I post this memorial somewhat belatedly of the massacre of Iraqi Chaldeans gathered for Mass in Sayedat Al-Najat Church on Sunday, October 21, 2010. I do so for several reasons. First, the Chaldeans are a great and noble people of a lineage that can be traced to antiquity. I have come to know many of them through students I have been teaching at Sacred Heart Major Seminary; and they are among the most industrious and accomplished of students I have had. Second, like the Armenians in Turkey, they have been for many generations a people without a homeland who have been routinely persecuted, as the Turks persecuted the Armenians in the systematic genocide conducted against them in the early 20th century. And as the world has turned a blind eye to the plight of the Armenians, so it is now turning a blind eye to the massacre of Iraqi Chaldeans. What is happening is unconscionable.
In Metro Detroit we have one of the largest populations of Chaldean immigrants in the world. We have a home-grown Chaldean newspaper, The Chaldean News. New Chaldean churches are being built in the Metro Detroit area, and I was privileged to attend one for the ordination of two of our students to the deaconate. The church had upwards of a thousand in attendance, and when I inquired about the number, I was told that on Sundays there are typically several Chaldean Masses with standing room only with similar numbers.
Several of my Chaldean students recently attended a Chaldean protest march in the area to attempt to call media attention to the plight of their brothers and sisters in Iraq. I did see some coverage of it in the local news. What we need, however, if for the world to sit up and take notice. Remember the Rwandan genocide? Remember East Timor? Remember the Turkish Armenians? Maybe. Maybe not. It's time we remembered our persecuted Chaldean Christian brothers and sisters in Iraq.
Update
Although there appears to have been some effort at sanitizing the scene of the crime before photographers arrived, and official statements regarding fatality statistics remain muted, word-of-mouth reports coming out of Iraq suggest that the number of those massacred may be upwards of 150 of those attending Mass on that fateful Sunday morning.
4 comments:
God, deliver us from evil.
I know that I am going political here but the Christians (Catholics) in Iraq were safer under Sadam. I could say much more but I believe I'll leave it at that.
Donna
You're quite right, Donna, and don't apologize for getting political. Christians have been living in Iraq for centuries. U.S. meddling has put them in their precarious position. Unfortunately, too many Americans--even professed "conservatives" and Christians--believe Washington has every right to intervene militarily anywhere it chooses anywhere around the world. So much for the Catholic notion of subsidiarity.
At one level, I'm ambivalent about this problem. The persecution there is overt and imminent. Here, a la C.S. Lewis' wormwood, the attacks are insidious and often quite difficult to identify. I don't wish persecution on our suffering brothers in Iraq, I only notice that the suffering here is more likely to put our souls at risk.
At another level, I think it is fair to ask, as one utterly ignorant of the situation on the ground, if these people are being persecuted for being Chaldeans or for being Catholic.
God willing, the suffering will be short, and the rebirth of the Church there vibrant.
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