At least 19 of the hundreds of Assyrian Christians seized by Islamic State (IS) jihadists in north eastern Syria last week have been freed.
Bashir Saedi, a senior official in the Assyrian Democratic Organisation, said that the group of 16 men and three women arrived at the Church of the Virgin Mary in the city of Hassakeh, in north-east Syria, on Sunday after their families paid ransoms or jizya, a tax paid by non-Muslims.
The Assyrian Human Rights Network published photographs on its Facebook page apparently showing the captives’ return.
The freed Christians arrived as tens of thousands of pilgrims in St Peter’s Square joined Pope Francis in silent prayer on Sunday for the Syrian Christians still being held captive.
After leading the Angelus prayer in St Peter’s Square Francis told persecuted Christians in Iraq and Syria that he did not forget them, but was close to them and prayed “insistently”.
He urged everyone “according to their ability to work to alleviate the suffering of those who are afflicted, often only because of the faith they profess.”
Terrorists have reportedly begun murdering some of the Christian hostages captured from villages in north-east Syria since Monday.
The number of Assyrian Christian men, women and children abducted is thought to exceed 350, according to the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN).
The Chaldean Bishop of Aleppo, Antoine Audo, told the BBC on Sunday that he was certain that at least 51 Assyrian Christians, including women, children and the elderly, had been seized last week and that some 3,000 had fled their homes.
The bishop, who was giving a lecture in London and celebrating Mass for local Chaldean Catholics, said he had also received unconfirmed reports that IS had murdered some of the captives.
Christians were targeted because they were poor and weak, he said, but said that their presence as a force for dialogue in the Middle East was essential.
“Islamic State want to spread destruction and terror. Their goal is to divide the country, perhaps to put out all the Christians from the Middle East. This is a very big loss for the Middle East and for the history and geography of the beginning of Christianity.”
He said that the thousands who had fled were supported by Christian families in villages such as Hassake, in north-east Syria, and were provided with food, medicine and clothes by the Church aid organisation Caritas.
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