio:  By BosNewsLife Middle East Service with additional reporting by Vatican Radio's Lydia O'Kane DAMASCUS, SYRIA (BosNewsLife)-- Syrian Christians were rejoicing Monday, March 10, after rebels freed more than a dozen Greek Orthodox nuns ending their near four-month captivity in exchange for Syrian authorities releasing dozens of female prisoners.

By BosNewsLife News Center with BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos BUDAPEST, HUNGARY (BosNewsLife)-- Hungary's foreign minister says his country has asked the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate the "brutal actions" committed against Christians by the Islamic State group.

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife reporting from Hungarian-Serbian border area ÁSOTTHALOM, HUNGARY (BosNewsLife)-- Macedonia has seen fighting among migrants at a train station as they rush to reach Serbia and from there Hungary, a European Union member state. Refugees from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and other nations are racing to reach Hungary before it finishes building a fence to keep them out.

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service with reporting by BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos DAMASCUS, SYRIA (BosNewsLife)-- Christian aid workers and local believers in Syria have urged prayers and assistance after President Bashar Assad's forces were accused of launching a chemical weapons attack killing at least 70 people and injuring many more.

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service DAMASCUS, SYRIA (BosNewsLife)-- A Dutch priest, who became known for his insistence on staying in the war-torn Syrian city of Homs, was shot dead there Monday, April 7, by suspected Islamic militants, Catholic sources said.

By Joseph DeCaro, BosNewsLife International Correspondent DAMASCUS, SYRIA (BosNewsLife)-- A group supporting persecuted Christians said Thursday, October 13, that Syria's Christian minority is suffering more ever after reports that at least 2,700 people have been killed and thousands more arrested in efforts to overthrow the country's long-time President Bashar al-Assad.

DAMASCUS, SYRIA (BosNewsLife)— One of Syria’s most respected church leaders has condemned the destruction of an ancient Catholic monastery by the Islamic State (IS) group and expressed concern that hundreds of kidnapped people, many of them Christians, may have been killed and Chaldean Bishop of Aleppo Antoine Audo spoke hours after news emerged that IS had destroyed the monastery in the Syrian town of Qaryatain dating back to the 5th century after Christ, and is located in central Homs province.

By BosNewsLife News Center in Budapest BUDAPEST, HUNGARY (BosNewsLife)-- Devoted Christians in Hungary and the Middle East stood up against Nazism or Islamic extremism this week, while others worshiped Christ behind bars, between bomb explosions and in bitter cold conditions.