Rebels Seize Priest & 20 Christians in Syria

Jihadists in Syria have seized a priest and 20 other Christians in the latest abduction by militants in the war-torn country, the Franciscan Order said on Tuesday.

A statement from the order’s Custody of the Holy Land in Jerusalem said that parish priest Father Hanna Jallouf was seized on Sunday night in the village of Qunyeh, northwestern Syria.

It said that his abductors were “linked” to Al-Qaeda affiliate the Al-Nusra Front, and added that following the incident an unspecified number of Franciscan nuns took refuge with the villagers.

Senior Franciscan official Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Custos of the Holy Land, said the 62-year-old priest was seized along with 20 villagers.

“He has been kidnapped,” he told AFP in Jerusalem, expressing deep concern over the fate of the priest, a Syrian who has worked in Qunyeh for 12 years after a posting in the Jordanian capital, Amman.

“They are accusing them of being collaborators” with the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Pizzaballa said, insisting that this was not true.

“We don’t know what to do. We don’t know with whom to talk, we’re totally unable to get in touch with anyone,” added Pizzaballa, the guardian of the Catholic Church’s sites in the Holy Land.

47 thoughts on “Rebels Seize Priest & 20 Christians in Syria

  1. 네라 벳
    Fang Jifan은 아주 자연스럽게 말했습니다. “나는 아직 어린 아이입니다!”Fang Jifan은 순진하게 물었습니다. “내가 무슨 미친 말을 했습니까?”

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