Syriac Church of Antioch Bishop Kidnapped in Syria

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Continued prayers:

Dear Friends in the world:

I am sorry to inform you that Bishop Yohanna Ibrahim of the Syriac Orthodox Archdiocese of Aleppo was kidnapped this afternoon on his way back to Aleppo from the Turkish border. He went there to bring back with him Bishop Paul Yazigi of the Greek Orthodox Church of Aleppo. The news which we have received is that an armed group of Chechens stopped the car and kidnapped the two bishops while the driver was killed. We are working and doing our best for the release of the two Bishops and their safe return. So far we have been unable to contact them or their kidnappers.

Please circulate this message as wide as you can. We need pressure from all churches and embassies around the world for their release. The Bishop was on a humanitarian mission to release two priests who were kidnapped months ago.

Please do your best in this critical issue. We need the prayers of all faithful around the world for their safety.

Yours in Christ
Razek Siriani
Ecumenical Relations & Relief Officer
Syriac Orthodox Archdiocese of Aleppo
 
SyroMalankara said:
Continued prayers:

Dear Friends in the world:

I am sorry to inform you that Bishop Yohanna Ibrahim of the Syriac Orthodox Archdiocese of Aleppo was kidnapped this afternoon on his way back to Aleppo from the Turkish border. He went there to bring back with him Bishop Paul Yazigi of the Greek Orthodox Church of Aleppo. The news which we have received is that an armed group of Chechens stopped the car and kidnapped the two bishops while the driver was killed. We are working and doing our best for the release of the two Bishops and their safe return. So far we have been unable to contact them or their kidnappers.

Please circulate this message as wide as you can. We need pressure from all churches and embassies around the world for their release. The Bishop was on a humanitarian mission to release two priests who were kidnapped months ago.

Please do your best in this critical issue. We need the prayers of all faithful around the world for their safety.

Yours in Christ
Razek Siriani
Ecumenical Relations & Relief Officer
Syriac Orthodox Archdiocese of Aleppo
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UPDATE from (the Guardian):
Bishops released

The two bishops who were abducted by gunmen while traveling in northern Syria have been released, the church announced.

Greek Orthodox Bishop Tony Yazigi said Bishop Boulos Yazigi of the Greek Orthodox Church and Bishop John Ibrahim of the Assyrian Orthodox Church had arrived in Aleppo after being released earlier in the day.

The bishops were abducted late Monday from the village of Kfar Dael, and their driver was killed by the gunmen. It was not immediately clear who kidnapped the men.
 
amalthomas said:
Archbishop of Aleppoo, Gregorios Youhana Ibrahim of syriac orthodox church of Antioch and Archbishop Boulos Yazgi of Greek orthodox church of antioch have been kidnapped by Syrian rebels supported by European powers in the city of Aleppo. Their driver was killed.

Archbishop Youhana Ibrahim was an international figure during this syrian crisis. Let us pray to the god for their lives.
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The West will someday have to answer for the crimes we have committed against the Syrian people.

I think Paul Craig Roberts recent article “If you want to go to heaven, you had better get busy overthrowing Syria” (paulcraigroberts.org/2013/04/21/if-you-want-to-go-to-heaven-you-had-better-get-busy-overthrowing-syria-paul-craig-roberts/) summed up the situation succinctly:

"…Wait a minute! Our government told us for eleven years that we blew trillions of dollars on wars to protect Americans from al-Qaeda, endangering Social Security, Medicare, the social safety net, the dollar’s exchange value, the credit rating of the US Treasury, and our civil liberties in order to save America from al-Qaeda terrorists. So why is Washington now supporting al-Qaeda’s overthrow of the secular, non-Islamist government in Syria which has never ever done anything whatsoever to Americans!?

…At a lunch meeting hosted by Washington’s puppet, British Foreign Secretary William Hague, and US Secretary of State John Kerry, “the Syrian opposition,” aka al-Qaeda, requested antiaircraft and antitank weapons. A senior Washington official said: “Our assistance has been on an upward trajectory, and the president (Obama) has directed his national security team to identify additional measures so that we can increase assistance.”

US Secretary of State John Kerry announced a $123 million “defense aid package” to “the Syrian opposition” that now includes al-Qaeda. Washington had already sent $117 million in “food and medical supplies” to “the Syrian opposition,” and ordered its Middle Eastern puppets to send arms. Note the Orwellian language: support for an outside terrorist force seeking to destroy a government and a people is called a “defense aid package.”

On April 11 the establishment French newspaper, Le Monde, reported that the al-Nosra organization affiliated with al-Qaeda is the dominant force in “the Syrian opposition,” not democratic revolutionaries. Despite this fact, Washington’s puppets, France and Britain, are pushing the European Union to send arms to the al-Qaeda affiliated “Syrian opposition.” And Senator John McCain wants US airstrikes on Syrian government forces with whom the US is not at war, in order to provide air cover for al-Qaeda’s takeover of Syria.

Meanwhile, the Islamist Shiites, whom the Americans left in control of Iraq, have announced that they have joined the battle against the American-supported al-Qaeda forces seeking to radicalize Syria.

So far at last count, the UN reports that the military attack on Syria organized by Washington’s proxies has killed 70,000 people. But americans are preoccupied with the Boson Marathon bombing, which killed 3…"
 
That’s a nice group we’re supporting over their. And all in the name of democracy, our national idol.
 
Agnus Dei, qui tollis pecćata mundi, miserère nobis
Agnus Dei, qui tollis pecćata mundi, miserère nobis
Agnus Dei, qui tollis pecćata mundi, dona nobis pacem

Saint Anthony of Padua, pray that they be found and returned to safety in the loving arms of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. :highprayer:

Kyrie Elison, Kyrie Elison, Kyrie Elison. Jesu Christi Miserere Nobis, Jesu Christi Miserere Nobis, Jesus have mercy on us sinners.
 
Just heard on the news that they have been released. Thanks be to God.
 
BBC (Mideast Section) is reporting the release of the kidnapped bishops.
 
I repeat - the bishops have NOT been released. It appears that the mass media reports are false.

Here are press releases from the Syriac Orthodox Church (Archdiocese for the Eastern United States) and the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch (Self-Ruled Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America) respectively.
ARCHBISHOP YUHANNA IBRAHIM’S KIDNAPPING UPDATE
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His Eminence Mor Cyril Aphrem Karim is presently meeting with the State Department in Washington DC concerning yesterday’s kidnapping of both His Eminence Yuhanna Ibrahim, Syriac Orthodox Archbishop of Aleppo and His Eminence Boulos Yazigi, Greek Orthodox Archbishop of Aleppo by terrorist rebels in Syria. There have been many unsubstantiated reports of the release of both Archbishops but nothing has yet been confirmed and the effort for their safe return is still underway.
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His Eminence Mor Cyril Aphrem Karim said that the State Department is monitoring the situation as it continues to unfold. The Archbishop is also asking everyone to remain hopeful and continue to pray for the safe return of both clerics. Mor Cyril Aphrem Karim reconfirmed that the effort for the Archbishops release will be ongoing and remains our top priority.
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syrianorthodoxchurch.org/news/2013/04/23/archbishop-yuhanna-ibrahims-kidnapping-update
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Release Reports False
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There have appeared many reports in both the Eastern and Western press that the two hierarchs who were abducted yesterday by terrorists in Syria, Metropolitan Boulos Yazge, Antiochian Orthodox Archbishop of Aleppo, and Archbishop Youhanna Ibrahim, Syriac Archbishop of Aleppo, have been released. His Eminence Metropolitan Philip spoke by phone this morning to His Beatitude John X, Patriarch of Antioch and all the East (pictured), who said that these reports are false, and that the release of these two hierarchs has NOT taken place.
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We ask you to continue to pray for their safety, and eventual release.
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Confirmed updates will be published as soon as they are known.
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antiochian.org/release-reports-false
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Some of the larger mass media outlets have been relatively quick to acknowledge this.
Kidnapped Syrian bishops’ whereabouts remain unclear
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Confusion surrounds the whereabouts of two Orthodox bishops kidnapped in Syria on Monday, but who were said to have been freed on Tuesday.
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**There were reports that the two men, Yohanna Ibrahim and Boulos Yaziji, were back in the city of Aleppo.
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But other sources with links to the bishops have told the BBC this is not so and their families are still worried about their whereabouts.**
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bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-22272463
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Also, for own perusal, the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate and the Syriac Orthodox Patriarchate have released a joint communique, which is detailed here: antiochian.org/joint-communique-abduction-bishop-paul-and-bishop-john

Let us renew our prayers! :gopray2:
 
This is a good article from the secular media spotlighting sad state of affairs in Syria for its Christians: Syria’s beleaguered Christians

In particular, I draw attention to a quote by the Melkite Catholic Patriarch Gregorios III.
But on 15 April, Patriarch Gregorios had warned in a statement sent to a Catholic charity: “There is no safe place left in Syria.”
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"The whole of Syria has become a battlefield… Every aspect of democracy, human rights, freedom, secularism and citizenship is lost from view and no-one cares.
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“The future of Christians in Syria is threatened not by Muslims but by… chaos… and the infiltration of uncontrollable fanatical, fundamentalist groups,” he added.
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Patriarch Gregorios said the threat to Christianity in Syria had wider implications for the religion’s future in the Middle East because the country had for decades provided a refuge for Christians from neighbouring Lebanon, Iraq and elsewhere.
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His comments echoed those by another Damascus-based prelate, Maronite Archbishop Samir Nassar, who said Christians in Syria had to “choose between two bitter chalices: to die or leave”.
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Filii_Dei said:
I repeat - the bishops have NOT been released. It appears that the mass media reports are false.
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Not from the mass media. All the same, praying and hoping that the report is reliable and the Bishops have been released and are safe.
According to the Catholic aid group L’Oeuvre d’Orient, Metropolitan Yuhanna Ibrahim of the Syriac Orthodox Church and Metropolitan Boulos Yazigi of the Greek Orthodox Church were released unharmed at about 2PM local time in Syria.
romereports.com/palio/gunmen-free-two-kidnapped-archbishops-in-syria-english-9856.html
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According to Syrian sources Oeuvre d’Orient, the two bishops of Aleppo (Syrian and Greek Orthodox) kidnapped yesterday were released to 14 hours (15 am, French time) and would be the Greek Orthodox Church of St. Elijah Aleppo.
oeuvre-orient.fr/2013/04/23/syrie-liberation-des-2-eveques/
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WARNING: Some viewers may find this video disturbing.
Video footage of the dead body of the martyr Syriac Deacon Fatuh, who is the driver of Mor Yohanna and who was killed during the kidnapping of our beloved bishops. May his soul rest in peace.
youtu.be/MYDXP3oYrQY
 
Santi2 said:
Not from the mass media. All the same, praying and hoping that the report is reliable and the Bishops have been released and are safe.
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It was reported in the mass media, so I consider them mass media reports, even though the sources were from niche agencies. Regardless of our definition of what constitutes mass media, they are still reports, and they still appear to be contradicted by the statements from the respective Patriarchates.

Of course, I pray that it is true that they have been released, but I do not wish to give false hope. Let us continue our prayers. :gopray2:
 
I was just wondering if there have been any updates on these bishops?

That said, let us all continue in prayer for their safety and their speedy release.
 
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