A Franciscan priest abducted by Islamist terrorists in Syria on 5 October has been released to house arrest at his convent in the north-eastern village of Knayeh, near the Turkish border.
Fr Hanna Jallouf’s confinement was ordered by a local Islamic court, pending the outcome of an investigation and trial.
The Custos of the Holy Land, Fr Pierbattista Pizzaballa, reported that the situation is fragile since Islamists have accused the 62-year-old Syrian priest and other Christians in the area of cooperation with the administration of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. “The court wants to verify allegations of co-operation with the Assad regime,” he said last Friday.
Bishop Georges Abou Khazen, Patriarchal Vicar of Aleppo for the Catholics of the Latin rite, commented: “We know that he is well, and this is important.” Up to 20 parishioners taken with Fr Jallouf have also been released back to Knayeh. Fr Jalouf has returned to pastoral work and assists at a Franciscan aid centre, distributing food, clothing and medicine to people in need.
The Franciscans have worked in Knayeh for 125 years. Christians accounted for 10 per cent of the Syrian population before the civil war started in 2011 but hundreds of thousands have since fled the country.
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