He said the West ignores Syrian and Iraqi Christians because they are neither oil-rich nor a terrorist threat.

Many have simply walked from the city to the desert camps, a distance of 20 to 30 kilometers, says Mr. El-Mahdi. Now they confront hunger, thirst and the desert’s unforgiving sun. “The summer heat is brutal.”

Jerome Donnelly reviews "Debriefing the President: The Interrogation of Saddam Hussein" by John Nixon.

"ISIS had written really vile things about Jesus and the church. The convent was burned and gutted. Everything was stolen. Anything holy in their mind was burned."

For the patriarch, Holy Week culminating in the Easter celebration offers a fresh hope to breathe new life into prayer and reflection, reconciliation and dialogue.

Pope Francis joined a chorus of humanitarian relief and human rights critics who urged the United States to do more to avoid noncombatant deaths.