At the height of the Islamic State group’s rampage across Syria, the world watched in horror as the militants blew up an iconic arch and temple in the country’s famed Roman ruins in Palmyra. Eight years later, IS has lost its hold but restoration work on
The use of hand tools to rebuild the roof that flames turned into ashes in 2019 is a deliberate, considered choice, especially since power tools would undoubtedly have done the work more quickly.
The report, which assesses conditions in 199 countries, also looks at policies and laws, including those about blasphemy and apostasy, that ‘criminalize religious expression.’
The brewing civil war in the country has convinced Christians and their leaders to leave the capital en masse, with many fleeing across the border to South Sudan.
Violence erupted against Christians in Manipur, India, last week amid political turmoil and tension between the Hindu population and minority Christian groups.
In welcoming Tawadros, the Coptic Orthodox patriarch of Alexandria, Egypt, Francis recalled that Wednesday marked the 50th anniversary of the first meeting between a Catholic and Coptic Orthodox pope.