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Starting at 4 p.m. on Jan. 19, crowds of Israelis arrived at what has become known as Hostages Square in the centre of Tel Aviv to support the hostage families and watch the release screened on the giant screen in the square.

The Vatican's top diplomat met with papal representatives to various Middle Eastern countries to discuss possible avenues toward peace in the region and the state of the Catholic Church there.

Gunfire and shouts of jubilation echoed through the streets of Damascus, SyriaöÏÓãÊÓƵapp capital, as rebel forces opposed to Bashar AssadöÏÓãÊÓƵapp government took control of the city on Dec. 7 and proclaimed an end to the 50-year rule of the Assad dynasty.

As airstrikes continue to pound southern Lebanon, adding one more catastrophe to the avalanche of tragedies that have pushed its people to the limits of human endurance, churches and humanitarian organizations are urgently seeking help from international donors to provide emergency relief to millions fleeing their homes in desperation.

As Israel has escalated its campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon across a United Nations-drawn boundary between the two countries, more than a million people have fled their homes.

While faith cannot change anything in moments of great darkness such as the one Israelis and Palestinians are currently living through in the Israeli-Hamas war, it can, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa said, create "a small light" which will give "orientation."

BEIRUT -- The pilgrimage of the icon of the Holy Family of Divine Will of Unity and Peace has begun. The icon, written by Melkite Father Samir Rouhana of St. Elias Parish near Haifa, Israel, will be in Lebanon for a month.

For nine years, Randa Aweis battled kidney disease, urgently in need of a transplant.

BEIRUT -- Lebanese Cardinal Bechara Rai warned that the Christian presence in the Middle East is shrinking and church leaders "are called to face the winds that blow in our homelands."

VATICAN CITY -- Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, met with the U.S. and Israeli ambassadors to the Vatican to express concern that "possible unilateral actions" on their part would further jeopardize peace in the region.

In the wake of rising tensions in the Middle East which have seen the assassination of IranöÏÓãÊÓƵapp top general and the downing of a civilian airliner, Canada can expect an escalation of refugee applications, say representative of aid agencies familiar with the region.

CAIRO -- Amid deadly protests in Iraq, a people's uprising in Lebanon and continued suffering in Syria, Catholic leaders of the Middle East called upon officials of their homelands to "ensure safety, peace and tranquility and stability for their citizens."

On July 7, 2018, in Bari, Italy, at an important ecumenical gathering of all Christian leaders from the Middle East, Pope Francis made a jarring reference to a Middle East without Christians. 

WASHINGTON -- In a room full of religious leaders, politicians and other supporters of protecting Christians threatened in the Middle East, Sam Brownback, ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, urged more prayer and action to continue supporting persecuted Christians in the Middle East.

JERUSALEM (CNA) -- Peace, mutual equality, and respect must be the foundation of progress in Israeli-Palestinian relations, despite continued setbacks, the Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land said this week.