Syriac Orthodox Archbishop Yohanna Ibrahim and Greek Orthodox Archbishop Paul Yazigi have been missing since April 2013. To date, no one has claimed responsibility for kidnapping them. We pray that they are still alive and in good health, and that they will soon be released as those who seized them will soon be identified and arrested. Their plight is an indication in microcosm of the precarious situation of Christians in the Middle East in their daily lives.
“World Council of Churches Renews Call for Return of Missing Syrian Archbishops,” International Christian Concern, April 14, 2019:
The World Council of Churches has made renewed calls for the release of two Syrian archbishops who have been missing since April 2013. To date, no group or individual has come forward to claim responsibility for the missing archbishops.
On the outskirts of Aleppo, Syriac Orthodox Archbishop Yohanna Ibrahim and Greek Orthodox Archbishop Paul Yazigi were kidnapped at gunpoint by unknown individuals. What has happened to the two men since their abduction remains a mystery.
“In the years since their abduction, the World Council of Churches has expressed its concern and called for the release of the two archbishops of Aleppo,” a communique from the Permanent Committee on Consensus and Collaboration read. “There is still no word on the whereabouts and condition of these two archbishops.”
As a result of the continued disappearances, the World Council of Churches has claimed that churches in Syria and Lebanon were suffering….