Syria: 12 nuns and three young women abducted by rebels

Monastery of St Tecla

Twelve nuns and three young women were taken away from their convent in a village 60 kilometres north of the Syrian capital Damascus by Islamist rebels on Monday, 2 December. There are conflicting accounts on the current plight of the nuns and their three associates.

At the end of his General Audience today, Pope Francis called on everyone to pray for the sisters group taken by force from the Greek Orthodox Monastery of Saint Tecla in the ancient Christian town of Maaloula in Syria.

“I would like to invite everyone to pray for the religious sisters of the Greek Orthodox Monastery of Saint Tecla in Ma’lula, in Syria, who, two days ago, were taken away by force by armed men,” he said. “Let us pray for these sisters, and for all those who have been kidnapped on account of the on-going conflict. Let us continue to pray and to work for peace.”

The Holy Father concluded his appeal with a call to have confidence in Mary, leading the faithful in praying the Hail Mary, and invoking the Blessed Mother as “Queen of Peace.”

The sisters were forcibly “evacuated” from their convent when Maaloula was overrun by Muslim rebels after three days of fighting. The nuns and several other women were taken to the nearby rebel-held town of Yabroud, which also has a large Christian population.

Yesterday their mother superior, Pelagia Sayyaf, said she understood the women were safe.

Thousands of Christians and many Muslims fled Maaloula when it was invaded on 5 September by Free Syrian Army (FSA) and Islamist militia, including the al-Qaeda-affiliated Jabat al-Nusra. Christian families who escaped were accommodated by churches in the Damascus area, which provided food and medical supplies. However, 40 nuns remained in Maaloula to look after dozens of orphaned children.

Maaloula is a UNESCO world heritage site and one of the few places in the world where the locals still speak Aramaic. According to Syrian news agency SANA, the rebels "committed acts of vandalism in the town's neighborhoods and around the convent, attacking locals and targeting them with sniper fire."

Archbishop Boulos (Paul) Yazigi of the Greek Orthodox Church and Archbishop Yohanna Ibrahim of the Syriac Orthodox Church, were abducted by gunmen in April 2013 as they returned from a humanitarian mission near the Syria/Turkey border. Their whereabouts remains unknown.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights the Syrian civil war has so far claimed at least 125,835 lives, with five million people internally displaced, and two million Syrians fleeing to other countries. The seven million affected represent a third of Syria’s population. Christian Solidarity Worldwide Chief Executive Mervyn Thomas said: “Our thoughts and prayers are very much with the nuns and the three young women in their entourage, particularly in light of conflicting reports regarding whether they were forcibly abducted or evacuated to safety. These are worrying times for the Christian community in Syria, given the earlier abductions of two Archbishops and the documented and deliberate targeting of clergy and laity by Islamist militia. CSW urges every party to the conflict to adhere to humanitarian standards with regard to the treatment of civilians, religious leaders and religious establishments, regardless of creed or ethnicity. We also request the speedy release of these nuns and their associates into the hands of church authorities.”

Source: VIS/CSW