The Knights of Columbus is helping organize several informative
events next week as it joins the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and
other Catholic groups in sponsoring "Solidarity in Suffering," a Week
of Awareness for Persecuted Christians.
The week begins Sunday, Nov. 26, with a day of prayer.
To
highlight this issue, the Knights of Columbus has helped organize a
number of events, including a memorial mass for victims of ISIS'
genocide, an event at the UN cosponsored by the Holy See's Mission to
the United Nations, and a number of roundtable discussion and talks in
New York, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.
"The Week of Awareness
is an opportunity to inform people about the dire situation facing
Christians in places like Iraq and Syria where our faith has been
present since the time of the Apostles, but could soon disappear," said
Knights of Columbus CEO Carl Anderson. "It is a time to pray, and to
offer help and crucial hope to those who have lost everything but their
faith for their faith."
Chaldean Catholic Archbishop Bashar Warda
of Erbil will be in the United States for the Week of Awareness. Since
ISIS invaded Northern Iraq in 2014, the vast majority of Christians in
that country have resided within the Archdiocese of Erbil, where
Archbishop Warda has overseen a massive humanitarian operation to feed,
clothe, shelter, educate and care for this displaced community, and
those of other faiths also in their care. Since ISIS's defeat in the
Nineveh region of Iraq earlier this year, Archbishop Warda has helped
oversee the return of displaced people back to their recently liberated
homes in nearby Nineveh.
Among other meetings, Archbishop Warda
will meet with media at the National Press Club on Tuesday, Nov. 28. He
will celebrate a Chaldean Catholic Memorial Mass that evening at 6 p.m.
at the Saint John Paul II National Shrine, also in Washington.
The
Knights of Columbus and the Holy See's Mission to the United Nations
will sponsor a conference at the UN on "Preserving Pluralism and
Diversity in the Nineveh Region," on Thursday, Nov. 30 from 3 to 5 p.m.
Archbishop Warda, Knights of Columbus CEO Carl Anderson and other
experts will participate together with Archbishop Bernardito Auza, the
Holy See's permanent observer to the United Nations.
During the
week, Knights of Columbus councils throughout the country will also work
with their parishes to share information about persecuted Christians
and the Knights' efforts on their behalf, including a $2 million
initiative to rebuild Karamles, a predominately Christian town in
Nineveh that was previously under the control of ISIS.
The Knights
of Columbus has committed more than $17 million to assistance for the
persecuted groups and those in their care in the Middle East. The
organization has advocated on their behalf, including urging the
congressional and state department genocide designations against ISIS in
2016.
The Knights of Columbus has long urged adequate funding for
the fragile and too-often-forgotten groups targeted for genocide by
ISIS. It applauded Vice President Mike Pence's recent announcement that
the Trump administration will begin providing aid directly to religious
minority groups impacted by ISIS' genocide. The Knights has also been
supportive of H.R. 390, a bill that passed the US House unanimously this
summer, and is awaiting approval by the US Senate. The bill would
mandate that the government provide financial assistance to religious
groups that were targeted for genocide.
