Syrian Christians have been neglected, forgotten and cast aside like “the scum of the world,” charged the patriarch of the Syriac Catholic Church.

CORNWALL, Ont. – Western nations must support Syrian refugees in Lebanon who want to return home, Cardinal Béchara Boutros Raï told Canada’s Catholic bishops.

The recess bell rings and a child dives for cover underneath her desk. A teacher is at the front of the classroom but a student is wandering from desk to desk starting conversations of his own. The lunch bell rings and several pupils have arrived without lunch, or uniforms, or gym clothes. A six-year-old turns up in school mid-morning, but doesn’t have enough English to tell the school secretary who she is, where she’s from or where she’s supposed to be.

OTTAWA – Suzanne Le earned two degrees during her years in university — a bachelor’s in comparative religion and a master’s in conflict studies.

OTTAWA – Holy Redeemer, a parish in the Ottawa archdiocese, didn’t stop at bringing in one Syrian refugee family. They brought in three — and plan to bring in three more.

OTTAWA – While much of the world’s attention is on Syrian refugees, there is also a great need to help rebuild the lives of those who chose to remain in the war-ravaged country, says a Syrian refugee who manages centres funded by the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace.

ZAATARI, Jordan – As the U.N. secretary-general visited the world's biggest camp for Syrian refugees this week, he made an impassioned plea: Stop Syria's devastating war.

DAUPHIN, Manitoba – Ken Yakielashek, a Catholic and semiretired farmer in the Canadian Prairies, says he remembers when Christians of varying denominations “wouldn’t talk to one another.”

VATICAN CITY – With the 6th anniversary of the start of the Syrian war as backdrop this week, Pope Francis met Thursday morning with the President of Lebanon, Michel Aoun.

OMAHA, Neb. – It's families helping families. That's the bottom line as parishes and Catholic ministries step up to help refugee families – most recently, several from war-torn Syria – adjust to a new life in the United States.

AMMAN, Jordan – Promised resettlement in the United States after escaping death and destruction in their homeland, many Syrian refugees are frustrated and angry over President Donald Trump’s executive action banning their entry to the U.S. until further notice.

MAFRAQ, Jordan – American doctors and nurses on a medical mission to Jordan are performing badly needed surgeries and other medical treatment free of charge to thousands of Syrian refugees who can no longer afford basic health care.

ZAHLE, Lebanon – Balancing boxes and bags filled with warm clothes for his family, Malak Elias Mnayeri waited for a taxi in the near-freezing temperatures outside Caritas Lebanon's center in Zahle, close to the Syrian border.