Catholic, Christian Organizations Praying, Rallying, Donating for Iraqi Christians

Aleteia ^ | August 13, 2014 | JOHN BURGER

[NYer]

Both in the United States and the Middle East, Christian and humanitarian aid groups are doing what they can to assist refugees fleeing Islamist militants in Iraq.

Baron Johannes Freiherr Heereman von Zuydtwyck, executive president of Aid to the Church in Need, is leading a delegation to the Kurdish city of Irbil in northern Iraq, where tens of thousands of Christians from Mosul and villages in the Nineveh Plain were taking refuge.

“We are here to show our solidarity,” said Regina Lynch, head of Aid to the Church in Need’s programming/grant-making department, in a telephone call from Irbil. “People are sleeping anywhere they can—in parks, churches, on the streets.…Some are staying with relatives. Churches are helping to feed people, helping them cook.”

The bulk of the Christian refugees are making their way to Kurdish territory, where Church communities have a measure of safety. But an already overburdened local Church infrastructure will make life difficult for newcomers in Kurdistan, while the existing Kurdistan Christian community of some 100,000 fears ISIS forces may also attack that territory.

The al-Qaida breakaway group has seized broad swathes of territory straddling the Iraqi-Syria border as it expands the Islamic state, or Caliphate, it has established there, imposing its harsh interpretation of Islamic law on the region's inhabitants. Last week, Islamic State fighters captured the country's largest hydroelectric dam and surrounding areas, including Makhmour, causing the exodus of tens of thousands of Iraqis, among them Christians and Yazidis, an ancient minority sect.

The emboldened militants also tried to seize the Kurdish city of Irbil, attacking a checkpoint 20 miles from the regional capital, according to the Associated Press. They were pushed back by U.S. airstrikes.

Lynch said the small delegation from Aid to the Church in Need was finding that feelings were mixed among refugees about what the future mgiht hold for them. Some are hoping to go back to teir villages in the Nineveh Plain where their families have lived for generations, but even if ISIS is pushed back, there need to be assurances that this won’t happen again, Lynch said.

Aid to the Church in Need-USA (ACNUSA) has launched a campaign to provide humanitarian aid to the beleagured Christian community. It already has made two grants, $135,000 for emergency aid for Iraq’s Christian refugees and $186,000 in support of the Christian community in Syria.

There, continued fighting between the regime and the opposition, the devastation caused by the civil war to date, and targeted attacks are causing enormous suffering to local Christians.

“Both countries are threatened with the extinction of ancient Christian communities,” said George Marlin, Chairman of the Board of ACNUSA. “Both Churches and governments in the West must do their utmost to prevent what has become a tragedy of historic proportions,” he added.

Marlin said that water, food, emergency supplies and medicine “are the first order of the day,” but in the long term a lasting solution must be found that guarantees Christians’ safe haven in both Syria and Iraq.

In the wake of Sunni-Shiite clashes in Iraq and the rise in Islamic extremism, the Iraqi Christian population has dwindled to some 150,000 from a high of more than a million. The Syrian conflict has sparked the exodus of almost a third of the country’s Christian population of 1.8 million, the majority of whom are currently stranded in Lebanon. In addition, at least several hundred thousand Christians are displaced within Syria itself.

ISIS forces—which overran Iraq’s largest city of Mosul in early June—have also taken control of the town of Qaraqosh and surrounding villages, the country’s largest Christian enclave. Its 100,000 residents fled “with nothing but the clothes on their backs,” reported Chaldean Patriarch Louis Sako of Baghdad, who spoke in terms of “an exodus, a real via crucis.” The fate of Mosul’s Christian community—who were given a choice by ISIS to convert, pay a tax levied on non-Muslims, simply leave or die—left these latest refugees with no illusions. Only a handful of Christians remain in Mosul; most of the community has fled, robbed of their homes, all their possessions and their identity papers.

In Syria, ACNUSA will be supporting the Archdiocese of Homs, Hama and Yabroud and provide emergency relief for families in the country’s famous “Valley of the Christians,” which has seen some of the most intense fighting of the Syrian civil war.

“Not only is the rich Christian patrimony of these countries at stake,” said Marlin; “Christians play a vital role in Muslim societies as a moderating force, playing an indispensable role in mediating between warring factions and maintaining relations with the international community.”

The commitment of the Christians in the Middle East to “education and democratic values across the board” makes them peace-builders, he said—and that is a “vital interest for the
West.”

ACNUSA has pledged--and hopes to raise--$1 million  to the persecuted and suffering Church in the region.

At least two other Catholic organizations operating in the United States are working to respond to the dire needs of Christians in Iraq at this time. The Catholic Near East Welfare Association, a papal agency providing humanitarian and pastoral support for Christians all over the Middle East, Eastern Europe, Northeast Africa and India, have offices in Jerusalem, Beirut, Lebanon and Amman, Jordan that work in Iraq and Syria with local dioceses and bishops and religious to provide humanitarian relief and ongoing support. CNEWA has launched an emergency aid appeal to help provide for the basic needs of refugees and to support priests and religious on the ground.

The Knights of Columbus has established a matching fund to assist Christians and other religious minorities facing severe persecution or displacement in Iraq and nearby countries.

“The unprovoked and systematic persecution and violent elimination of Middle East Christians, as well as other minority groups, especially in Iraq, has created an enormous humanitarian crisis,” Supreme Knight Carl Anderson said Aug. 12. In addition to an initial pledge of $500,000, the Catholic fraternal organization will match another $500,000 in donations from the public.

In addition, Catholics and others are praying and rallying to support Iraqi Christians. Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap. has invited all 219 parishes in the five-county Archdiocese of Philadelphia to participate in a Day of Prayer for Iraq on Sunday, August 17.

This initiative is part of a national effort being led by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). It follows the call of Pope Francis for the Universal Church to join in prayerful solidarity for an immediate to the violence and destruction in Iraq along with the merciless persecution being directed at Christians.

Next Sunday, a Holy Hour will take place in the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in Philadelphia to pray especially for the intention of peace in Iraq.

The American Middle East Christians congress (AMECC) hosted a conference of unity on Friday, August 1, 2014 for all American Middle East church denominations and their representatives, who agreed to form an American Middle East Council of Churches and public relations committee, build bridges with other states' Middle Eastern churches, and assist Middle East Christians in their plight.

The organization is holding an inter-religious Candelight Vigil tomorrow, Thursday, August 14, 2014 at 7:30P.M. at Shain Park in Birmingham, Mich. The area is home to many Christian Iraqis who have immigrated over the years. Among them is Ramsay F. Dass, MD, president of the American Middle East Christians Congress. Born on a British military base in Iraq to a British father and an Iraqi Christian mother, he commented on the developments of the past couple of months: “Mosul, the birthplace of my mother [and home to a Christian people] for 2000 years is gone.”

“Tomorrow night, people of many faiths will be coming together to pray together about how to start fighting back,” he said. “We’re asking our fellow Americans to start fighting back with us.”

He said he has heard words of support for the Christians of Iraq from people of various religious and ethnic groups, including Musims. But he regrets that he has heard too little from one American in particular.

“President Obama is talking about the Yazidis, talking about the Kurds. Fine," said Dass. "But he has said hardly anything about the Christians. He has been avoiding us.”

[NYer]

Bishop Gregory John Mansour has issued an appeal to the parishes in his eparchy, to assist the Iraqi christians. He writes:

"As the world sits by and does nothing to help our brothers and sisters who are being openly discriminated against, displaced, and persecuted for no other reason than being Christian, we feel we need to do something to help."

To do so, he is taking up a collection on the weekend of August 16-17. All monies collected will be sent through the appropriate Catholic channels so that those suffering may directly receive the benefits. He currently serves on three committees of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops: Pro Life, Catechesis, and Catholic-Oriental Orthodox Dialogue. He serves as the Secretary for Christian Arab and Middle Eastern Churches Together (CAMECT). He is also a member of the Maronite Synod of Bishops that meets every year in Lebanon.

If you are concerned about making donations through a 3rd party organization, please consider sending them directly to Bishop Mansour. I have known him for more than 10 years and can assure you that every dollar donated will go directly to the Iraaqi christians, without any monies applied to overhead costs. Should you have any questions or concerns, do not hesitate to freepmail me.

Eparchy of Saint Maron of Brooklyn
Collection for Iraq
109 Remsen Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201

"And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me." - Mt 25:40

[NYer]

Persecution ping!