Franciscan priest abducted in Syria

July 07, 2015

An Iraqi Franciscan priest was seized by Islamic militants from his parish in the Syrian village of Yacoubieh on July 4, the Fides news service reports.

Shortly after Father Dhiya Azziz was taken away, his captors sent two men to his parish home to retrieve his medications—thereby giving an indication that the priest is alive and presumably healthy. But representatives of the Franciscan Custody in the Holy Land said that they had not heard from his captors and did not know the reason for his abduction.

Father Azziz had chosen to remain in Iraq, in a region that had come under the control of jihadist groups in the past, to provide pastoral care for the few remaining Christians in the area.

 

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Further information:

• Cautious hopes for the release of the Franciscan parish priest taken away by jihadists (Fides)