ALEPPO, Syria – Christians who fled Aleppo because of the four year battle for the city are now returning, and in the face of such challenges as poverty, destruction, and a shortages of basic goods, they persevere with the help of the local Church.

ALEPPO, Syria – Still reeling from the Syrian civil war, the city of Aleppo saw a ray of hope this weekend with a consecration to Our Lady of Fatima on May 13.

ALEPPO, Syria – The attitude of Christians in Aleppo seems to have improved since Syrian government forces re-took the city, and they believe the prayers of Christians abroad have helped them, one religious sister reports.

ALEPPO, Syria – Nearly three months after the Syrian Army liberated the city of Aleppo from ISIS control, the local population is facing harsh living conditions in a city left in ruins after nearly six years of fighting.

VATICAN CITY – In the wake of intensified attacks in Syria, Pope Francis called for an immediate cease-fire – even if temporary – so that civilians, especially children, could be rescued from the ruins.

VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis said those bombing civilians in the besieged Syrian city of Aleppo will be “accountable to God” for their actions as he renewed his appeals for peace amid an intensifying civil war in that country.

VATICAN CITY – Innocent men, women and children are paying the ultimate price in the continuing conflict raging in Syria, especially in Aleppo, where they are caught in the crossfire between rebel and government forces, Pope Francis said.

ROME – Despite intense bombing and severe food shortages, several Carmelite nuns are refusing to abandon the embattled Syrian city of Aleppo and have appealed for urgent aid.

VATICAN CITY - Even in the midst of constant bombing, Jesuit and Salesian priests remain in war-torn Aleppo, Syria, trying to create a sense of normalcy for those unable to leave.

TORONTO - A 13-hour flight to Toronto was nothing after three years spent living as refugees in Amman, Jordan, as an Armenian Orthodox family from Aleppo, Syria, launched its Canadian odyssey.

ROME - Chaldean Bishop Antoine Audo of Aleppo, Syria, and his people are exhausted.

BEKAA VALLEY, Lebanon - Many Lebanese have spent as much time as possible indoors this winter, protecting themselves from this year's unusually brutal cold season.

ROME - The kidnapping of Jesuit Father Alexis Prem Kumar has made Jesuit Refugee Service reassess the way it operates in many high-risk countries, said an agency official.

MONTREAL - The long-term survival of Christianity in the Middle East is threatened and “humanity in the region where Christianity was born will not be the same without it,” a spokesman for Aid to the Church in Need told a seminar in Montreal this week.

DUBLIN -- The president of Caritas in Syria has appealed to Pope Francis to use his Nov. 28-30 trip to Turkey to raise the issue of the ongoing supply of arms being sent across the Turkish border to rebel factions in northern Syria.