Lebanese long for peace ahead of Pope Leo’s visit November 27, 2025By Dale Gavlak OSV News Filed Under: Conflict in the Middle East, News, Vatican, World News Lebanese Catholics yearn for the upcoming visit of Pope Leo XIV to achieve something lost in recent years. Signs bearing the pontiff’s photo along newly rebuilt roadways express their longing: “Lebanon wants peace.”
Security for Syria’s religious minorities’ is disastrous, say religious freedom advocates November 8, 2025By Dale Gavlak OSV News Filed Under: Conflict in the Middle East, News, Religious Freedom, World News Continued attacks on Christians and other minorities in Syria at the hands of Islamists, some affiliated with the new Syrian interim government, call into question whether the war-torn country can rebuild without first securing its people.
Lebanon eagerly awaits Pope Leo’s visit as ‘pilgrim of peace,’ Catholic clergy say October 22, 2025By Dale Gavlak OSV News Filed Under: Conflict in the Middle East, News, Vatican, World News Lebanon eagerly awaits Pope Leo XIV’s upcoming visit, marking his first apostolic trip abroad, Catholic clergy organizers say.
Lebanese Catholic clergy commemorate Beirut port explosion victims five years later August 4, 2025By Dale Gavlak OSV News Filed Under: Conflict in the Middle East, News, World News Lebanon’s Catholic clergy celebrated a commemorative Mass and held a vigil in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, remembering those who perished five years earlier, on Aug. 4, 2020, in the catastrophic Beirut port explosion.
Syrian Christian leaders say Islamist government can’t protect them or Druze July 22, 2025By Dale Gavlak OSV News Filed Under: Conflict in the Middle East, News, World News Syrian Christian leaders say they cannot trust the Islamist-led Syrian government of Ahmed al-Sharaa to provide the safety they need after a week of deadly clashes that claimed the lives of 1,000 people in the southern region of Sweida and urged international protection.
Faith-based refugee centers in Rome provide a lifeline to newcomers June 20, 2025By Dale Gavlak Catholic News Service Filed Under: Immigration and Migration, News, World News At a time when the fate of refugees and migrants is becoming increasingly uncertain, faith-based organizations in Rome say they are putting into practice their Christian values of protection and respect of human life to aid those seeking help.
As Trump returns from Middle East with massive arm deals, patriarch says ‘no’ to weapons May 16, 2025By Dale Gavlak OSV News Filed Under: Conflict in the Middle East, News, World News As U.S. President Donald Trump’s visit to Gulf Arab countries, ending May 16, brought “the largest defense cooperation agreement” Washington has ever done, according to the White House fact sheet, Catholic leadership in the region expressed its concern to resolve long-standing conflicts, particularly in the Middle East, peacefully.
After U.S. aid cuts, Middle East Caritas forced to reorganize but remains hopeful April 15, 2025By Dale Gavlak OSV News Filed Under: DOGE cuts, News, World News A prominent Catholic humanitarian agency in the Middle East has expressed concern over sudden cuts to U.S. financial assistance affecting its ministries aiding the displaced, refugees and the impoverished.
Church leaders condemn killings, urge prayers amid horrific Syria violence March 10, 2025By Dale Gavlak OSV News Filed Under: Conflict in the Middle East, News, Religious Freedom, World News Syria’s top Christian leaders have condemned the killing and wounding of hundreds of Alawites, many of them civilians, by security forces and gunmen linked to the country’s new Islamist rulers.
Consecration of new church on banks of Jordan River called a sign of hope for region January 12, 2025By Dale Gavlak OSV News Filed Under: Conflict in the Middle East, News, World News Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, told thousands of faithful that Pope Francis sent him to preside over the inauguration and consecration of a new Catholic church at the banks of the Jordan River as a sign of the universal church’s closeness to all Christians in the Middle East.
Christians in Syria ask whether their rights will be preserved under new Islamic rule January 3, 2025By Dale Gavlak OSV News Filed Under: Conflict in the Middle East, News, Religious Freedom, World News Although Christian leaders in Syria are trying to stay positive about the new Islamist interim government in Damascus, others are pointing to worrying concerns about what lies ahead for the country’s diverse population.
Christians in Aleppo feel an uneasy calm amid rebel takeover of Syrian city December 5, 2024By Dale Gavlak OSV News Filed Under: Conflict in the Middle East, News, World News An uneasy calm hangs over Aleppo, Christian leaders report, following the recent lightning takeover of Syria’s second-largest city by Islamist rebels driving out forces of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Concerns also mount over government airstrikes.
