Catholic monk Father Jacob Murad kidnapped by jihadist in Syria
Father Jacob Murad (Jacques Mourad), a Syrian Catholic monk who is Superior at the Mar Elian Monastary, has reportedly been kidnapped when three armed gunman rode a motorcycle into the monastary.
Another Christian, Boutros Hanna, a deacon at the church, was also taken by force. They are part of the Hebron community, founded by Father Paolo Dall’Oglio, near Palmyra, which was seized by ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) last week.
The monastary had been receiving a massive influx of refugees from the fallen city and Sunni Muslim terrorists targeted the facility.
Father Jacob Murad
La Croix reports: “L’Oeuvre d’Orient expressed in a statement his ‘deep concern’ before the disappearance. According to information transmitted by Father Ziad Hilal Jesuit Homs, association, Father Jacques ‘was abducted by three masked people’ in his monastery ‘while working in the organization of the reception Palmyra a predictable influx of refugees.’ Both were taken to an unknown location in the car of Father Jacques.”
“So I proposed to leave a Qaryatyan time with the reconciliation of Daech” he replied…Mourad had refused to leave the monastery, despite the threat of the Islamic State group in the region. “As the priest and pastor, I will never leave this place so long as there are people here, unless they hunt me down”, reported Father Ziad or Murad’s remarks.
UnderstandingWar.org published a PDF map of Syria with estimates on the groups controlling each region. Check it out below.
Mourad had been at the monastery for the last 15 years. He succeeded the Italian Jesuit Priest Paolo Dall’Oglio as the head of the Mar Moussa Monastery, which is linked to Mar Elian, after Dall’Oglio was kidnapped in 2013 from the northern Aleppo province.
photo/ Understandingwar.org
