Skip to content
The Catholic Leader
  • Home
  • News
    • QLD
    • Australia
    • Regional
    • Education
    • World
    • Vatican
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Life
    • Family
    • Relationships
    • Faith
  • Culture
  • People
  • Subscribe
  • Jobs
  • Contribute
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • QLD
    • Australia
    • Regional
    • Education
    • World
    • Vatican
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Life
    • Family
    • Relationships
    • Faith
  • Culture
  • People
  • Subscribe
  • Jobs
  • Contribute
No Result
View All Result
The Catholic Leader
No Result
View All Result
Home News

Australian bishops visiting Iraqi Christians see Christ ‘reborn again’

byCNS
23 December 2014 - Updated on 1 April 2021
Reading Time: 3 mins read
AA
iraq visit

Visiting refugees: A delegation of Australian bishops to Lebanon and Iraq distribute gifts to refugees ahead of Christmas at Caritas Lebanon in Beirut on December 16. Pictured (front centre rear) is Canberra and Goulburn Archbishop Christopher Prowse, Chaldean Bishop Djibrail Kassab, Archbishop Danil Bolis of the Ancient Church of the East, and Melkite Bishop Robert Rabbat (front right). Photo: CNS/courtesy Tele Lumiere, Lebanon)

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
iraq visit
Visiting refugees: A delegation of Australian bishops to Lebanon and Iraq distribute gifts to refugees ahead of Christmas at Caritas Lebanon in Beirut on December 16. Pictured (front centre rear) is Canberra and Goulburn Archbishop Christopher Prowse, Chaldean Bishop Djibrail Kassab, Archbishop Danil Bolis of the Ancient Church of the East, and Melkite Bishop Robert Rabbat (front right).
Photo: CNS/courtesy Tele Lumiere, Lebanon)

 CHRIST is being “reborn again in the lowly stable” this Christmas because of the remarkable faith of Iraqi Christians who were driven out of their homes, said Australian bishops who visited refugees in Lebanon and the displaced in Irbil, Iraq.

The December 15-19 mission of the seven bishops was aimed at offering spiritual support, humanitarian aid and hope to Christians exiled from their homes in Mosul and the Ninevah Plain after they refused to convert to Islam.

About 120,000 Christians were displaced in the incursions last summer by Islamic State militants. Nuns and clergy, including bishops, are among the displaced in Irbil, the capital of the Kurdistan region of Iraq.

During the December 17-19 visit to Iraq, the bishops met families still camped in tents on church grounds, in half-finished buildings or in pre-fabricated huts in Irbil as well as in some surrounding villages.

“So many of the people we met said, ‘We lost our homes, our lands, our jobs, all our possessions – everything – but we will not lose our faith,” Archbishop Julian Porteous of Hobart told Catholic News Service in Beirut on December 19. “You can feel the faith.”

An elderly woman told the bishops that when she was threatened by the Islamic militants and ordered to convert to Islam, she defiantly responded: “I am a Christian. I will not convert. You can kill me if you want.”

“We saw extraordinary courage and depth of commitment to the Christian faith,” Archbishop Porteous said. “It is quite remarkable.”

So many people in Irbil are very desperate to leave, fearing that the Islamic State will make further incursions into Iraq, Archbishop Porteous said. Every week, about 100 people leave Irbil, going mostly to Jordan, Turkey and Lebanon, typically with the ultimate desire to be resettled in a Western country.

The Australian visit followed the designation of December 7 as a day of solidarity and prayer for persecuted Christians in the Middle East by the Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference and the Conference of Bishops and Representatives of the Middle Eastern Apostolic Churches in Australia and New Zealand. The delegation said a special collection that day would help 1000 families each month until Easter 2015.

The funding “is just a drop in the ocean, but still it is a drop nonetheless”, Archbishop Christopher Prowse of Canberra and Goulburn said.

Related Stories

Ethiopian cardinal brings sense of gratitude to Australia

Blessed Sacrament desecrated in robbery of sacred vessels at Canberra church

Pope Francis – ‘My heart is broken’ over Texas elementary school shooting

The displaced were now coping with a difficult situation because it was very cold, the bishops said. Temperatures would soon be dropping below freezing.

Despite their suffering, the joy of Christmas was evident, deepened by a faith ignited by the persecution. One of the displaced bishops blessed a beautiful manger, and hundreds of people who attended the ceremony clapped and cheered. A children’s choir, organised by a priest, was rehearsing carols, including “Joy to the World” and “Silent Night” for a Christmas concert.

“We were touched by the gospel of faith in these plains amid outright persecution,” Archbishop Prowse said.

Reflecting on “the horrific stories” the people shared with the bishops, he said the atrocities needed to be “condemned outright” and told throughout the world.

“We will tell their story of Christ being crucified again and being reborn again in the lowly stable,” he said.

In addition to Archbishops Porteous and Prowse, the delegation included bishops of various rites from Sydney; most of their jurisdictions include much of Australia and sometimes New Zealand: Melkite Bishop Robert Rabbat; Chaldean Bishop Djibrail Kassab; Maronite Bishop Antoine Tarabay; Coptic Orthodox Bishop Daniel; and Archbishop Danil Bolis of the Ancient Church of the East.

About 10 per cent of Christians in Australia are from the Eastern churches.

In Lebanon, from December 15-17, the delegation met with Church leaders, including patriarchs of the Maronite, Syriac and Melkite Catholic churches, who told the bishops the Western world had largely ignored the plight of Middle East Christians.

Maronite Archbishop Paul Matar of Beirut, who hosted delegation members when they returned to Lebanon on December 19 before their departure to Australia hours later, called for more such Church delegations from other parts of the world to also raise funds and visit the displaced.

CNS

ShareTweet
Previous Post

Mary is a true model for today’s world

Next Post

May God bless you and your loved ones this Christmas

CNS

Related Posts

Ethiopian cardinal brings sense of gratitude to Australia
Australia

Ethiopian cardinal brings sense of gratitude to Australia

26 May 2022
Blessed Sacrament desecrated in robbery of sacred vessels at Canberra church
Australia

Blessed Sacrament desecrated in robbery of sacred vessels at Canberra church

26 May 2022
Pope Francis – ‘My heart is broken’ over Texas elementary school shooting
World

Pope Francis – ‘My heart is broken’ over Texas elementary school shooting

26 May 2022
Next Post

May God bless you and your loved ones this Christmas

Pope Francis sends Christmas message to Italian prisoners

John Sattler

Glory days to sing about

Popular News

  • Blessed Sacrament desecrated in robbery of sacred vessels at Canberra church

    Blessed Sacrament desecrated in robbery of sacred vessels at Canberra church

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Nuncio take in the sights of Queensland’s far north

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Archbishop calls for prayers in “troubled times”

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Pope Francis – ‘My heart is broken’ over Texas elementary school shooting

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • From a humble start Albanese is sworn in as new prime minister

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
Search our job finder
No Result
View All Result

Latest News

Ethiopian cardinal brings sense of gratitude to Australia
Australia

Ethiopian cardinal brings sense of gratitude to Australia

by Staff writers
26 May 2022
0

ETHIOPIAN Cardinal Berhaneyesus Souraphiel says his trip to Australia gives him the chance to thank individuals and...

Blessed Sacrament desecrated in robbery of sacred vessels at Canberra church

Blessed Sacrament desecrated in robbery of sacred vessels at Canberra church

26 May 2022
Pope Francis – ‘My heart is broken’ over Texas elementary school shooting

Pope Francis – ‘My heart is broken’ over Texas elementary school shooting

26 May 2022
Nuncio take in the sights of Queensland’s far north

Nuncio take in the sights of Queensland’s far north

25 May 2022
Hong Kong

Cardinal Joseph Zen appears in court in Hong Kong on day of prayer for China

25 May 2022

Never miss a story. Sign up to the Weekly Round-Up
eNewsletter now to receive headlines directly in your email.

Sign up to eNews
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Jobs
  • Subscribe

The Catholic Leader is an Australian award-winning Catholic newspaper that has been published by the Archdiocese of Brisbane since 1929. Our journalism seeks to provide a full, accurate and balanced Catholic perspective of local, national and international news while upholding the dignity of the human person.

Copyright © All Rights Reserved The Catholic Leader
Accessibility Information | Privacy Policy | Archdiocese of Brisbane

The Catholic Leader acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as the First Peoples of this country and especially acknowledge the traditional owners on whose lands we live and work throughout the Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • QLD
    • Australia
    • Regional
    • Education
    • World
    • Vatican
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Life
    • Family
    • Relationships
    • Faith
  • Culture
  • People
  • Subscribe
  • Jobs
  • Contribute

Copyright © All Rights Reserved The Catholic Leader

0
    0
    Your Cart
    Your cart is emptyChoose another Subscription
    Continue Shopping