Terrorists killed Franciscan Monk in Ghassaniya Monastery

VATICAN, (ST)_ In a new crime added to their brutal  record , armed terrorist groups on Monday killed  the old Franciscan monk Rev. Francois Murad inside Ghassaniya Monastery  near the city of Homs after storming the monastery and fully  vandalized  and looted its content .

The  Vatican news agency yesterday quoted rev. Pierre Batista Betsabila , Custos of the Holy Land and the President of the Franciscan Order in Jerusalem, as saying that Rev. Murad an elderly man chose a couple of weeks ago took refuge in the monastery.

For his part, Father Halim Najim charge of the Franciscan Order in Syria stressed  that the world should know that by supporting the militants, the West supports extremists and help killing the Syrians with all their constituents especially Christians, “he said, adding:” if this situation  continues no single Christian will remain  in the Middle East. “

According to information received by the Franciscan Order in the Holy land, the regional headquarters of the Order said that  gunmen entered the monastery and stole  all its contents and killed the elderly monk.

The Franciscan Order confirmed that the presence of monasticism in Syria is , “hundreds of years old and it continues in these difficult circumstances to do so without discrimination between religions or political parties.”

In a statement, the Custody of the Holy Land said that “the death of the father Francois is a severe  blow to all the brothers, who, still represent a source of great spiritual satisfaction for the population.”

It is noteworthy that the armed terrorist groups embarked on crimes and many similar infringements, including the abduction of Metropolitan of Aleppo, Iskenderun and the  Surroundings  for the Greek Orthodox church  Bishop Boulos Yazigi,  and Metropolitan of Aleppo for the Syriac Orthodox  Church Archbishop John Ibrahim in  the car that was  transporting them to  the north of Aleppo.

T. Fateh