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Syria: Dutch Priest Executed Today in Bastan Al Dewan, Homs by Masked Militant

By VOICE OF THE PERSECUTED on April 7, 2014 • ( 0 )

dutch-jesuit-father-frans-van-der-lugt-chats-civilians-urging-them-be-patient

DUTCH JESUIT FATHER FRANS VAN DER LUGT CHATS WITH CIVILIANS, URGING THEM TO BE PATIENT, IN THE BESIEGED AREA OF HOMS – REUTERS

SYRIA: A Dutch Jesuit priest, Father Frans Van Der Lugt 72, was beaten then executed savagely, shot twice in the head by a masked militant today in Homs , Bastan Al Dewan, Syria. He was instantly killed.

The Dutch Jesuit Order confirmed to the AP that he’s been killed.

“A man came into his house, took him outside and shot him twice in the head. In the street in front of his house.”

They had not been aware of threats against the priest. Father Frans Van Der Lugt will be bured in Syria per his wishes.

Reports claim he lived in Syria for decades and had played an important role in making known the plight of the people of Homs – Christians and Muslims alike. In the 1980s he set up an agricultural project outside Homs where young people with mental health problems could find employment.

Since the outbreak of the war, most Christians in the area have left their homes which came under attack and destruction by the militants, but he chose to stay in the monastery to care for his own people. He stayed there with around 70 Christians in a very bad situation of the besieged part of the old city.

In February he put out a call to the world in a video:

Christians and Muslims are going through a difficult and painful time and we are faced with many problems. The greatest of these is hunger. People have nothing to eat. There is nothing more painful than watching mothers searching for food for children in the streets…I will not accept that we die of hunger. I do not accept that we drown in a sea of hunger, letting the waves of death drag us under. We love life, we want to live. And we do not want to sink in a sea of pain and suffering.

May God rest his soul in peace!

Written by a Christian brother who has been directly affected by persecution in Syria. He has suffered the greatest loss anyone can experience, his family. The persecution of his family was a turning point in his life. He realized the need the truth about what’s happening in Syria.

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