Pope prays for the ‘kidnapped’ Syrian nuns

Vatican City, 4 December 2013: Pope Francis during his General Audience on Wednesday in St. Peter’s square prayed for nuns allegedly kidnapped from the Greek-orthodox Monastery in Syria on Monday. ‘I would now like to invite you all to pray for the nuns of the Greek-orthodox Monastery of Santa Tecla in Ma'loula, Syria, who were taken away by force by armed men two days ago’, said the Pontiff, adding ‘we pray for these sisters and for all the people affected by the ongoing conflict. We continue to pray and work together for peace.’

Earlier on Tuesday, the mother superior of the convent said that 12 nuns have been abducted by opposition fighters and taken to a rebel-held town. Mother Febronia Nabhan, Superior of the Saidnaya Convent, said that the nuns and three other women were taken on Monday from another convent in the predominantly Christian village of Maaloula to the nearby town of Yabroud, somet 20 km to the north. She also told a news agency that the Maaloula convent's superior, Mother Pelagia Sayaf, called her later that day and said they were all ‘fine and safe’.

Earlier in the year, two Syrian bishops - the Greek Orthodox Boulos al-Yazigi and the Syrian Orthodox Mar Gregorios Yohanna Ibrahim were abducted on 22 April, and till now they are not released nor any further information about their whereabouts are known. Besides, no group has also claimed responsibility for their kidnapping.

Meanwhile, Apostolic Nuncio to Syria, Archbishop Mario Zenari told Reuters on Tuesday about the 12 nuns taken from Maaloula to Yabroud, but could not say if it was kidnaping or evacuation. He said the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate had told him armed men had entered the monastery on Monday afternoon. They forced the sisters to evacuate and to follow them towards Yabroud. Syrian state television said Christians had held a service in Damascus on Monday to protest against the capture of the nuns and the kidnapping of two bishops near Aleppo in April.
Source: VR Sedoc / Varie