Source: Headline Bistrot
From Fighting for Saddam, to Leading Iraqi Catholics in the U.S.
Interview by Michele Nuzzo-Naglieri
Prior to the 1970s, life was relatively peaceful for Iraq’s religious minorities. Of the 1.4 million Christians, Chaldean Catholics were the greatest in number, occupying a series of villages in the northern part of the country. When conflict broke out between the Kurds and government-armed forces, residents of the northern communities were forced to migrate to bigger cities. Once resettled, the Chaldeans continued to steer clear of politics while doing their part to strengthen the fabric of the nation.
When Saddam Hussein rose to power in 1979 dispersing much needed wealth throughout all sectors of society, a sense of security and freedom began to permeate the nation, but it was short-lived. Hope began to dissipate during the final decade of Saddam’s rule. Both the Iran-Iraq and Gulf Wars led to the country’s rapid economic decline, and what began as a more subtle change in the attitude towards non-Muslims. More and more, Christians were pushed to become members of Saddam’s Baath Party. Soon after, it became illegal to give babies biblical names, and the clergy was forced to go to war and fight against their will.
One such priest was Father Noel Gorgis who headed straight for the H3 airfield upon graduating from the seminary at 22. Now pastor of St. Paul Chaldean and Assyrian Catholic Church in North Hollywood, Calif., Father Gorgis spoke with Headline Bistro about fighting in the Gulf War, life as a refugee and the persecution of Christians back in his native land.
A Christian in Iraq
HB: Can you share with us what it was like growing up Christian in Iraq? How did you come to discover your call to the priesthood?
Father Gorgis: Well, I am number eight of 11 children. I have seven brothers, four sisters and grew up in a very devoted Catholic family. ...
It was interesting because when I was just a boy, we didn’t have a priest stationed in our village. There was one who would come to our village in the summer months to visit with us, encourage us in our faith, and invite us children to visit the Chaldean monastery – I was about 12 or 13-years-old at the time. He would lead all of the village children to the church, and my responsibility was to open and lock the church, so I had to make sure I was the first to arrive and the last to leave. It was in this way that I grew very close to the church and to our priest. I remember very clearly how he would ask all of us boys: “Who wants to be a priest?” Never did I doubt that that was my calling.
I was very blessed because my parents were always extremely supportive of my vocation, especially my dad. He was in fact the one who sent in my application to enter the monastery. Of all the boys in the village, five of us ended up going to St Peter’s Patriarchal Seminary in Baghdad to discern, and of the five, I alone continued on to be a priest.
Growing up, did you have total freedom to practice your faith?
At the time, yes. We were free to practice our faith, to attend our schools and to form part of our parish communities … as long as we never openly criticized the government. If anyone dared attempt this, they ran tremendous risks.
Is this the reason you became a soldier?
Yes. I was 22 when I graduated from the seminary and was forced to join the army under Saddam’s rule. Since army chaplains were forbidden, I was given no special status. Had I been an imam, my time of service could have been significantly shortened, but this exception did not apply to priests.
I served from 1987 during the Iran-Iraq war and then again during the Second Gulf War. I remember there were 14 other Christians in my division, but I was the only priest among them. Sometimes they sought me out for spiritual counsel, but ultimately we were all good friends. No matter what faith you practiced, there was an overall sense of respect among all the soldiers.
Was it out of fear that you ended up fleeing?
No, it wasn’t so much fear. Every day I kept on fulfilling my duties and all that was expected of me but had difficulty accepting it. After the second war, I escaped the western desert and took refuge in a northern monastery. From there, I fled to Turkey because I felt strongly that fighting was not the answer. Fighting was not resolving the situation, and there’s no point in fighting for nothing. I stayed in Turkey for one and half years, six months of which I spent in a camp. I then went to Istanbul and from there the United Nations brought me to the U.S. as a refugee.
HB: Can you share with us what it was like growing up Christian in Iraq? How did you come to discover your call to the priesthood?
Father Gorgis: Well, I am number eight of 11 children. I have seven brothers, four sisters and grew up in a very devoted Catholic family. ...
It was interesting because when I was just a boy, we didn’t have a priest stationed in our village. There was one who would come to our village in the summer months to visit with us, encourage us in our faith, and invite us children to visit the Chaldean monastery – I was about 12 or 13-years-old at the time. He would lead all of the village children to the church, and my responsibility was to open and lock the church, so I had to make sure I was the first to arrive and the last to leave. It was in this way that I grew very close to the church and to our priest. I remember very clearly how he would ask all of us boys: “Who wants to be a priest?” Never did I doubt that that was my calling.
I was very blessed because my parents were always extremely supportive of my vocation, especially my dad. He was in fact the one who sent in my application to enter the monastery. Of all the boys in the village, five of us ended up going to St Peter’s Patriarchal Seminary in Baghdad to discern, and of the five, I alone continued on to be a priest.
Growing up, did you have total freedom to practice your faith?
At the time, yes. We were free to practice our faith, to attend our schools and to form part of our parish communities … as long as we never openly criticized the government. If anyone dared attempt this, they ran tremendous risks.
Is this the reason you became a soldier?
Yes. I was 22 when I graduated from the seminary and was forced to join the army under Saddam’s rule. Since army chaplains were forbidden, I was given no special status. Had I been an imam, my time of service could have been significantly shortened, but this exception did not apply to priests.
I served from 1987 during the Iran-Iraq war and then again during the Second Gulf War. I remember there were 14 other Christians in my division, but I was the only priest among them. Sometimes they sought me out for spiritual counsel, but ultimately we were all good friends. No matter what faith you practiced, there was an overall sense of respect among all the soldiers.
Was it out of fear that you ended up fleeing?
No, it wasn’t so much fear. Every day I kept on fulfilling my duties and all that was expected of me but had difficulty accepting it. After the second war, I escaped the western desert and took refuge in a northern monastery. From there, I fled to Turkey because I felt strongly that fighting was not the answer. Fighting was not resolving the situation, and there’s no point in fighting for nothing. I stayed in Turkey for one and half years, six months of which I spent in a camp. I then went to Istanbul and from there the United Nations brought me to the U.S. as a refugee.
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