In an open letter to Pope Leo XIV, the Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) has appealed to him to advocate for the clarification of the fate of the two Christian bishops who were kidnapped in Syria on April 22, 2013.
Mor Gregorius Yohanna Ibrahim, Archbishop of the Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch, and Boulos Yazigi, Archbishop of the Greek (Rum) Orthodox Church, were abducted over 13 years ago in the Syrian province of Idlib by armed militias. Their driver was shot dead on the spot. To this day, there is no reliable information regarding their whereabouts. At the time of the abduction, Islamist militias were active in the province, led by the current Syrian leader Ahmed al-Scharaa (who was then still active under his Islamist nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Golani). Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan supported these militias in Aleppo, Idlib, and other parts of Syria.
“The fate of the two bishops must not be forgotten. It symbolizes the systematic oppression of Christians in Syria,” says Dr. Kamal Sido, Middle East consultant at the STP. He urges Pope Leo not to turn a blind eye to the fate of the bishops and the Christian minorities in Syria. “Indifference to the suffering of Christian communities encourages the regime in Damascus and radical Sunni Islamists to launch ever new attacks on minorities in the country,” the human rights activist emphasizes in the open letter. The STP calls on Pope Leo to speak out publicly against the policies of Turkish President Erdoğan and the leader of the Syrian Islamists, al-Scharaa. “Both may have played a role in the abduction of the two Christian dignitaries in Syria in 2013. Even if they were not directly involved, they could contribute to clarifying the matter,” Sido emphasizes. In 2014, at the initiative of the STP, the bishops were awarded the City of Weimar Human Rights Prize in absentia.
Since the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011, the number of Christians in Syria has fallen dramatically. Before the war, about 1.5 to 2 million Christians lived in the country. They made up about 10 percent of the population. Current estimates for the year 2026 predict that only about 300,000 Christians will remain in Syria. Today, only about two percent of Syria’s total population is Christian—a decline of over 80 percent since 2011. Most Syrian Christians belong to the Greek Orthodox Church. Officially known as the “Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East,” it has approximately 4.3 million followers worldwide.
This press release was translated from German to English using AI. If you come across errors or ambiguities, please contact us at 65]G378o6DD6CA.
Contact: Dr. Kamal Sido, Middle East consultant – 65]G378o@5:D]<