Felice Pasqua!
Happy Easter!

Cappella degli Scrovegni. Padova

Resurrezione e Noli me tangere. Giotto

By Baghdadhope*

Syriac Catholic patriarch praises Iraqi Christians for keeping faith

By Catholic Universe

In a pastoral visit to Iraq, the Syriac Catholic patriarch celebrated Mass at the damaged Qaraqosh cathedral and praised Catholics for keeping the faith during more than three years of displacement.

“We will remain faithful to our Christian call, and we will remain lovers of our church despite all the horrors that have afflicted us,” Syriac Catholic Patriarch Ignace Joseph III Younan told the faithful in his homily during Palm Sunday Mass on 25th March at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Qaraqosh.

The interior of the cathedral is still blackened by damage from Daesh militants and, the patriarch said, “this magnificent church attests to the criminal acts of those criminals and terrorists.”

Qaraqosh was considered the centre of Christianity in Iraq. But in a single night during the summer of 2014, the town’s entire population of some 50,000 Christians was forcibly displaced by the Islamic State. In all, more than 100,000 Christians were evicted from the Ninevah Plain and Mosul that summer during Daesh’s campaign of terror in Iraq, and those uprooted fled to the Kurdish region in northern Iraq.

“The forced displacement imposed on you is not easy,” the patriarch said in his homily, commending people for enduring in Iraq.

Syriac Heritage Museum showcases Iraq’s rich Christian past

Photo A.C. Robinson

By Rudaw
A.C. Robinson

Just across the street from the oldest church in Ainkawa, a Christian neighborhood of Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan, sits the Syriac Heritage Museum, showcasing snippets of history from the different Christian denominations of Iraq.
“This museum is one of the most important museums in the Middle East because the Iraqi Christians are a minority and their history is being lost,” the museum’s director, David Nadhir Dinkhan, told Rudaw English. “We must try to preserve our history.”
The three main Christian denominations in Iraq are Chaldean, Catholic and Orthodox.
After receiving permission from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)’s Ministry of Culture to open the museum and collect remnants from across Iraq and Kurdistan, construction began on the Syriac Heritage Museum in 2009. It opened its doors in October 2015. “The Christian people were very happy to share these artifacts as many things were in people’s homes before they were donated to be displayed in the museum,” Dinkham said. Up to 70 percent of the items showcased here are donations.
One item on display near the museum entrance is a large clay model of Ainkawa as it appeared from the 1920s through to the 1950s. The only church included in the clay model is St. George’s Church, which is located just across the street from the museum. It is the oldest church in Ainkawa – now more than 1,100 years old. “Before 2003, Ainkawa only had two churches,” he said. These were St. George’s and St. Joseph’s Church. There are now eight in the neighborhood. “Every Iraqi Christian and non-Christian has history in this museum and we work together as one family,” he added.
When the museum first opened, Dinkhan and its founders did not expect it to be such a success. Schools, government officials from Iraq and Kurdistan, and many foreigners visit the attraction. “Christians have deep roots in this country,” Dinkhan said. “We feel happy when people visit us and see this beautiful side of Iraq.”
He encouraged local and international organizations to come and view the artifacts on display to learn about the different Christian denominations. “The language for all Christians in Iraq, regardless of denomination, is the Syriac language, (a more modernized form of Aramaic that Jesus spoke),” Dinkhan explained. “All of them speak it from Basra to Baghdad.”
The museum is open Sunday to Wednesday from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Admission is free.

To see all the photos click here or on the title of the post 

Knights give more than $1 million to Iraqi, Syrian Christians for Easter

By Crux

As part of its ongoing support of persecuted Christians in the Middle East, the Knights of Columbus committed more than $1 million to Iraqi and Syrian Christians for Easter.

Announced during Holy Week, the support includes $800,000 in new financial assistance and $250,000 as part of its ongoing commitment to rebuilding an Iraqi Christian town. The funds will help with food, clothing, shelter and education for Christians targeted by Islamic State militants.
“As we recall the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus, it is particularly timely for us to remember and support our brothers and sisters in Christ who have, in places like Iraq and Syria, endured so much persecution for their faith,” said Knights of Columbus CEO Carl Anderson in a March 27 statement.

“Having faced suffering and even death at the hands of ISIS, we hope that our assistance will help these communities to rise up again and rebuild for the future,” he added.

A news release said that with the $800,000 in new funds, the Knights of Columbus has committed almost $19 million to date in aid to Christians and other religious minorities in Iraq and Syria since 2014.

That total includes $2 million committed to the rebuilding of the predominantly Christian town of Karamles in Iraq’s Ninevah Plain. Karamles had been overrun by ISIS, which destroyed homes and desecrated churches before the town was liberated last year.

“Our people know that without the direct support from the Knights of Columbus to Christians in the region, and without its assistance in making our case to the United States government, Christianity might already have been driven out of Iraq completely,” said Chaldean Catholic Archbishop Bashar Warda of Irbil, Iraq.

Of the $800,000 from the Knights, about $500,000 will help support the food program run by the Catholic Archdiocese of Irbil.

An additional $300,000 will be sent to the Syriac Catholic Patriarchate to support its aid programs for the nearly 3,000 families from Iraq and Syria who have lost everything and are in need of assistance with food, clothing, shelter, and access to education and medical care.

Syriac Catholic Patriarch Ignace Joseph III Younan said he has relied on the Knights’ “compassion and understanding of our plight in the Middle East, particularly in Syria and Iraq.”

Iraq, mons. Sako: la Pasqua è speranza viva

By Vatican News
Amedeo Lomonaco

La Pasqua in Iraq, nonostante il perdurare di violenze e instabilità, è un tempo in cui posare lo sguardo della fede per cogliere segni di speranza. E’ quanto sottolinea il Patriarca di Babilonia dei Caldei, mons. Louis Raphael Sako ricordando che l’Iraq è chiamato, nel mese di maggio, ad un cruciale appuntamento con le urne.

Ci sono segni di speranza. Per esempio domenica le nostre chiese a Bagdad erano piene! Ma questo anche nel Kurdistan. Adesso ci si prepara alle elezioni. Speriamo venga altra gente più competente che voglia portare un cambiamento e lavorare per il bene del Paese e non per il proprio interesse.

Dunque a maggio l’Iraq avrà l’opportunità di cambiamento con le elezioni politiche. E’ importante andare a votare …

È molto importante. Penso che sia una responsabilità morale e nazionale. Noi, come Patriarcato, abbiamo fatto due dichiarazioni per incoraggiare tutti gli iracheni ad andare e votare, ma soprattutto i cristiani. Collaboriamo anche con le autorità musulmane per le elezioni. Alcuni vogliono boicottarle, ma penso che questa non sia la soluzione. È meglio andare a votare per avere un cambiamento in positivo.

In Iraq, purtroppo, è frequente vedere orfani, vedove, persone senzatetto. Cosa realmente sconfigge, o almeno, può alleviare il dolore?

Qualcuno deve essere vicino a loro, sentire le loro sofferenze e anche aiutarli a trovare una casa, un lavoro, una scuola. Questo aiuterà queste persone a superare le loro pene.

Papa Francesco ha ricordato che la Pasqua è la festa più importante dell’anno liturgico. Cosa rappresenta, in particolare, questa festa per i cristiani iracheni, quelli che purtroppo negli ultimi anni sono stati costretti – spesso – ad abbandonare le loro case?

Anche nella sofferenza c’è una speranza. Tutto dipende dalla fede, ma fede vuol dire amore. L’ufficiale francese che ha dato la sua vita per liberare un ostaggio, per me – per noi – ha imitato Cristo. Dunque ci sono segni di eroismo. Dobbiamo parlarne per aiutare la gente a sperare, a lottare per una società migliore, fraterna …

A proposito di segni di eroismo, dall’Iraq arrivano spesso scene drammatiche di violenze. Però, anche in questo Paese, ci sono gli eroi …

Certo! Il martirio è la nostra storia. La Chiesa caldea è Chiesa martire. La Pasqua è viva e non è solo una cosa nella storia, una memoria. Perciò la testimonianza della gente perseguitata, che soffre è un appello agli altri affinché vedano, al di là della sofferenza, la fede in Dio, in Cristo e anche nell’uomo.

Via Crucis al Colosseo: suor Genevieve porterà la croce. “Con me i dolori dell’Iraq e le lacrime di chi è solo”

By AgenSIR
Daniele Rocchi

Ci sarà anche suor Genevieve Al Haday, religiosa irachena dell’ordine delle domenicane di Santa Caterina, tra i "cruciferi" della Via Crucis al Colosseo, Venerdì Santo, con Papa Francesco. La suora è scampata con altre sue consorelle alla violenza dello Stato Islamico che costrinse, nella notte tra il 6 e il 7 agosto 2014, circa 120mila cristiani a fuggire dalla Piana di Ninive fino ad Erbil, in Kurdistan, per trovare salvezza. Il Sir ha raccolto la sua testimonianza: "Nella Croce che porterò sono riposte le speranze di pace del mio Paese e di tutto il Medio Oriente, il ricordo dei suoi martiri cristiani e anche le lacrime di solitudine di una anziana donna di Roma..."

“Insieme alla Croce porterò con me il mio popolo iracheno, i suoi martiri cristiani, tutti i dolori patiti fino ad oggi. Un ricordo particolare sarà per le consorelle della mia congregazione che hanno tanto sofferto per la guerra e per tutti coloro che ancora non hanno conosciuto Gesù”.

È emozionata suor Genevieve Al Haday, suora irachena dell’ordine delle domenicane di Santa Caterina, nel raccontare al Sir tutta la sua emozione per essere stata scelta a portare la Croce durante la Via Crucis al Colosseo con Papa Francesco, il prossimo Venerdì Santo. “Non so ancora in quale stazione la porterò”, dice con un sorriso la religiosa, originaria del villaggio cristiano di Qaraqosh, nella Piana di Ninive, uno dei tanti invasi dallo Stato islamico nella notte tra il 6 e il 7 agosto 2014, quando circa 120mila cristiani furono costretti a fuggire ad Erbil, in Kurdistan, per cercare rifugio dalla violenza dei jihadisti.

Ricordo nitido.
Il ricordo di quella notte è ancora nitido nella mente di suor Genevieve: “Io mi trovavo nel villaggio di Telluskof. Con altre quattro consorelle siamo riuscite ad entrare in un bus per Duhok portando con noi persone anziane e disabili. Erano le dieci di sera. Una distanza che di solito si percorreva in 20 minuti ha richiesto oltre tre ore”. Un tempo sufficiente per capire che quello che stava accadendo sotto i suoi occhi era l’”Esodo” dei cristiani di Ninive.

“Ho visto gente che camminava a piedi, con quel poco che era riuscita a prendere dalla propria abitazione, in direzione del deserto senza sapere cosa avrebbe trovato. ‘Sfollate tra gli sfollati’, siamo rimaste con la nostra popolazione cristiana, giorno e notte, pensando soprattutto ai bambini. Oggi, grazie a Dio, a Qaraqosh sono tornate oltre 10mila persone e abbiamo riaperto una scuola, due asili e un orfanotrofio. Questo per noi è un segno di Resurrezione e di speranza. La Croce salva tutti”.

Rinascere dalle macerie della guerra.
La stessa speranza di salvezza che la religiosa nutre per l’Iraq e per i paesi in guerra del Medio Oriente. “A questa Croce che sono chiamata a portare – aggiunge suor Genevieve – vorrei caricare anche le speranze della mia terra, l’Iraq, che vuole risorgere dalle macerie della guerra. La Pasqua ci fa guardare in Alto e al futuro con speranza. Vogliamo far rinascere la nostra terra lavorando con i fratelli musulmani con i quali non abbiamo problemi. La presenza dei cristiani in Iraq racconta la fedeltà che essi hanno verso la loro terra. Ciò che vogliamo è vivere in pace in un Paese libero e stabile a fianco di tutti gli altri iracheni. Siamo iracheni e tutti figli di Dio. Se mai avrò la possibilità di incontrare Papa Francesco gli chiederò di pregare per il nostro Iraq affinché resti fedele a Gesù”.

Lacrime di solitudine.
“Che il mondo trovi pace e serenità, che le popolazioni cristiane e non, credenti e non, vivano insieme nel rispetto reciproco, nella carità, nella giustizia, nel diritto. Questi sono i valori più importanti che non devono essere disattesi. Il mondo ha tanto bisogno di carità, di fraternità e di condivisione. Noi abbiamo sperimentato la bellezza della fraternità grazie alla solidarietà che ci è arrivata dopo l’invasione dell’Isis da ogni parte del mondo”. E la fraternità non conosce confini, dall’Iraq all’Italia: “Tre giorni fa una signora anziana che abita qui, a Roma, vicino alla nostra casa, è venuta a bussare da noi. Una volta entrata è scoppiata a piangere. Erano lacrime di solitudine che mi hanno fatto riflettere alla solitudine di Gesù nell’orto degli ulivi. E allora ho pensato che Venerdì sera al Colosseo, su quella piccola Croce, dovevano esserci anche le lacrime di questa signora e quelle di tanti che si sentono soli e abbandonati”.

Christian crowds mark Palm Sunday in Alqosh

Photo by A. C. Robinson

By Rudaw
A.C. Robinson
March 25, 2018

Hundreds paraded throughout the village of Alqosh on Palm Sunday, an event to commemorate what Christians believe to be Jesus’ triumphal entry into the city of Jerusalem that initiates the holy week prior to Easter Sunday.
“We’ll start our walk from Qardakh Church to St. George’s Church, one of our traditions in the holy week,” Father Araam from Qardakh Church told Rudaw English. “We want to give hope and peace to people today and to remember God’s promise to take care of us.”

Hundreds of men and women began Palm Sunday in Alqosh, many dressed in traditional clothes, with a 7 a.m. mass. Later another prayer service as held at Qardakh church at 9:30 a.m. before students and staff from the village’s four different schools walked together in groups throughout the town singing songs in Assyrian, Arabic and Italian languages while carrying flowers and palm leaves.

The palm leaves represent how Jesus was welcomed into Jerusalem as a symbol of peace.

“The people here are very proud about this celebration to celebrate Jesus,” said Atheer Desha of Alqosh. “Everyone is wearing new dresses and traditional dresses.”

Youiel Ismail, a Christian from Baghdad, came to Alqosh especially to take part in the Palm Sunday celebrations.

“I am very happy to see how the Christians here celebrate in Alqosh. The people here are very good,” Ismail said.

Following the parade to St. George’s Church, crowds gathered to listen to music and join traditional dances in front of the church.

Once the festivals ended, families came together for special meals to represent the moveable feasts, as observed by Christian saints.

Alqosh, 50 kilometers (31 miles) north of Mosul, is a Christian village in the Nineveh plains that escaped three years of ISIS control in Iraq unscathed.

As ISIS was approaching the village in 2014, most of the residents fled their homes to the safety of Duhok in the Kurdistan Region, with only a small group of people remaining behind to protect their homes against thieves.

Locals say the group who stayed behind claimed an image of the Virgin Mary appeared, and even though ISIS came within three kilometers of the village, the Kurdish Peshmerga forces drove the militants away and their homes have remained safe since.

To see all the photos click here or on the title of the post

Patriarca caldeo: Pasqua, la forza di Cristo risorto che vince divisioni e sofferenze

By Asia News

L’Iraq è la “culla della civiltà”, una nazione “di gloria e fortuna”, trasformata in un Paese “di disastri” per mano di “malvagi” che sono venuti “per derubare e uccidere”. Il risultato è la perdita di “sicurezza, stabilità e salute” per molti cittadini, che si sono sentiti “umiliati”. È quanto sottolinea il patriarca caldeo mar Louis Raphael Sako, nel messaggio di Pasqua rivolto ai fedeli e inviato ad AsiaNews. Tuttavia, questo contesto di violenze e di tragedie “non deve farci disperare” anzi, il popolo irakeno “deve osservare questi eventi con lo sguardo della fede” in Cristo risorto e “analizzarlo dal punto di vista storico e politico”.  

Rivolgendosi ai fedeli del Paese che vivono con entusiasmo e partecipazione le celebrazioni della Settimana Santa, sua Beatitudine esorta a sfruttare le difficoltà come “elemento di unità”. L’invito è a “collaborare” per il futuro del Paese, superando “le differenze di religione, razza, colore o concetto di maggioranza e minoranza”. Questa opportunità, aggiunge, deve essere sfruttata per “costruire fiducia” e operare “mano nella mano per mettere fine alle sofferenze […] accettando il nostro essere diversi”. 

Dal 2003 a oggi la popolazione cristiana in Iraq è più che dimezzata. E le cifre confermano l’emorragia di fedeli: dal milione e mezzo circa dei primi anni duemila si è arrivati a circa mezzo milione di oggi. La guerra Usa in Iraq per destituire il raìs Saddam Hussein, che ha innescato gli attacchi delle fazioni estremiste contro i cristiani equiparati all’invasore americano, fino all’ascesa dello Stato islamico con la sua spirale di violenza e terrore hanno spinto molti alla fuga. 

“Ciascun cittadino irakeno - avverte il patriarca caldeo - deve sentirsi responsabile a livello morale e in una prospettiva nazionale per questa situazione e può contribuire attraverso iniziative personali o di gruppo”. Per superare le difficoltà bisogna vincere una mentalità “convenzionale” e promuovere “il concetto di cittadinanza” adottando un “linguaggio di pace, solidarietà, affetto”. 

Mar Sako ricorda le prossime elezioni politiche in programma a maggio, che rappresentano una “occasione d’oro” per il “cambiamento”. Per questo, aggiunge, “invito tutti gli irakeni ad andare a votare per il miglior candidato possibile, perché i nostri desideri possano diventare realtà” e beneficiare “di una nazione prospera e forte a livello sociale, economico, educativo e culturale”. Uno Stato civile, prosegue, nella quale la legge “protegge” i deboli e “si applica in modo uguale” per tutti. “L’Iraq è per tutti noi - chiosa - è la nostra identità e il nostro rifugio. E l’ambito religioso riguarda solo Dio e va protetto da distorsioni e politicizzazioni”. “Andate a votare - è l’appello di mar Sako - consapevoli del fatto che [il Creatore] desidera che possiamo vivere come fratelli e sorelle con orgoglio, libertà, dignità e felicità. Egli è il Dio della vita, della pace, dell’amore, della misericordia”. 

Infine, il primate della Chiesa irakena ricorda il messaggio di resurrezione che Cristo ci affida con la Pasqua, che “dobbiamo portare sempre nei nostri cuori” e “vivere con passione” perché elemento di forza e di cambiamento. “Abbiamo visto orfani, vedove, senzatetto capaci di superare il dolore perché hanno incontrato qualcuno che ha condiviso il loro dolore, li ha amati e dato loro speranza”. “La resurrezione - conclude mar Sako - significa che Dio ci ama come un padre e noi siamo nelle sue mani. Credi in me? Questa è la domanda che ci viene rivolta in mezzo alle nostre tragedie, perché possiamo cambiare il nostro modo di pensare, affrontando ogni elemento della vita”.

Message of Easter 2018: Love and Move Forward in Doing Good for Making Peace

By Chaldean Patriarchate

Patriarch Louis Raphael Sako

Resurrection and Peace

We celebrate these days the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, which means His presence among us, by having faith that He is with us always, not physically of course. A glorified presence that makes us feel the existence of God in Him. This closeness to God offers us a kind of life that is different from what we used to, as if, we are in a presence of a lover with whom we interact joyfully by living our brotherhood and solidarity. Reaching this point of interactions means matching God’s design with the dreams of human beings in terms of dignity, happiness and joy. The resurrection teaches us that the love we carry in our hearts and live it passionately is what changes everything. We have seen people and groups such as orphans, widows, homeless and the elderlies, who were able to overcome their pain because somebody felt their soreness, loved them, and gave them a hope. When love fills our lives, just as it happened with Jesus, we become daughters and sons of God. Aren’t we praying daily (our Father who art in heaven …): “Everyone who loves, has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love” (1 John 4: 7-8). We can understood love and live it to the full, only when we love each other, away from selfishness and personal interest. So, resurrection means that God loves us as a father and we are in His hands!

The question that Jesus asked Martha in the event of her brother’s death (John 11/26) was: Do you believe? The same question is directed to every one of us today in the amidst of all our tragedies, so as to change our way of thinking, dealing with life details: Do we believe in God, the Creator and Father of all human beings and not for one specific group of people? Do we believe that we are all brothers despite of our diversity, and that the land is our mother? Do we have hope, patience and energy to be stronger than strikes, insults, routine and frustration? Do we have the ability to forgive and forget the past to open a new page with whom we disagree? Do we understand properly God’s free and unlimited mercy toward all human beings? Therefore, the message of resurrection this year is to do good; be bridges for dialogue, reconciliation and peacemakers; and be a gateway to grace and blessings. Let us listen to Jesus Christ, when he called us to become peacemakers: “Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called children of God” (Matthew 5: 9).

Hope is the “Bread” of Life

Iraq, is the Cradle of Civilization, country of fortune and glory, but has been transferred to a country of disasters by the wicked, who came for killing and robbing. As a result, Iraq lost its’ security, stability, wealth, as well as many of its’ citizens, who have been humiliated. The Iraqi people seek; security, stability; social, economic and cultural prosperity. Therefore, these tragedies must not lead us to give up, despair and frustration, but rather to look at these events by the eye of faith in addition to historical and political way of analysis.

Suffering is human beings “bread”, personal hardship, problems and difficult circumstances, come across the way in our life especially those who are serious and enthusiastic. However, our attitude towards them, will be reflected on our personality. Therefore, we can use it as a cause to unite and collaborate, away from differences in religion, race, color majority or minority. We should also grab this opportunity to meet, build trust, think and work hand-in-hand to put an end for our suffering, and forever, by accepting and respecting our diversity, since it is at God’s design for us. Our mission as human beings and believers is to serve others because they are our brothers and sacrifice ourselves for them, whoever are they, even if we will smashed like grapes. Every Iraqi should feel responsible morally and nationally for this situation and can contribute through individual and / or group initiatives. Let us follow the example of Gilgamish “the son” of our ancient civilization, before Christianity and Islam, who sailed to the other side of the world searching for an eternity herb for his friend Enkidu. Let us be motivated; to get out of the conventional mentality: to promote the concept of full citizenship; rehabilitation for peace building; and adopt the language of dialogue, affection and solidarity.

Voting is a National and Moral Responsibility

The upcoming Parliamentary Election is few days away, which is our golden opportunity to “change” and ensure a bright future for our people. Therefore, I urge all Iraqis to participate in voting for those who are the best and most suitable to make our dreams come true, in having Iraq prosperous and strong socially, economically, educationally and culturally. A civil state, in which the law protects and applies to everyone “equally”. Iraq is for all of us, is our identity and shelter. Religion is for God and must be protected from politicization and distortion. Religion respects persons and does not enslave them and the God in whom we believe is a loving and merciful Creator. He knows every one of us and loves us unconditionally. He wants us to love each other and to live as brothers and sisters with pride, freedom, dignity and happiness. He is the God of life, peace, love, mercy. So go and vote.

Happy Easter, Long live the Iraqi people! Long live Iraq.

P. Samir: A Pasqua, dateci il vostro aiuto per i profughi di Mosul

By Asia News

Nella parrocchia di Amadiya e nei villaggi circostanti vi sono 158 famiglie di rifugiati che hanno bisogno di cibo, vestiti, scarpe, sostegno scolastico, kerosene. Molte famiglie cristiane, yazidi e arabe, tornate a Mosul, sono dovute ritornare indietro. Sempre in atto la campagna “Adotta un cristiano di Mosul”.

Foto Asia News

 

Le famiglie dei profughi di Mosul hanno ancora bisogno del nostro aiuto. Il P. Samir Youssef, parroco di Amadiya, al quale sono legato da una lunga amicizia, in questi giorni mi ha mandato una lettera in cui mi chiede “se è possibile aiutarci anche questa Pasqua, perché senza i vostri aiuti davvero non possiamo fare niente per le famiglie dei profughi e quelle che sono nel bisogno”.
Come si sa, quasi 500mila persone sono fuggite dalle crudeli violenze dell’Isis nell’estate 2014. Esse hanno trovato rifugio nel Kurdistan irakeno, dove la Chiesa cattolica ha sostenuto un grande impegno per nutrirli, vestirli e trovare loro un lavoro.

Nel giugno 2017, con la cacciata di Daesh da Mosul, l’odissea non è finita. Molti profughi sono ritornati ai loro villaggi e alla città da cui erano fuggiti, ma hanno trovato una situazione disastrosa: case distrutte, strade impraticabili, campi minati.

Tempo fa, p. Samir mi raccontava che “molte famiglie cristiani e yazidi che erano tornate a Mosul, Teleskof e Sinjar, sono ritornate indietro” a causa delle tensioni fra i curdi e l’esercito iracheno.

“Qui da noi – racconta ancora p. Samir - sono rimaste 158 famiglie cristiane, yazidi e arabe che non possono tornare a Mosul: le loro case sono distrutte e la loro zona non è stabile. Inoltre, non vi sono scuole, né ospedali, né energia. Li frena soprattutto il non poter mandare i figli a scuola”.

Tutti questi profughi “stanno aspettando la fine dell’estate, quando finiscono le scuole, per tornare nelle loro città e villaggi”, sperando in una situazione più stabile Ma intanto essi hanno bisogno di cibo, di riscaldamento, di vestiti, di aiuti per la scuola dei loro figli.

P. Samir elenca le necessità delle famiglie: riso, olio, pane, scarpe, vestiti, kerosene (il cui prezzo è salito a 140 dollari il barile, dopo il conflitto fra governo e Kurdistan).  Grazie agli aiuti inviati da AsiaNews, p. Samir e i suoi collaboratori fanno distribuzioni settimanali di questi beni di prima necessità. (v. galleria foto cliccando sul titolo del post).

“Nella mia parrocchia – continua la lettera - e nei villaggi attorno, molte famiglie aspettano i nostri aiuti…. Io conto su di te e sui nostri cari amici di AsiaNews ... e credo nella provvidenza divina”.

Cari lettori, non possiamo rimanere inerti davanti a un appello così semplice ed urgente. Come sapete, AsiaNews in questi anni ha lanciato la campagna “Adotta un cristiano di Mosul” che, grazie a tutti voi, ha potuto raccogliere e donare quasi 2 milioni di euro per i profughi cristiani e non rifugiati in Kurdistan.

Per aiutare le 158 famiglie sostenute da p. Samir, chiediamo a tutti di fare le donazioni secondo le modalità della campagna, che rimarrà in atto fino a che tutti i profughi potranno ritornare a Mosul.

P. Samir mi scrive: “Alla Domenica delle Palme, chiediamo al Signore di accettare le nostre vite, le nostre debolezze, per renderle un mezzo perché Lui entri nel cuore della gente”. Questa nostra carità, cari amici, è parte della missione della Chiesa. Grazie.

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Over 4,000 displaced Christian families return to Mosul after liberation: Official

By PressTV

March 25, 2018

The governor of the northern Iraqi province of Nineveh says thousands of displaced Christian families have returned to the country’s strategic city of Mosul ever since government forces and allied fighters from Popular Mobilization Units fully liberated it from the clutches of Takfiri Daesh terrorists.

Nawfal Hammadi said on Sunday that more than 4,000 families have returned to the provincial capital city, located some 400 kilometers (250 miles) north of the capital Baghdad, and have resided in its eastern and western flanks.

Hammadi added that most of the Christian families had sought refuge in the country's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, after Daesh elements overran their areas and forced them to leave.

The official pointed out that there is now a small number of Christian families in Erbil province, who will return to Mosul once the current academic year winds up.

On December 9, 2017, Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared the end of military operations against the Daesh terrorist group in the Arab country.

On July 10, Abadi formally declared victory over Daesh extremists in Mosul, which served as the terrorists’ main urban stronghold in the conflict-ridden Arab country.

In the run-up to Mosul's liberation, Iraqi army soldiers and volunteer Hashd al-Sha’abi fighters had made sweeping gains against Daesh.

The Iraqi forces took control of eastern Mosul in January 2017 after 100 days of fighting, and launched the battle in the west on February 19 last year.

Daesh began a terror campaign in Iraq in 2014, overrunning vast swathes in lightning attacks.

Iraq’s Tribes and Christians: The Dangerous Solitude of Rights Erased

By Persecution. International Christian Concern
Claire Evans
March 14, 2018

Iraq’s Christians have long pointed toward the absence of law as a significant driver of persecution. In the Nineveh Plains, where most of the country’s Christians live, this factor contributed to the rise of ISIS. However, this element has had a different impact on Christians living elsewhere in Iraq. For when the country’s judicial system and tribal structure collide, it is the tribe who wins.

As a result, even when surrounded by church community, Christians who experience the force of tribalism feel isolated and alone. Apart from kind and encouraging words, there is nothing anyone can do to defend the rights of a Christian who is forced to navigate Iraq’s turbulent tribal storms. The experience is isolating, fraught with both anxiety and angst.

Mawj, a 40-year-old Christian who lives in Baghdad with his two adult daughters, has experienced the force of tribalism and the resulting loneliness firsthand. Simply put, this past November he had a “car accident with a motorbike and paid $15,000 as nonsense fees.”

His experience, however, is far from simple and instead speaks to the anxiety and isolation that Christians face whenever their rights are disregarded. “I was driving at evening to pick my wife back,” he remembers. “I was trying to park my car and turn right, when a motorbike hit my car on the front and he fell out. At the beginning, everything was good. I took him to the hospital, and his injuries were simple: no fractures (and) no dangerous injury.”

The accident was clearly the motorbiker’s fault, as he was driving erratically. By taking him to the hospital, Mawj lived out his faith by dealing honestly and more than fairly with the other driver. Despite this, Mawj was worried.

The young man on the motorbike belonged to a tribe whose influence could cause problems for his family. In Iraq, extended families often unite into one tribe, or ashira. Traditionally, ashira authority supersedes that of the government, allowing tribes to rule through what often escalates into extreme and violent family feuds over minor incidents. Should an ashira turn its attention toward a Christian, not even the government would interfere to protect him from the ashira. Mawj was anxious that the young man’s ashira would target him and his family. If this happened, he would have no opportunity to defend his rights.

Hoping to avoid this problem, Mawj made a special visit to the family shortly after the accident. “I took a gift, a priest joined me because that is a sign of respect to them according to our traditions. The parents were so good to us, and they said that since he doesn’t have a serious injury, they will cover even his medicine.”

Forty days later, Mawj’s worst fears were confirmed: the motorbiker’s family was not satisfied and referred the situation to their ashira. Mawj knew that the family would demand money, and that they would ask for an exorbitant amount since Mawj was a Christian. Hoping to alleviate the financial pressure, Mawj made a daring plan. “I rented some people (Muslims) to attend with me (representing my family) on the due date to support me. These two people took 1,000,000 IQD (840 USD) to be by my side for less than two hours, and I had to send a car to pick them up and then drop them back.”

Thankfully, renting the services of these Muslim men helped Mawj during the negotiations. Originally, the family demanded that Mawj pay $40,000. But after much debate, Mawj was able to negotiate the cost down to $15,000. This was the sum total of his life savings! “It’s a high amount as compared to the injury, just because I’m a Christian. I mean, the whole rule is not justice, but this is common.”

Mawj would pay this amount the next day, but he had to be careful in how he approached the ashira. If he behaved like he was fulfilling a payment obligation, then the ashira would consider the funds haram and he would be placed in danger. Instead, he had to act like the funds were a gift that he was honored to offer the family.

Ultimately, this speaks to how ashira practices not only surpass government authority, but also religious authority. Often, family members who represent the voice of the ashira are poor, uneducated, and come from a background of violence.

When Mawj initially realized that the ashira had turned their attention to him, his first thought was to flee with his immediate family. “But the amount will be paid anyway,” said Mawj. “The (tribal) rule is either kill someone from your family or someone else should pay on behalf of you… that would be dangerous to my relatives or friends”

With his life savings now depleted, Mawj has struggled emotionally and with the implications of how this will affect his future. “Loneliness was a feeling that couldn’t let me rest, even when I was surrounded by believers. No one could’ve solved this problem.”

For 25 years, Mawj had worked in Baghdad to build up his savings. He had never owned a home, but had finally saved enough to purchase a simple home in Erbil. Yet in one moment, those dreams were gone. While Mawj has a steady job that can still provide him a source of income, it is no small thing to lose one’s entire life savings.

Nearly five months later, Mawj continues to struggle with the implications of this experience. He lives with the knowledge that the ashira could always demand more money, and there is no one to defend his rights should this happen again. Isolated from protection and his name now known to the ashira, his life has been forever transformed by a minor car accident.

Prelate kidnapped by Al Qaeda says Trump helping Middle East Christians

By Crux
Claire Giangravè

A Chaldean archbishop kidnapped in Iraq by Al Qaeda militants in 2006 said that members of his religious minority, who were nearly annihilated by Muslim extremists, have found a safer haven in the United States and Canada compared to an increasingly more populist and anti-immigrant Europe.

“The United States has been more helpful, because they gave economic help and dioceses to Chaldean Catholics,” Archbishop Saad Sirop Hanna, the Apostolic Visitor for Chaldeans Residing in Europe, told Crux in an interview.

He added that also in Canada members of his community have been warmly welcomed.

“The Europeans are always more worried,” he continued, pointing to what he perceives as a worrying rise in populists and anti-immigration sentiment on the continent.

The archbishop, who is also a visiting researcher at the Medieval Institute of the University of Notre Dame, said that although he left Baghdad in 2016, he hears reports that the American government has been giving economic aid for the reconstruction of Christian areas in Iraq.

He also acknowledged that there have been several meetings between members of the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump and Iraqi bishops.

“I see that [Trump] is interested in religious minorities, and that his decisions also have a religious interest,” Hanna said.

The archbishop made his remarks during the presentation of his book Abducted in Iraq: A priest in Baghdad, which took place at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome March 21. The book tells his account of the 28 days that he spent as a captive of Al Qaeda militants.

Hanna was abducted on August 15, 2006, after he had celebrated Mass for the Feast of the Assumption in Dora in southern Baghdad, known as the “triangle of death” because of the Shiite, Sunni and terrorist forces that clashed there.

When he was kidnapped, Hanna was kept blindfolded for most of the time and his captors forcefully tried to convert him to Islam.

“In captivity, I learned by talking to people how beautiful it is to listen, because I could only recognize people by their voice,” he said at the book presentation.

Despite his experience, the archbishop encouraged people not to look at the Muslim extremists as “evil,” and said that in the book he recounts his relationship with a guard in whom he found “great goodness.”

He said that Islam today, which is struggling with its identity, can draw great benefits if Christianity expresses itself with truth and respect for its historic reality.

“Ignorance is in control of what is happening in the Arab world,” Hanna said. “The majority of people don’t know the Koran. They are under the influence of a strong opinion which impoverishes them to a behavior where they are not asked to think. Perhaps we should reflect on how these people can begin to see our faith in a different way.”

Father Kevin Flannery, professor of philosophy at the Gregorian and once a teacher to Hanna, said that his former student “lived through an incredibly brutal experience,” but nonetheless his book contains “nuggets of wisdom,” which while they may appear simple at first, “if one stops to think about it, their insight becomes evident.”

The book wants to explore not only Hanna’s experience as a “priest, a Christian and an Iraqi,” but also the profound changes that have impacted Iraq in the past 40 years and its effect on the religious minorities living there.

“It’s a book that by drawing from my personal history wishes to show what many of these Christians in Iraq have suffered, have done and have endured,” Hanna said.

He added that his experience is hardly comparable to “many of my brothers and sisters who have lived moments that were much more difficult,” and added that for him picking up the dead bodies of Christians killed for their faith was much more difficult and harrowing than being kidnapped.

“We live under the pressure of the integralism and fundamentalism that has invaded every sector of Iraqi society,” Hanna said. There has been “a change that creates discomfort, persecution and misunderstandings targeted toward the Christian community.”

According to recent reports, the Christian population in Iraq, which was approximately between 1.4 and 2 million in the 1990s, has declined to about 100,000 people in 2017 due to targeted persecution by Islamic State militants starting as early as 2011 as well as immigration.

“Immigration is a worrying phenomenon that questions the future of the Eastern Catholic churches,” said Slovak Archbishop Cyril Vasil’, Secretary of the Congregation for Eastern Churches.

“Immigration is like a blood transfusion, which, if it doesn’t weaken the original body, can enrich new places,” he added during the book presentation.

“But sometimes it can become a hemorrhage that weakens the places of origin and leads to an impoverishment of the body,” Cyril said.

He compared immigration to the ice which used to be brought down from the top of the mountains to be stored during the summer. According to Cyril, the Christian community in Iraq has managed to survive, “hidden in the ice house,” until now, when the ice has been smashed and thrown on the ground.

“What chance do these Christians have to survive?” he asked.

Hanna said that while immigration poses a significant challenge to Christian realities in Iraq, the “broken ice is also a large mirror,” which no matter where it’s placed, “will reflect the image that we wish to show of our Church.”

“We are becoming a religion of diaspora,” the archbishop continued, and “the faith during the diasporas is the most difficult.” He added that some of the most beautiful passages of the Bible, such as the first 11 chapters of Genesis, were written during the diaspora in Babylon.

“I believe that the Church in diaspora produces beautiful things,” Hanna said. “Perhaps even us as Chaldeans have to work hard on ourselves and look at the future with hope and the determination that we must do something.”

Hebrew prophet’s tomb in Iraq saved from collapse

By Al Monitor
Judit Neurink

“The Iraqi government was against everything Jewish after the Jews left in the ’50s,” said Father Araam, a young Chaldean priest serving in the predominantly Christian town of al-Qosh, in northern Iraq. That, he explained, was why it has been indifferent to the fate of the sole remaining synagogue in Iraq, here in al-Qosh. “That’s why it almost collapsed.”

Al-Qosh, on the Ninevah Plains, is home to several historic monasteries and churches as well as the synagogue, which houses the tomb of Nahum, the prophet who in 615 B.C. correctly predicted the downfall of the Assyrian kingdom. While the town’s churches have been well maintained due to the efforts of the Christian community, the synagogue — despite Nahum being regarded as a prophet by the three major monotheistic religions — was allowed to crumble after the last Jews left town for Israel in 1951.

The good news is that after years of aborted attempts to save the building, a US organization — ARCH, the Alliance for the Restoration of Cultural Heritage — was finally able to send a team of engineers to secure the building in January before it fully collapsed. Some of the walls and part of the roof had already collapsed, and columns with Hebrew inscriptions are barely standing, endangering the tomb, which lies beneath a green covering.

Father Araam gratefully points out that the engineers’ scaffolding, ropes and support beams are now holding the remains together. “Our history is built from different civilizations, and all of it is equally important,” he remarked. “We should care for it all.”

Iraq has a troublesome relationship with parts of its heritage. Iraq’s longtime ruler Saddam Hussein having his name carved into the stone used for restoring the archaeological site of Babel is an infamous example. It’s heritage was being looted and destroyed long before the arrival of the Islamic State (IS), which set about destroying everything lacking connection to its radical brand of Islam. What it didn’t destroy, it looted and sold, including some of the most valuable artifacts from Iraq’s ancestry. They were stopped only miles from al-Qosh and its wealth of heritage.

When Iraq became too dangerous for archaeologists to continue their work after 2003, locals often looted the sites they were forced to abandon. Iraqi military intelligence announced last February that it had thwarted a major smuggling operation to whisk artifacts out of the country. Boston-based archaeologist Allison Cuneo, who has been working at sites in Iraqi Kurdistan since 2012, said that the looting has steadily increased, in particular during the economic crisis of recent years.

“At the same time, staffing was cut, especially among the guards,” Cuneo told Al-Monitor. “The way the authorities in Iraq connect archaeology to tourism gives the wrong message. It makes it look as though it’s only about the money.”

Meanwhile visitors have taken “souvenirs” with them from Nahum’s tomb, as the locals refer to the synagogue. A stone table with Hebrew inscriptions has been retrieved, but sections of the iron fence surrounding the tomb have not been, said Adam Tiffen, deputy director of ARCH.

“We had to work fast, as we were informed last year that, because of the deterioration in the structure, we had less than a year before the rest of the building collapsed,” Tiffen told Al-Monitor. For ARCH, it was important to save the temple, so it found funding and seized the opportunity to stabilize the building.

“This is the last remaining prophet’s tomb in Mesopotamia. The others, the tombs of Jonah and George, were destroyed by IS. If IS had reached here, it would have been a catastrophe. This is a unifying symbol for the history of the region. In a place just miles from former IS territory, it is a symbol of hope,” Tiffen added.

Tiffen explained that the shrine represents a shared symbol of the three monotheistic religions, whose adherents have traditionally lived together in this part of Ninevah province. He said, “For us, this was an important site to protect and preserve, both for future generations and because it is one of the few remaining commonalities between Judaism, Islam and Christianity. It symbolizes what the region could be in terms of coexistence in a part of the world where this is lacking right now.”

That is what a local man named Shmoon recounted while sitting with friends in the front yard of his house in al-Qosh. “Jewish people would come and pray and celebrate at the Nahum tomb,” the 93-year-old recalled. “Nahum spoke with the Lord. He is a prophet.”

Sabah, a young 76, also remembers how Jewish families would stay with locals, including his own family, during the pilgrimages to the temple. “I would sneak to the shrine and see them praying, moving their bodies like we see on TV now.”

After the Jews left Iraq, the yearly visitors stopped coming. Sabah said he is sad to see the shrine in its current state. His friend Shmoon added, “The decline started after the Jews left, and it started to fall down in the ’60s.”

The men declared themselves relieved that something is finally being done, a sentiment also held by some of al-Qosh’s young residents. Nafla, 26, said she has often gone to the shrine “to pray, because it is a temple.” Dyar, 31, has also been inside many times. “I wanted to know how it was before,” he said. “It’s our history, our Nahum.”

Father Araam agrees. “Nahum is our prophet too,” he said. “The church is responsible for all the shrines here in al-Qosh now.” That’s why the Chaldean Church put a roof over the temple a couple of years ago to stop the winter rains from causing further damage. “It tries to protect it as a mother would,” said the priest.

Yet, as Tiffen pointed out, the work that is currently underway is only the first stage of what is needed to keep the shrine safe for future generations. “Our engineers focused on the immediate challenges and have stabilized the site for at least the next three years,” he said. “[That] gives us time to decide what needs to be done next, and to find the money to do it.”