Two years ago on February 9th my seminary classmate and friend, Father Michel Kayal, was kidnapped along with a Greek Orthodox priest as they traveled from their hometown of Aleppo to Damascus by bus. Syrian rebels stopped the bus, asked for documents and had the two priests get off the bus. They were never seen again.
Me and Father Kayal (right) in 2007 in Rome. Picture is mine, all rights reserved.
At first the kidnappers demanded $250,000 and the release of fifteen imprisoned rebels. After a few weeks they only asked for money. As more weeks went by, contact ceased and attempts to make a deal ended. For almost two years now there has been no news about Father Kayal a part from a brief phone call he was allowed to make to his mother one week after his kidnapping.
The video above was released last year marking the first anniversary of his kidnapping. Next week there will be a Holy Hour at his parish in Aleppo praying for his intentions.
As the war continues in Syria, Christians continue to be harassed and to flee from their ancestral lands. We must pray ardently for the Christians in the Middle East, the birthplace of Christianity and where Christian communities have been present for millenia. If peace is not reached soon, the suffering will only increase and ancient traditions will be extinguished forever. Below are recent pictures of the bombed Armenian Catholic Cathedral of Aleppo sent to me by another classmate from Aleppo, Father Antoine Tahan. Due to the damage the cathedral is now closed.
These four pictures are courtesy of Father Antoin Tahan
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