Pope Leo XIV received the Synod of Bishops of the Greek-Melkite Church of Antioch on October 10, offering words of solidarity with a community that has lived for decades under the weight of war, religious extremism, forced migration, and economic collapse. “I am with you,” he told the bishops — and through them, the priests, religious, seminarians, and faithful scattered across the Middle East and throughout a vast diaspora. The address was an act of ecclesial solidarity with one of the oldest Christian communities in the world, whose roots reach back to the city where, as Leo recalled, the followers of Jesus were first called “Christians.” The most concrete announcement in the speech concerned the material conditions that make Christian life in the region possible at all. Emigration — driven by insecurity, poverty, and the absence of opportunity — has steadily hollowed out Christian communities across Syria, Lebanon, the broader Holy Land, and Iraq for Read More…

Vatican scholarships to keep Christians in the Middle East