www.byzcath.org Forums News & Events Church News Seven hostages killed in Iraqi Syriac Catholic Church

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-11463544

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/oct/31/iraq-catholic-hostages-released

http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/10/31/1901490/insurgents-seize-catholic-church.html

http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/1031/iraq.html

Seven parishoners have been killed and 20 have been wounded in a hostage incident at Our Lady of Salvation Syrian Catholic Church in Baghdad

BBC radio [downloads.bbc.co.uk] At the beginning of this broadcast is an interview with an Iraqi doctor who lay next to their priest who had been shot, who apparently died before the security forces arrived.

An Anglican priest, Canon Andrew White [en.wikipedia.org], interviewed later in the broadcast when asked if the Christians are being deliberately targeted he replies that recent violence continues to be linked to the pastor in FL who threatened to burn the Quran. Many of his people are leaving "I say to all of them I'm not going to leave you, don't leave me." His church has been seriously bombed several times. Violence towards Christians is growing, he says, because Christianity is perceived as linked to "the west".

When the name of the priest who was killed yesterday is confirmed in the press elsewhere please post it for us.

This [catholicherald.co.uk] is [catholicculture.org] horrifying [ncregister.com] news. [catholicnewsagency.com]

This article [catholicherald.co.uk] says 3 priests were killed...

From Joan Lewis' blog [ewtn.com] today:


She also quotes a long piece from AINA, the Assyrian International News Agency.

Joan has done some wonderful reporting about our ECC in the Latin press she works for as EWTN's Rome bureau chief. The Iraqi bishops begged her to come to Iraq earlier this year in order to learn about the terrible situation for Christians there, and get the word out to western Catholics.

I realize that I have previously been critical of Ms Lewis as being well-intentioned, but ill-informed, and won't endear myself to anyone in once again raising that same point, but ...

The two bishops to whom Ms Lewis intends to convey condolences, will I am certain be grateful to receive them; however, they are Chaldean hierarchs and the violence in this instance was perpetrated against our Syriac brethren, not the Chaldeans. It would be good if, almost a year after her initial foray to the Middle East, the writer would do some of the research that was so wanting in her prior endeavors.

Many years,

Neil

I can find no fault in her encouraging the largely Latin Catholic audience who read her blog and listen to her radio broadcast to write messages to our grieving brothers and sisters in Baghdad and offering to see they get delivered.

I believe she intends to ask the Chaldean bishops to take care of delivering the messages of condolence because she has developed such a significant friendship with them during her two trips to Iraq and again during the recent Synod, and thinks they are in a position to be sure the prayer messages get delivered as she says to the Church in Baghdad. As she mentioned again today she did not travel to Baghdad on her trips to Iraq. The itinerary the Iraqi Catholics set for her didn't include Baghdad ... I think possibly because of the greater danger in Baghdad than where they had her travel.

Her next four podcasts of her weekly radio program "Vatican Insider" I believe will be interviews of our EC Bishops she did during or immediately after the Synod. She also regularly appears as a guest for short segments on a number of other Catholic Radio broadcasts where she speaks passionately about the crises for our Church in Iraq and throughout the entire region, as well as sharing humbly of her new discovery of Eastern Churches she was completely unfamiliar with prior to responding to the bishops invitation, strongly encouraging Latin Catholic to discover our Eastern and Oriental Catholic Churches. She has broken through with this message in a way that no one else is doing. These other EWTN radio broadcasters are coming to care about our Churches because of their interviews with Joan.

A major attach like yesterday's does get picked up on many Latin Catholic blogs, but that's the only coverage there is. In fact they all seem to carry the one same story which makes it look like they're getting it from each other, not really scouring the news for any real reporting from a variety of sources. They typically pull off the wire, but have not personal relationship in Iraq, no follow up.

Is her reporting perfect? No. As one who spends a lot of time with Latin Catholics I can only say her reporting has had an important effect. There are details we notice that might be less than what we'd prefer but the overall message is one that virtually no one else is consistently getting out in Latin media.

There are some Latins who listen to Fr. Loya's weekly radio program on Catholic radio and he has Juliana Taimoorazy of the Iraqi Christian Relief on from time to time. Still the program itself is already about Eastern Catholics by an Eastern Catholic priest so not the same as the main line Latin press Joan is attached to.

Joan is on a learning curve. I don't know if you're a cradle EC Neil but I am not and I know intimately how challenging it is to enter the Eastern world, which is often quite perplexing and not always as welcoming to western strangers. Add to that the need to produce copy on a deadline, when the rest of her "beat", in fact the focus of her beat, the Vatican, is continuing to make news that needs to also be covered. EWTN sponsoring Joan's trips to Iraq and her passionate interest in communicating what those in Iraq ask her to share is a tiny drop in the bucket of EWTN TV, radio and website. But the drops are reaching people who otherwise would hear nothing about our Christian brothers and sisters in Iraq. Clearly I am grateful for her coverage and I know the Iraqi bishops have been very grateful for it.

Survivors accounts reported in LA TImes [whispersintheloggia.blogspot.com].

I have moved the prayer posts from this thread to the Prayer Forum.

Being - or becoming - a member of the Orthodox or Catholic Churches is not about feeling good about youself, nor is it about fun and entertainment. It's about joy. It's also about enrollment in a training course for undergoing martyrdom.

These 2 points seem conspicuosly absent from pastoral teaching in a lot of our parishes. Alas.

It turns out that these killings by Al Qaida were done in order to warn the Coptic Orthodox Church that unless they "release muslim women [that are] being held "captive" in Coptic Monasteries, then we [the Copts], will suffer the same fate".

I thank God for the crusades whenever stuff like this happens - not out of vengence, but out of gratitude: we'd all be living under islamic Europe had it not been for the crusades.

A letter from Iraq's Archbishop Amel Nona of Mosul which Joan Lewis shares in her blog. He talks about the recent bombing at a Catholic church.

Iraq Christians [ewtn.com]

from CNN [edition.cnn.com]



At this link there is also a video taken inside Our Lady of Salvation Cathedral where services continue.

Here's another article regarding the reopening [ewtnnews.com] of the Cathedral of Our Lady of Salvation.

I'm glad to see it refers to a Fr. Raphael Qotaini


In many places where the attack was initially reported it was stated that "Fr Qatin was wounded during the raid and died later in hospital." It would appear that Fr. Raphael Qotaini is the Fr Qatin who was referred to earlier. Thanks be to God the earlier articles, which all seemed to come from one source repeated in many places, were mistaken about his death.