The Syriac Catholic patriarch said he was horrified to see widespread devastation and what he called “ghost towns” during a recent visit to northern Iraq.
Patriarch Ignace Joseph III Younan wrote in an email to Catholic News Service that there was little left in some of the communities that he toured from November 27-29 and that “the emptiness of the streets except for military people … the devastation and burned-out houses and churches” was shocking.
About 100,000 Christians — among them more than 60,000 Syriac Catholics — were expelled from the Ninevah Plain by ISIS in the summer of 2014 as the militants campaigned to expand their reach into Iraq.
Patriarch Younan also called for understanding from the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump about the plight and ordeal of all minorities, including Christians affected by violence in the region.
The patriarch told CNS about “walking through the Christian towns of Qaraqosh, Bartella and Karamles and witnessing the extent of devastation as if we had entered ghost towns.”
Graffiti and inscriptions “expressing hatred toward Christian symbols and doctrine were seen everywhere” on walls near streets, outside and inside houses and churches, he wrote.
“Aside from the looting, destruction of and damage to buildings, we discovered that the terrorists, out of hatred to the Christian faith, set fire to most of the buildings, including churches, schools, kindergartens and hospitals,” the patriarch’s message said, noting that only Christian properties were targeted.
The patriarch urged the “so-called ‘civilised world’ to uphold its principles and to seriously defend” the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which he described as “vital for our survival.”
“It is time to stand up and condemn those regimes that still discriminate against non-Muslim communities, with (their) excuses such as … ‘our law, our education and governing system’ are based on our ‘particularities of culture, history and religion,’” the patriarch continued.
Patriarch Younan expressed his “strong hope” that the Trump administration “will understand our plight and the ordeal of all minorities, including Christians.”
“It is time that the United States be respected around the world,” and most particularly in the Middle East, as “a nation of hope and freedom and not a land of opportunism.”
Pope Francis has recognised the martyrdom of Fr Stanley Rother of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, making him the first martyr born in the United States.
The Vatican made the announcement on December 2. The recognition of his martyrdom clears the way for his beatification.
Fr Rother, born on March 27, 1935, on his family’s farm near Okarche, Oklahoma, was brutally murdered on July 28, 1981, in a Guatemalan village where he ministered to the poor.
He went to Santiago Atitlan in 1968 on assignment from the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City. He helped the people there build a small hospital, school and its first Catholic radio station. He was beloved by the locals, who called him “Padre Francisco.”
Many priests and religious in Guatemala became targets during the country’s 1960-1996 civil war as government forces cracked down on leftist rebels supported by the rural poor.
The bodies of some of Fr Rother’s deacons and parishioners were left in front of his church and soon he received numerous death threats over his opposition to the presence of the Guatemalan military in the area.
He was shot dead the age of 46 in the rectory of his church in Santiago Atitlan. Government officials there put the blame on the Catholic Church for the unrest in the country that they said led to his death. On the day he died, troops also killed 13 townspeople and wounded 24 others in Santiago Atitlan, an isolated village 50 miles west of Guatemala City.
Many priests and religious lost their lives and thousands of civilians were kidnapped and killed during the years of state-sponsored oppression in the country.
Because Fr Rother was killed in Guatemala, his Cause should have been undertaken there. But the local Church lacked the resources for such an effort. The Guatemalan bishops’ conference agreed to a transfer of jurisdiction to the Oklahoma City archdiocese.
Thomas Myron Hooker lived the last 20 years of his life without a roof over his head, but his death proved he was hardly without a home.
Hundreds of people – church families, neighbours, shopkeepers and perhaps even strangers touched by the cheerful kindness and generosity of the man who for years had made camp under a tarp on a street corner in San Francisco’s Richmond District – streamed into Star of the Sea Catholic church last month to express their respect and affection.
Hooker had endeared himself to the parish and surrounding community with his gentle spirit. He spent a part of each day praying in the back pews, said Star of the Sea pastor Fr Joseph Illo, who eulogised him as “a kind of patron saint of the homeless.”
“The meaning of being homeless beyond shelter is when you lack a home, lack a family who understands you. You are homeless when you don’t feel you belong anywhere,” said Fr Illo. “Many of us who live in more comfort are more homeless than Thomas was. He had a home with us.”
Thomas had “overcome his homelessness,” said Fr Illo, who claimed Hooker’s body after his death in October and planned the funeral Mass and reception that followed.
Hooker was one of three individuals profiled in a documentary about mental illness called “Voices.” In the trailer for the documentary, Hooker says with a huge grin: “I suffer a lot, you know, and when you suffer, you must know to be kind.”
At a reception in the school gym following the funeral Mass for him, the community took turns sharing memories of Hooker and offering parting thoughts. “Voices” was shown afterward.
“Thomas had a gift for loving generously and unconditionally,” said one speaker. “He brought our community something rare and special.”
A man in tears said he was overcome by the overflowing crowd who had come out to honour Hooker. The tears turned to laughter when he confessed he often “gave my money to Thomas instead of the church.”
Star of the Sea parishioners Arnold and Jean Low had brought food to Hooker for more than 20 years and were the ones to find him unresponsive on the morning of his death.
“Thomas was a kind and friendly soul, always had a smile on his face, always had something complimentary to say to you,” said Arnold Low. “There are other homeless souls for you to reach out to.
Also keep this in mind, he said: “When I am thirsty, you gave me to drink, when I was hungry, you gave me to eat, when I was cold you gave me clothes. Whatever you do for others, you do for me your Lord our God.”
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