Three key leaders in the Syrian Church representing Catholic and Orthodox traditions are this week visiting UN and EU officials in Europe to plead for peace on behalf of Syria's children.

Patriarch Gregorios III, the head of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, Greek Orthodox Metropolitan George Abou Zakhem of Homs and Syrian Orthodox Bishop Selvanos Boutros Al Nemeh of Homs will visit Geneva and Brussels, as 'Ambassadors of the Children', Zenit reports.

Last week nearly a million signatures of Syrian schoolchildren were gathered in a petition for peace, which the Church leaders presented in Brussels to the President of the European Commission, Jean Claude Juncker, and the President of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz.

In Geneva they will present the petition, which includes children's drawings of their desire for peace, to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Dr Filippo Grandi, and the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Prince Al-Huzain.

Father Andrzej Halemba is the head of the Middle East department of the Catholic charity Aid to the Church In Need, which has sponsored the mission of the prelates. He said: "The more we Christians are united in our defence of peace and in our support, in particular of children in need, the stronger our voice and the more effective our efforts."

This plea for peace comes after a report yesterday warned that the Christian communities of Syria and Iraq are in the middle of a "cataclysmic crisis".

Syrian Christians who remain in the Middle East have described a climate of fear, hopelessness, and intense persecution. 

This week's mission of the Syrian Church leaders follows the joint declaration of Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church, in February 2016. The two called for their denominations to unite in support of persecuted Christians and a call for peace in Syria.