Where are all the Christian Syrian Refugees?

WASHINGTON, Nov. 17, 2015 /Christian Newswire/ — Christians and other religious minorities in Syria have been targeted for death, sexual slavery, displacement, cultural eradication and forced conversion by ISIS.

Many of these persecuted Christians hope to escape to the United States. They have been largely excluded, with the State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration admitting to officials at The Barnabas Fund, a Christian relief agency, “There is no way that Christians will be supported because of their religious affiliation.”

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Secretary of State John Kerry shows off his new chin at Vatican meeting

Cardinal-designate Pietro Parolin, who as secretary of state is considered the highest Vatican official, met with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry Jan. 14 for a conversation that lasted an hour and 40 minutes.

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John Kerry Plastic Surgery Before and After Photos

Ron Paul Institute: Targeting the Vatican embassy was likely no accident.

In keeping with recent practice of bombing the diplomatic facilities which oppose their struggle to overthrow the Syria government, the insurgents in Syria have hit the Vatican Embassy with a mortar shell today.

Targeting the Vatican embassy was likely no accident. As the US was on the verge of bombing Syria in late-August, the pope held a peace vigil at the Vatican attended by more than 100,000. As support for a US attack sagged among the American public and in Congress, this Vatican effort to head off a US war on behalf of the anti-Assad fighters was certainly of great significance. It may have been a deciding factor.

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Editor’s note: How’s that for “dialog”?

Syria: Mortar/Missile strike on Vatican embassy in central Damascus.

Damascus, 5 Nov. (AKI) – The papal envoy to Syria Mario Zenari on Tuesday swore he would remain in the war-wracked country despite a missile strike on the Vatican embassy in central Damascus.

“We represent the Pope in Syria and we won’t leave the country,” Archbishop Zenari told Adnkronos International (AKI) in a phone interview. “If there are further attacks like today’s we will move to another area,” Zenari said, adding that the embassy was located in a “sensitive area” of the capital.

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Editor’s note: Was this just a coincidence, or was the Vatican Embassy deliberately targeted?

Seen on the web: Disappointment

What does it mean to be Catholic?

Today, I experienced sadness as I visited St. Mark’s parish to unite with Pope Francis’ peace initiative.

I wished to do so in within a church.

I believe that “the Catholic community of St. Mark the Evangelist” consists of more than 30,000 Catholics.

Went I went there today to unite with Pope Francis, five people were present.

Not once this week did the main page of “the Catholic community of St. Mark the Evangelist’s” web site even bother to exhort the Faithful to fast and pray in unity with Pope Francis and his peace initiative.

The parish…sorry…”the Catholic community” in question was not interested in leading organized public prayer in unity with the Pope Francis and his peace initiative.

What does it mean to be Catholic? Today, it felt barren and empty to me at “the Catholic community of St. Mark the Evangelist.”

More than 30,000 Faithful…larger than a great many towns across the country and world…and we failed to unite publicly in a spirit of fasting and prayer as Pope Francis desired.

Please pray for me as I fell empty inside. Oh, well. That is Novus Ordoism for you.

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There goes the ol’ Peace Prize…

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama on Thursday prepared for the possibility of launching unilateral American military action against Syria within days as Britain opted out in a stunning vote by Parliament. Facing skepticism at home, too, the administration shared intelligence with lawmakers aimed at convincing them the Syrian government used chemical weapons against its people and must be punished.

Despite roadblocks in forming an international coalition, Obama appeared undeterred and advisers said he would be willing to retaliate against Syria on his own.

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Editor’s note: No doubt the president believes that Jesus, Martin Luther King Jr. and Mohamed will be proud of him. As everyone already knows – President Obama’s word – is his bond!

Making preparations for Armageddon?

A Syrian Chaldean Catholic bishop on Monday warned that an armed intervention in Syria could unleash a “world war”, while the Vatican’s official newspaper called for more “prudence” from Western powers.

“If there is an armed intervention, that would mean, I believe, a world war. That risk has returned,” Monsignor Antoine Audo of Aleppo told Vatican radio.

“We hope that the pope’s call for real dialogue between the warring parties to find a solution can be a first step to stop the fighting,” he said.

Audo is also the head of the Syrian arm of the international Catholic charity Caritas and has repeatedly warned about the human cost of the war.

The Vatican daily, L’Osservatore Romano, meanwhile criticised Western powers in an editorial.

“The drumbeat of an armed intervention by Western powers is becoming ever more insistent and ever less restrained by prudence,” it said.

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