The recently-appointed Apostolic Vicar of Aleppo for Catholics of the Latin rite, the Syrian Hanna Jallouf, Friar Minor of the Custody of the Holy Land, knows better than anyone the reality of that troubled region.
He was one of the few priests who continued to serve and comfort small Christian communities in the territories of Idlib province, controlled during the war by jihadist militias.
An age-old evil of subjugating humans is still very much prevalent in our world today. Fr. Emmanuel Parvez bravely fights on for his poverty-stricken parishioners who find themselves in the vice grip of slavery through debt.
Amidst the wave of violence and discrimination faced by the Christian community, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s goodwill gesture during Easter at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Delhi has been seen as a positive step towards promoting unity and harmony in a country plagued by communal tensions. Whether Modi’s Easter visit will bring a turnabout in events, remains to be seen.