A family of Christian refugees in Iraq who are taking shelter at the Syriac Catholic Mrtshmony Shrine in Erbil. Credit: Aid to the Church in Need-USA.
Posted on 08/22/2014 3:17:19 PM PDT by NYer
.- Iraqi Christians' faith is not diminished, even as they face exile from their homes and profound suffering, an official with a Catholic pastoral charity has said after visiting Kurdistan, where many have taken refuge.
“The faith is the reason for their lives. And despite the persecution, children wear rosaries around their necks and the people do not hide their tattoos of crosses or their medals that identify them as Christians,” Maria Lozano, adjunct communications director for Aid to the Church in Need, told CNA following her Aug. 12-16 visit to Erbil.
“They are not going to renounce their faith, even though that is the reason why they are being persecuted.”
More than 70,000 Christians have been displaced to Erbil from their homes in Mosul, Bakhdida, and other towns in Nineveh Province by the advent of the Islamic State, a recently established caliphate that has persecuted all non-Sunnis in its territory, which extends across swaths of Iraq and Syria.
Lozano traveled to Erbil along with Aid to the Church in Need's president, Johannes Heereman, and the organization's program director, Regina Lynch, on a fact-finding mission to assess the needs of the displaced persons.
One of the most powerful moments during the trip, Lozano reflected, was when she met a 90 year-old woman who said the only thing she could bring with her as she fled from her home was a small package with her prayer books.
“She showed us those books with so much care. They were written in Aramaic by hand. And I thought, 'this is precisely what they want to save: their faith.'”
Aid to the Church in Need's mission to Erbil was done also to “show our solidarity with these people have left everything out of defense of the faith,” Lozano said. “They need to know that we are with them and that we have not forgotten them.”
“The church that is by the refugee camp was completely full, so much that I couldn’t even enter. From outside I could hear them pray and sing in Aramaic … and I thought, 'this is the voice that they want to silence in Iraq.'”
“Something needs to be done so that they can keep praying, praising, and singing in that language and in that land.”
She urged that people “pray that these refugees will receive consolation, the help of God, and the strength to endure everything.”
In an Aug. 19 statement, Heereman called on the international community to “respond decisively now” to the Islamic State, “if we do not want to be silent witnesses to the last chapter of the history of Christendom in Iraq.”
“This cannot remain simply the concern of the Church in Iraq. We must not be silent witnesses to a destruction that is now reaching the scale of a disaster of civilization.”
The Aid to the Church in Need delegation also visited Dohuk, a Kurdish city which is hosting more than 60,000 additional displaced persons.
“We took a more mountainous route passing at times less than 12 miles from ISIS forces,” Lozano wrote in a description of the trip.
“However, there were only a few military check-points through which we passed very easily. In the distance we could see the Christian town of Alqosh, which has for the most part been abandoned by its inhabitants in anticipation of the arrival of ISIS.”
They were accompanied by the Chaldean Archbishop of Mosul, Emil Nona, who was born in Alqosh.
“The archbishop, too, is a refugee, as he was caught outside of Mosul attending a youth meeting in another Christian village when ISIS overran the city in early June. Like so many of his faithful, he had to leave everything behind.”
They visited also Mangesh, a village near Dohuk, where 300 Christian families are hosting an additional 77 Syrian Orthodox families who fled the Alqosh area.
“They were very thankful when the parish priest of Mangesh, Fr. Yoshia Sana, offered them the Catholic catechetical center as a temporary home. At the center, we met their Orthodox priest who expressed his gratitude to Mgr. Nona for the kindness and generosity his people have received,” Lozano said.
“They are still in need of more tents and some ventilators and Mgr. Nona promised to get some for them. Just as in Erbil, temperatures were soaring to more than 110 degrees and in one case seven families were sharing one tent.”
“We saw the cramped conditions under which (the refugees) live and we heard of the generosity of other Christian families, who share their own often humble homes with one or two other families.”
In response to the crisis – in total, there are more than 1.2 million internally displaced persons in Iraq, and more than 9 million displaced Syrians – the U.S. branch of Aid to the Church in Need has pledged more than $1 million to help those countries persecuted Christians.
The funds it has pledged will deliver emergency aid to Iraqi Christians in Erbil and the plains of Nineveh. Aid to the Church in Need is seeking donor support for its goal of $1 million in aid; donations can be made through this website or by calling (800) 628-6333.
The situation "is not only a problem for the Church but for all of humanity,” Lozano told CNA. “We are witnessing a cultural, human and religious genocide, a tragedy of which we are silent witnesses. For this reason we must raise our voices and tell our governments to act against this barbarism.”
God bless them, ping!
Such great faith and courage~~
Many years ago when I traveled through Europe, on many occasions, I witnessed non American’s who wore their country pins, flags or any I.D.
They feared being mistaken for an American in the event of a terrorist situation~~~can’t imagine them facing what these souls face~
Some stick figure.
Thay is just beautiful! I am not the least bit surprised. No matter what happens, we know who our real King is, and we know who wins this war.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/20/us-iraq-security-christians-idUSKBN0FP0R120140720
(NOTICE HOW REUTERS USES PERFECTLY GOOD NEW TO LABEL CRIMINAL TERRORITS “ultra conservatives”)
Iraq Catholic leader says Islamic State worse than Genghis Khan
BY DOMINIC EVANS AND RAHEEM SALMAN
BAGHDAD Sun Jul 20, 2014
(Reuters) - The head of Iraq’s largest church said on Sunday that Islamic State militants who drove Christians out of Mosul were worse than Mongol leader Genghis Khan and his grandson Hulagu who ransacked medieval Baghdad.
Chaldean Catholic Patriarch Louis Raphael Sako led a wave of condemnation for the Sunni Islamists who demanded Christians either convert, submit to their radical rule and pay a religious levy or face death by the sword.
At the Vatican, Pope Francis decried what he said was the persecution of Christians in the birthplace of their faith, while U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the Islamic State’s actions could constitute a crime against humanity.
Hundreds of Christian families left Mosul ahead of Saturday’s ultimatum, many of them stripped of their possessions as they fled for safety. They formed the remnants of a community which once numbered in the tens of thousands and traced its presence in Mosul to the earliest years of Christianity.
People of other faiths in the once diverse city, including Shi’ites, Yazidis and Shabaks, have also fled from the ultra-conservative militants, who have blown up mosques and shrines and seized property of fleeing minorities.
Prayer for Iraq
O God, who art the unsearchable abyss of peace,
the ineffable sea of love, the fountain of blessings
and the bestower of affection,
who sendest peace to those that receive it;
Open to us this day the sea of thy love
and water us with plenteous streams
from the riches of thy grace
and from the most sweet springs of thy kindness.
Make us children of quietness and heirs of peace,
enkindle in us the fire of thy love;
sow in us thy fear;
strengthen our weakness by thy power;
bind us closely to thee and to each other
in our firm and indissoluble bond of unity:
Syrian Clementine Liturgy (in: For all God’s people; p. 73)
The full text of Patriarch Sako’s prayer for peace follows:
Lord,
The plight of our country
is deep and the suffering of Christians
is severe and frightening.
Therefore, we ask you Lord
to spare our lives, and to grant us patience,
and courage to continue our witness of Christian values
with trust and hope.
Lord, peace is the foundation of life;
Grant us the peace and stability that will enable us
to live with each other without fear and anxiety,
and with dignity and joy.
Glory be to you forever. Amen.
Litany for Iraq
For lasting peace in this ancient land – From you, O Lord.
For wisdom and compassion for all in authority – From you, O Lord.
For comfort for families separated or bereaved – From you, O Lord.
For the release of captives – From you, O Lord.
For safety and security for minority communities.
For refreshment for the weary and healing for the sick – From you, O Lord.
For continuing faithfulness of the ancient churches of this land – From you, O Lord.
For tenacity of spirit for small Christian groups – From you, O Lord.
For the mutual enrichment and support of those of different Christian traditions – From you, O Lord.
You, Lord of all, we confess;
You, Lord Jesus, we glorify;
For you are the life of our bodies
And you are the Saviour of our souls.
The response in the litany and this hymn both come from the Chaldean liturgy. The ancient hymn celebrates Christ the source of resurrection in all situations of death and deprivation. (in: With All God’s People, p. 21, 22)
From Anonymous:
Father God, Our Savior and King,
We come to You in despair over the evil being done to our Middle East Christian brothers and sisters. We ask that You would put Your hand of protection upon them and that You would sustain them as You did the Israelites in the desert. Lord, cause our brothers and sisters to cry out to You for help and show them the peace that only You can give in answer to their needs. In their darkest moments, Lord, keep them, strengthen them, and comfort them. When they despair that no one is coming to help them, Lord, reveal Your glory and restore their souls.
We ask you these things in the blessed name of Your precious son, Jesus Christ.
Amen.
When younger and travelling in Europe and Eastern Europe, we always carried a Canadian t-shirt (Maple leaf). We could slip it on if the situation called for it.
Don’t know if it would have helped or not. Never had to do it.
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