SYRIA: VATICAN CONFIRMS CATHOLIC PRIEST WAS KILLED BY ISLAMIST

A Syrian Roman Catholic priest, Father Francois Murad, was killed on June 23 in northern Syria, the Vatican confirmed in a statement. It happened in the convent of the Custody of the Holy Land in Ghassaniya, where the Franciscan took refuge after the monastery of St Simon was bombed.
Some initial reports said Fr Murad was beheaded by jihadist militants, but activists then said that he was shot. The Custody of the Holy Land, a Franciscan order which is the official custodian of religious sites in the Middle East, also issued a statement two days after Fr Murad's death saying Islamists shot him. "Islamists attacked the monastery, ransacking it and destroying everything," it said. "When Father Francois tried to resist, defending the nuns, rebels shot him."