04/14/2019 Syria (International Christian Concern) – The World Council of Churches has made renewed calls for the release of two Syrian archbishops who have been missing since April 2013. To date, no group or individual has come forward to claim responsibility for the missing archbishops.

On the outskirts of Aleppo, Syriac Orthodox Archbishop Yohanna Ibrahim and Greek Orthodox Archbishop Paul Yazigi were kidnapped at gunpoint by unknown individuals. What has happened to the two men since their abduction remains a mystery.

“In the years since their abduction, the World Council of Churches has expressed its concern and called for the release of the two archbishops of Aleppo,” a communique from the Permanent Committee on Consensus and Collaboration read. “There is still no word on the whereabouts and condition of these two archbishops.”

As a result of the continued disappearances, the World Council of Churches has claimed that churches in Syria and Lebanon were suffering. The World Council of Churches closed their most recent call to action by praying for the safe return of the two leaders “as a sign of hope for all the Christians of Syria and the region.”

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