In These New Times

Catholic Culture

26th July, 2012

The leader of a Catholic women’s religious community near the embattled Syrian city of Homs has appealed to Western nations to stop arming Syrian rebels.

Rebels supported by Western countries are “sowing chaos and destroying the internal balance of Syrian society,” said Mother Agnes-Mariam de la Croix, the superior of the Deir Mar Youcoub community. “They are holding the country hostage through terror, threats, and bloodshed.”

Mother de la Croix said that Western supporters may be misinformed about the motives of the rebels. Some, she said, are allied with Al Qaida or the Muslim Brotherhood. She revealed that she had been forced to flee from Syria to Lebanon because of a propaganda campaign, and accused of seeking to prop up the troubled Assad regime.