Washington D.C., May 1, 2013 / 12:36 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- No news has emerged of the two kidnapped Orthodox bishops in Syria, more than a week since their disappearance, and reports have now surfaced that one is in grave need of medications for his health conditions.
“We still do not know where the two archbishops are or who has taken them,” a spokesman for the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Aleppo told Aid to the Church in Need April 29.
Concerns are escalating because one of the men – Archbishop John Ibrahim – requires medicine for high blood pressure and diabetes, the spokesman explained, and “it is a life-threatening problem if he does not receive his medicine.”
Archbishop Ibrahim of the Syriac Orthodox Church and Archbishop Paul Yagizi of the Greek Orthodox Church were kidnapped April 22 near Aleppo by armed men who apparently killed their driver, Deacon Fatha' Allah Kabboud.
It remains unclear who carried out the kidnapping. The Syrian government and rebel groups have both traded accusations over who is to blame.
The bishops were abducted on their way back from the Turkish border, where they were negotiating the release of two priests, Fathers Michael Kayyal and Maher Mahfouz, who had themselves been kidnapped Feb. 9.
“What is so sad about this is that both men were among those working hardest for peace and yet in this time of conflict they are among those paying the highest price,” the spokesman said.
“There are many Christians being kidnapped now and this is the first time where we have absolutely no clue about what has happened, where nobody has taken responsibility for the abduction.”
The Syrian civil war entered its second year a month ago, and the country's Christian minority has been caught in its midst.
Many Syrian Christians live in Damascus, Aleppo and Homs, all of which are cities strongly contested by the government and the rebels. Many have fled to nearby Lebanon.
Damascus, 27 April 2013: There is no sign that two Orthodox bishops kidnapped five days ago near Aleppo have been released, this despite numerous reports about their liberation. "Nothing; there is nothing; only unreliable reports," a source, anonymous for security reasons, told AsiaNews. "We can talk about their release only when the two bishops are in front of us and can talk to us."
Syriac Orthodox Metropolitan Bishop Mar Gregorios Ibrahim of Aleppo Diocese and Greek Orthodox Bishop Paul Yazici of the same city, were abducted on Monday in Kafr Dael, 10 km from Aleppo, on the Turkish border. Their driver, a Syriac Orthodox deacon, was killed.
According to information from the Orthodox Church, the two prelates were negotiating the release of two priests, Fr Michel Kayyal (Armenian Catholic) and Fr Maher Mahfouz (Greek Orthodox), seized in February and still in the hands of kidnappers, even though a ransom was paid for their release.
Damascus pinned the kidnapping of two bishops on "terrorist groups". Some sources have blamed Chechen jihadists for the abduction. The Free Syrian Army (FSA), the main armed opposition force, accused instead Syrian troops.
What the case, what is certain is that the two bishops were kidnapped in a rebel-held area and that opposition officials said they would do what they could to ensure their release. "However, the release is taking its time," the source told AsiaNews, "and this is worrisome."
Some fear that the abduction might be a way to force the Church and Christians to take sides. So far, only the United Nations and the Vatican continue to call for political talks as the only way to end the civil war.
On Wednesday, as he mentioned the two kidnapped bishops, Pope Francis called "for an end to the bloodshed," for the delivery of "necessary humanitarian assistance to the population" and for a quick "political solution to the crisis."
In a public statement, the Syriac and Greek Orthodox patriarchates of Antioch, to which the two kidnapped bishops belong, stressed that the two prelates are "messengers of peace", as demonstrated by their "religious, social and national work."
On this basis, the patriarchates called on all Churches in the world to reject "all kinds of violence hitting the human beings living in the East."
Similarly, they called on "our partners in citizenship, from all Islamic confessions, to stand hand in hand and work on refusing the misuse of man and deal with him as a product, a shield in the battles or a means for monetary or political bribery."
The abduction of the two bishops comes at a time when Western governments are increasingly convinced that Syrian rebels must be armed and the Central Intelligence Agency is certain that the Assad regime used nerve gas, a conclusion that could push the United States towards military intervention in Syria.
Source: AsiaNews
