Middle East

After Pope Francis prayed on Christmas Day for Syrian Christians facing uncertainty amid the country's regime change, the leader of the Catholic Church in neighboring Iraq said the toppling of the regime left Christians in the region feeling "tense."

A Christmas tree was reportedly set ablaze in a Christian-majority town in Syria, prompting protests in the war-torn nation just two weeks after the ouster of former President Bashar Assad and his regime.

As the fighting in Gaza drags on, Pope Francis welcomed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to the Vatican.

Gunfire and shouts of jubilation echoed through the streets of Damascus, Syria’s capital, as rebel forces opposed to Bashar Assad’s government took control of the city on Dec. 7. But Christians in Syria are not ready to join the victory dance.

The head of the U.S. Catholic bishops' international justice committee is calling on nations to help Syria after the Dec. 8 fall of the Assad dictatorship in a lightning rebel offensive.

As the Israel-Hamas war enters its second year, expanding to a wider region of the Middle East, two Catholic agency leaders based in Jerusalem and Beirut are warning the conflict is decimating the populations they serve.

A year after the suspension of discussion between the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Canadian Rabbinic Caucus, the two parties are expected to resume official communication.

Knights and Dames of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem were urged at their annual Toronto gala to dig deep and keep moving forward in helping the afflicted of the Holy Land.

Pope Francis met a former prime minister of Israel and a former Palestinian foreign minister who believe they have a workable peace plan for the Holy Land.

As airstrikes continue to pound southern Lebanon, adding one more catastrophe to the avalanche of tragedies that have pushed its people to the limits of human endurance, churches and humanitarian organizations are urgently seeking help from international donors to provide emergency relief to millions fleeing their homes in desperation.