Syria: Franciscan priest and 20 parishioners kidnapped

Father Hanna Jallouf

A Franciscan priest and 20 other Christians have been seized by Al-Qaeda linked rebels in a village in northwestern Syria, the Franciscan mission to the Holy Land said yesterday.

"On the night of 5 October, Father Hanna Jallouf of the Custody of the Holy Land, parish priest at Qunyeh, Syria, was taken by some brigades linked to Jabhat Al-Nusra," a statement from the Custody of the Holy Land said.

Following their capture, an unspecified number of Franciscan nuns had taken refuge with the villagers, it said. Qunyeh is a village of several hundred people in Idlib province, and lies some eight kilometres (five miles) from the Turkish border.

According to Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa, from the Custos of the Holy Land, the 62-year-old priest was seized along with 20 villagers. in Jerusalem, Fr Pizzaballa said there was great concern over the fate of the priest. Fr Jallouf is a Syrian who has worked in Qunyeh for 12 years.

"They are accusing them of being collaborators" - with the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, he said, insisting that this was not true. "We don't know what to do. We don't know with whom to talk, we're totally unable to get in touch with anyone," added Fr Pizzaballa.

According to a source linked to the Franciscan Order in Aleppo, Al-Nusra rebels had forced their way into the convent and "looted everything".

The Custody of the Holy Land confirms that they are not able to say where Father Hanna and his parishioners are now and, at this time, they have no possibility of contact with him or his captors. Their statement concludes with an appeal to pray for the priest "and for the other victims of this tragic and senseless war".

 Source: Custos of the Holy Land