Kidnapped nuns in Syria set free
Patriarch Welcomes Their Release as 'Sign of Hope in this Time of Crisis'
Twelve nuns kidnapped by Jihadists in Syria last December were set free in early March, 2014.
Patriarch Gregorios III, head of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, broke the news to a team from Aid to the Church in Need, who had just arrived in Lebanon to visit projects supporting refugees from Syria.
The Damascus-based Patriarch told members of the Catholic charity that the nuns had not been harmed during their ordeal and that their release was “a sign of hope in this time of crisis”.
Patriarch Gregorios added that the release had apparently been mediated by the secret services of Qatar and Lebanon.
His comments came as a Lebanese security source was reported as saying that the nuns were being accompanied by the head of a Lebanese security agency and a Qatari intelligence official.
According to media reports, the release of the nuns had been agreed as part of a deal in which the government would free scores of women prisoners.
The Sisters were seized in December from the Greek Orthodox monastery of St Thecla in the predominantly Christian town of Maaloula, about 40 miles north of Damascus.
Later that month (December), the nuns appeared in a video obtained by Al-Jazeera television, saying they were in good health.
The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group identified the rebels who took the nuns as militants from the Nusra Front, Al-Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria.
The Nusra Front invaded Maaloula on September 4, 2013.
In the three days that they held the town,12 people were killed, including three men who refused to renounce their Christian faith.
The Patriarch described speaking to the nuns’ Mother Superior shortly after the town was taken and being assured by her that all the Sisters were unharmed.
Weeks later, the Islamists struck again and took the nuns.
Source: ZENIT
Mission Intention for April
That the Risen Lord may fill with hope the hearts of those who are being tested by pain and sickness.