POPE FRANCIS: APOSTOLIC JOURNEY TO IRAQ

The first visit of the Holy Father to Iraq, the homeland of our patriarch Abraham. His much-awaited journey is sure to bring consolation and hope to the many Iraqi Christians. Watch the LIVE coverage of this Apostolic journey on your Shalom World.

Inauguration of the New Catholic Church Parish in Salalah Oman

Pope Francis in United Arab Emirates Official Welcome

Pope Francis will soon visit the United Arab Emirates on 3-5 February 2019

Pope Francis UAE Visit Programme

Catholic Herald: Houses of Parliament lit up in red for persecuted Christians

by Madeleine Teahan posted Thursday, 24 Nov 2016 for Catholic Herald

The Houses of Parliament lit up in red to commemorate persecuted Christians last year

Buildings across the country were lit up to mark 'Red Wednesday'

The Houses of Parliament, churches, cathedrals, synagogues and universities were lit up in red yesterday to highlight the plight of persecuted religious minorities abroad.

The event – Red Wednesday – was organised by Aid to the Church in Need. Westminster Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, London Routemaster buses and Bolton town hall were also lit up in red to commemorate the persecuted.

Christian Post: Scores of Muslims Turning to Christ in Middle East; Churches Expecting 'Millions' of Converts

BY STOYAN ZAIMOV , CHRISTIAN POST REPORTER
Jan 9, 2017 | 8:36 AM

Thousands of Muslims are turning to Jesus Christ and what they view as the "religion of freedom" amid ongoing bloodshed in the Middle East, reports indicate. Some churches hope that millions of people will accept Christ amid a "spiritual hunger" that is forming in the wake of persecution.

(REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani)Iraqi Christians attend a mass on Christmas at St. Joseph Chaldean church in Baghdad, Iraq December 25, 2016.

Voice Of the Martyrs Canada, which supports Christian radio broadcasts in the region, told BosNewsLife that despite the mass exodus of Christians from Iraq and Syria due to terrorism, persecution, and war, scores of Muslims are making the decision to embrace Christianity.

"There are thousands upon thousands coming to Christ," VOMC revealed. "We are in regular contact with our FM stations in Iraq and have talked with many people who have family in the Middle East."

"Some of our Middle Eastern broadcasters have shared testimonies [about many turning to Christ] with us, which they hear directly from listeners when visiting there ..."

In Iran, Christian house churches are regularly targeted and shut down by the nation's Islamic government. Despite this persecution, mission group Elam Ministries revealed that Christians have been growing in terms of numbers, and today estimates suggest there are 360,000 believers in Iran – up from only 500 in 1979.

"Church leaders believe that millions can be added to the church in the next few years -- such is the spiritual hunger that exists and the disillusionment with the Islamic regime," Elam Ministries stated.

"If we remain faithful to our calling, our conviction is that it is possible to see the nation transformed within our lifetime. Because Iran is a strategic gateway nation, the growing church in Iran will impact Muslim nations across the Islamic world."

Muslim refugees in Europe have also reportedly been undergoing mass conversions of faith. A June 2016 article from The Guardian noted anecdotal data of rising Christian church attendance in Europe by Muslims.

Trinity church in the Berlin suburb of Steglitz, for instance, saw its congregation rise from 150 to 700 due to new Muslim converts, while the Austrian Catholic Church saw its applications for adult baptism swell by nearly 70 percent in the first three months of 2016.

"I found that the history of Islam was completely different from what we were taught at school. Maybe, I thought, it was a religion that began with violence," an Iranian convert, 32-year-old Johannes, said.

"A religion that began with violence cannot lead people to freedom and love. Jesus Christ said 'those who use the sword will die by the sword.' This really changed my mind," he added.

More churches in Germany reported this growing phenomena in December 2016, with The Independent noting that Muslims, especially Iranians, are seeing Christianity as a new chance at freedom.

"A lot of them come to Germany and think, here I can choose my religion and I want to choose a religion of freedom," said Matthias Linke, a priest from the Evangelical-Freikirchlichen Gemeinde in Berlin.

"For many Iranians that I've baptized, Christianity is the religion of freedom."

Catholic Missionaries RISK persecution and death by proclaiming Jesus among those who haven't received the 'Good News"

And how about your Ministers? Your Pastors? Had they took the risk yet? #ProudCatholics

AP News: First mass in two years held in Iraq’s main Christian town

Published October 31, 2016 8:06am
By THIBAULD MALTERRE AND SAFA MAJEED, Agence France-Presse via GMA Network

In spite of church being burnt out, Mosul Archbishop Putrus Moshe defiantly leads the Sunday Mass in the Grand Immaculate church in Baghdeda for the first time in two years after this church was liberated from ISIS last week. Photo Source: This is Christian Iraq

QARAQOSH, Iraq - A handful of faithful gathered in a burnt out church Sunday for the first mass to be celebrated in two years in Qaraqosh, which was once Iraq's main Christian town.

Iraqi forces retook Qaraqosh from the Islamic State group days earlier, as part of a massive offensive to wrest back the country's second city Mosul.

"After two years and three months in exile, I just celebrated the Eucharist in the cathedral of the Immaculate Conception the Islamic State wanted to destroy," Yohanna Petros Mouche, the Syriac Catholic Archbishop of Mosul, said.

"But in my heart it was always there," Mouche, who officiated with four priests, told AFP.

IS jihadists took over swathes of Iraq in June 2014, also taking Mosul where the prelate was based.

He moved to Qaraqosh, a town with a mostly Christian population of around 50,000 that was controlled by Kurdish forces and lies east of Mosul in the Nineveh plain.

But a second jihadist sweep towards Kurdish-controlled areas two months later forced around 120,000 Iraqi Christians and members of other minorities to leave their towns and villages.

"We had no other choice but to convert or become slaves. We fled to preserve our faith. Now we're going to need international protection," Father Majeed Hazem said.

Donning a resplendent chasuble and stole, Mouche led mass on an improvised altar in front of a modest congregation mostly made up of members of the Nineveh Plain Protection Units (NPU), a local Christian militia.

‘Damaged but still standing’

"I can't describe what I'm feeling. This is my land, my church," said Samer Shabaoun, a militiaman who was involved in operations to retake Qaraqosh.

"They used everything against us: they shot at us, they sent car bombs, suicide attackers. Despite all this, we're here."

Shortly before Sunday's mass, the soldiers now guarding Qaraqosh were surprised to find two elderly women in a house, one of them bedridden.

"We stayed the whole of the occupation by the Islamic State, from the first day. Sometimes they would bring us food," one of them said.

The bell tower of the church was damaged, statues decapitated and missals strewn across the nave floor, which is still covered in soot from the fire the jihadists lit when they retreated.

But some of the crosses have already been replaced and a new icon was laid on the main altar, where the armed militiamen took turns to light candles.

"This church is such a powerful symbol that if we hadn't found it like this, damaged but still standing, I'm not sure residents would have wanted to come back," Mouche said.

Christmas in Mosul?

"But the fact that it's still here gives us hope," the blue-eyed prelate, who wears thin-rimmed glasses and sports a neatly trimmed white goatee, said as he surveyed the damage in Qaraqosh after mass.

It could be months before former residents return to a town that needs to be cleared of explosive devices left behind by IS and whose infrastructure suffered badly.

The seminary library was completely burnt down and the ashes were still warm.

"This is barely a few days old—the jihadists torched it when soldiers started entering the town," Mouche said.

In the course of his visit to Qaraqosh, the archbishop recited ritual phrases to "purify" various buildings, holding a cross in one hand and swinging a thurible of incense with the other.

Jihadists appear to have used the cloister-like back yard of the cathedral for target practice.

The ground was littered with casings, the pillars riddled with bullet impacts and IS instructors even left behind a board detailing the workings of a Kalashnikov assault rifle.

The Iraqi offensive on Mosul launched two weeks ago has yet to reach the city borders, and commanders have warned it could last months but Mouche was optimistic: "I hope to celebrate a Christmas mass in Mosul cathedral." —Agence France-Presse

Church Bells are Ringing Again in Iraq!

We are always a joyful Church!

CNA: The ‘people of the cross’ are taking back Iraq

Source: Catholic News Agency
On 10.26.16,  by Mary Rezac+

Mass at a refugee camp in Baghdad. Thousands of Iraqi Christians have been killed or forced to flee their homes after the rise of the Islamic State. Credit: Amigos de Irak via Facebook.

The cross of Jesus is being lifted once more over many parts of Iraq, where for years Islamic State terrorists left a path of death and destruction.

As a military campaign to rid the Mosul area of the Islamic state rages on, videos are surfacing of “the people of the cross” reclaiming their homes by raising makeshift wooden crosses over the churches and towns they were once forced to flee out of fear for their lives.

The “people of the cross” was the term for Christians used by Islamic terrorists when they beheaded 21 Egyptian Christians in February 2015.

According to many reports, the Islamic State has a special hate for the symbol of the cross, which many say points to the religious motivations of their actions. According to a journalist for Ankawa news agency, within two weeks of seizing Mosul, the Islamic State terrorists threw down all the crosses from domes of churches in the city. They also raided the houses of Christian living in Mosul in order to destroy all the crosses and icons.

The breaking of the cross is symbolic of what many Muslims believe will happen at the end times. Muhammad prophesied that when Isa (the Muslim Jesus) returns, he will “fight the people for the cause of Islam. He will break the cross, kill the swine and abolish jizya” and establish the rule of Allah throughout the world.

But after years of broken crosses throughout Christian towns near Mosul, Iraq, the symbol of Jesus’ triumph over death is returning.

Yesterday, “This is Christian Iraq” Facebook page posted a video of two priests and members of the Iraq military elevating a cross made of two wooden poles and copper wiring on top of Al-Tahira Church in Qaraqosh, Iraq’s largest Christian town.

Al-Tahira Church (The Church of the Immaculate Conception) is a Chaldean Catholic Church dating back to the 7th century. In 2014, some sources reported that ISIS terrorists destroyed a Virgin Mary statue outside this Church. Since then, most of the other icons and sacramentals inside the church have been destroyed, the interior of the Church burned, the windows smashed.

But now, there is hope again that the 50,000 some Christians who were forced to leave Qaraqosh may return.

“I’m very happy now that we are able to return to our church,” Father Amar, one of the priests who erected the new cross, told The Daily Beast.

But hope mingles with sorrow at the ruin of so many churches and Christian symbols.

“Its very hard for us to see our town like this. Everything is damaged. Do you see that the bell of the church is missing? They destroyed it. Why? I don’t know,” he said.

A second video, from France 24, shows the liberation of Bartella, a Christian village close to Mosul. In an emotional and symbolic gesture of their return, they too made a makeshift cross of wooden beams and raised it on top of their church.

On the church’s walls below, Islamic State graffiti read: “Our God is higher than the cross.”

A captain with the Iraqi army told International Business Times that the fight to take back Bartella was more difficult than some of the other fights to free nearby towns, perhaps because of the town’s religious significance.

A few days ago, church bells rang out in the town for the first time in two years since the Islamic State takeover. [Read: Church bells ring for first time in 2 years after Iraqi forces liberate Christian town of Bartella en route to Mosul http://abcnews.ws/2eloz3Tl]

Christian persecution has been happening in Iraq since the spread of Islamic terror and the U.S. invasion in 2003, and picked up in intensity with the rise of the Islamic State in 2014. Hundreds of thousands of Christians have been killed or forced to flee their homes, and the population of Christians – which was about 1.5 million in 2003 – is about a third of what it used to be, with approximately 500,000 Christians remaining.

And while the battle for Mosul has been liberating Christian towns, it has not been without cost.

The United Nations warned that ISIS is using civilians as human shields in the fight for Mosul, estimating that the militants have so far taken roughly 550 families from smaller towns close to Mosul in an effort to prevent them from leaving the area.

According to CNN, some 285 men and boys have already been used by ISIS as human shields in recent days, and their bodies dumped in a mass grave.

In a statement earlier this week, Carl Anderson, Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus, stressed that liberating Mosul and the Nineveh plain are not enough. In addition, aid must be offered to ensure the survival of groups that ISIS had been trying to exterminate.

The Knights of Columbus have been heavily involved in supporting persecuted Christians in the Middle East. Earlier this year the Catholic fraternal group successfully advocated for the State Department to recognize the genocide of religious minorities at the hands of ISIS.

In 2014, the Knights established the Christian Refugee Relief Fund, which has raised $10.5 million to provide food, clothing, shelter, education, and medical care to persecuted Christians in the Middle East. They have also encouraged prayer for those facing persecution.

“Celebrations over the ongoing liberation of the historically Christian towns of the Nineveh, should not obscure the fact those minority groups who lived there for generations are now displaced and in danger of disappearing,” Anderson said in his statement.

Donations can be made to help the victims of Christian genocide in the Middle East at: http://www.kofc.org/en/charities/christian-relief/

CNA: Iraqis hopeful in battle for Mosul, yet cautious of what lies ahead

By Elise Harris for Catholic News Agency
Posted October 17, 2016

An Iraqi woman holding a rosary. Credit: Elise Harris/CNA.

Erbil, Iraq (CNA/EWTN News).- Hours after Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced a ground offensive to retake Mosul from the clutches of Islamic State, a priest working in the thick of the country’s refugee crisis said people are happy with the advances, but unsure what the future will hold.

“We are so happy because yesterday the war began between the Iraqi army and the Peshmerga with ISIS,” Father Roni Momika told CNA Oct. 17.

He relayed how shortly before, they had received the “good news” that the ancient Monastery of the Martyrs Saint Behnam and his Sister Sarah, also known as the Mar Behnam monastery, near Nimrud “is free,” though it has suffered significant damage from Islamic State forces.

There are still many Christians living in the villages surrounding Mosul, he noted, but said soldiers from the Iraqi army and the Kurdish Peshmerga are with them.

“We hope that (soon) we will hear good news about Qaraqosh, a big center for Christians, that it will be free and that there is no ISIS there,” he said, but admitted that it might not be that easy.

Fr. Momika is a Syriac Catholic priest serving in the Kurdish capital of Erbil, where he works in the city’s Aishty camp for the displaced.

He and his sister were among the victims wounded in a 2010 bombing of buses transporting mainly Christian college students from the Plains of Nineveh to the University of Mosul, where they were enrolled in classes.

In 2014, while he was in seminary, Momika and his family were forced to flee Qaraqosh, also known as Bakhdida, when Islamic State militants attacked, taking over the city after storming it in the middle of the night with bombs and gunfire.

Since his seminary was closed following Islamic State's assault, he completed his studies in Lebanon, and returned to Iraq for his diaconate ordination, which took place March 19. On Aug. 5 he was ordained a priest in the Aishty camp, where he continues to serve the people by leading women's groups and working with youth.

STAND WITH PERSECUTED CHRISTIANS!

Source: European Press Agency (EPA)

Catholic Herald: In 2016 more than half of converts in Vienna were Muslim, according to reports

From Catholic Herald
Posted Tuesday, 19 Apr 2016

St Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna (PA)

An increasing number of Muslim migrants in Austria are converting to Christianity, according to reports.

According to Austrian website Kurier, 83 adults were approved for baptism in Vienna in 2016, with Friederike Dostal of the Austrian Bishops’ Conference estimating that about half of them were Muslims, mainly from Syria, Afghanistan, and Iran. This figure is up from one-third in 2015.

There is expected to be a further rise of Muslim converts in 2017 due to the fact that there has been an increase in the number of refugees arriving in Vienna in recent months and because the conversion process, known as the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, takes up to a year to complete.

The Archdiocese in Vienna is handling between five and 10 adult baptism requests per week, Kurier says.

Let's Pray for this!

Photo Source: Syrian Christian Watch

Yes! It's True! We have a 'secret" Church in Saudi Arabia!

BREAKING: Fr. Thomas Uzhunnalil was crucified by ISIS on Good Friday ~ Cardinal Schönborn confirmed the priest's martyrdom during the Easter Vigil

All forces of Darkness are now merging together against the Catholic Church-- Muslims and even fellow Christians (various Protestant churches), Masons, Agnostics, Atheists, Leftists, Pro-Choice,LGBT, Iglesia Ni Cristo, Ang Dating Daan, Mormons, secular governments etc. are persecuting the Church and Catholics. MAY FR. THOMAS REST IN PEACE! -CD2000

Source: Toronto Catholic Witness Blog

Austrian media is reporting that Cardinal Schönborn of Vienna confirmed last night, during the Easter Vigil at Stephansdom that the Salesian priest, Fr. Thomas Uzhunnalil was crucified by ISIS on Good Friday. Polonia Christiana is also carrying the news, based on the Austrian reports.

Fr. Tom is now in Paradise with Our Blessed Lord and His Mother. May his murderers repent and come to believe in the Gospel.

"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do" (Luke, 23:34)

Prayer of St. Francis Xavier for the Conversion of the Infidels

Eternal God, Creator of all things, remember that Thou alone didst create the souls of infidels, framing them to Thine own image and likeness; behold, O Lord, how, to Thy dishonor, hell is daily replenished with them. Remember, O Lord, Thine only Son, Jesus Christ, Who suffered for them, most bountifully shedding His precious blood. Suffer not, O Lord, Thy Son and our Lord to be any longer despised by infidels. But, rather, being appeased by the entreaties and prayers of the elect, the saints, and of the Church, the most blessed spouse of Thy Son; be mindful of Thy mercy, yet forgetful of their idolatry and infidelity. Cause all to know Him Whom Thou didst send, Jesus Christ Thy Son, our Lord, Who is our health, life, and resurrection, through Whom we are freed and saved, to Whom be all glory forever. Amen.

NOTHING SEPARATES US FROM THE LOVE OF GOD IN CHRIST JESUS OUR LORD! AMEN!

Source: Facebook Account

"For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." -ROMANS 8:38-39

NCR: Eyewitness Account of ISIS [Muslim Terrorists] Attack on Mother Teresa's Sisters in Yemen

'I’m amazed by the faith reflected in those words,' said Auxiliary Bishop Edward Rice of St. Louis on March 14. 'Because of their faithfulness, they were in the right place at the right time and were ready when the Bridegroom came.'

by JOAN FRAWLEY DESMOND 
Posted 03/17/2016 National Catholic Register

Clockwise from upper right: Sister Anselm, Sister Reginette, Sister Judith and Sister Marguerite, the Missionaries of Charity sisters who were killed in Aden, Yemen, by two gunmen who attacked their convent on March 4.

– Courtesy of the Apostolic Vicariate of Southern Arabia

On March 4, following the ISIS attack on a Missionaries of Charity home for the elderly and disabled in Aden, Yemen, the sole survivor member of the order, Sister Sally, conveyed her testimony of the massacre to Sister Rio. Sister Rio’s account was recorded by another Missionary of Charity, Sister Adriana.

This testimony was circulated to religious communities in the United States as Secretary of State John Kerry was considering whether to declare that the Islamic State’s actions in the Middle East constituted genocide against Christians and other religious minorities. On March 17, Secretary Kerry designated the terrorist organization's actions as genocide

During a March 14 Mass that honored the four Missionaries of Charity who died in Aden, Bishop Edward Rice, an auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of St. Louis, quoted Sister Rio’s powerful statement regarding the death of her fellow sisters: “Because of their faithfulness they were in the right place at the right time and were ready when the Bridegroom came.”

“I’m amazed by the faith reflected in those words,” said Bishop Rice. “The Holy Father speculates that, at the moment of their death, Blessed Teresa of Calcutta was waiting for her sisters, to bring them to the Lord,” Bishop Rice said. “But not to disagree with Pope Francis, I think even more so, at the moment of their death, Christ himself was there to greet them and proclaimed, ‘Well done, good and faithful servants. Come, receive your Master’s joy.’”

Images of the three pages of photocopied handwritten testimony are available here: Page 1, Page 2 and Page 3. A PDF containing all three pages can be downloaded here. Following is the text of the testimony, with emphases added in bold:

* * * * * * * * * *

SISTER RIO’S WORDS TO SISTER ADRIANA, MC: Friday, midday, March 4, 2016

Sisters had Mass, breakfast as usual. As usual, Father stays back in chapel to say prayers, then to fix things around the compound.

8:00am: Said apostolate prayer and all 5 went to home.

8:30am: ISIS dressed in blue came in, killed guard and driver.

5 young Ethiopian men (Christian) began running to tell the sisters ISIS was here to kill them. They were killed one by one. They tied them to trees, shot them in the head and smashed their heads.

The sisters ran 2 by 2 in different directions, as they have mens and ladies home. 4 working women were screaming, “Don’t kill the sisters! Don’t kill the sisters!” One was the cook for 15 years. They killed them as well.

They caught Sr. Judith and Sr. Reginette first, tied them up, shot them in the head and smashed their heads. When the sisters ran in different directions, the Superior ran to the convent to try to warn Father Tom.

They caught Sr. Anselm and Sr. Marguerite, tied them, shot them in the head and smashed their heads in the sand.

Meanwhile, the Superior could not get to the convent. It is not clear how many ISIS men were there.

She saw all the sisters and helpers killed. The ISIS men were already getting to the convent so she went into the refridgerator room, since the door was open. These ISIS men were everywhere, searching for her, as they knew there were 5. At least three times they came into the fridgerator room. She did not hide, but remained standing behind the door – they never saw her. This is miraculous.

Meanwhile, at the convent, Father had heard the screaming and consumed all the Hosts. He had no time to consume the large Host, so he threw the oil out of the sanctuary lamp and dissolved it in the water.

A neighbor saw them put Father Tom in their car. They did not find any trace of Father anywhere. All the religious articles were smashed and destroyed – Our Lady, crucifix, altar, tabernacle, lectionary stand – even their prayer books and Bibles.

10:00 or 10:15am: The ISIS men finished and left.

Sr. Sally came to get the bodies of the sisters. She got them all. She went to the patients to each one individually to see if they were OK. All were OK. Not one was hurt.

The son of the woman who was the cook (who was killed) was calling her on her cellphone. Since she was not answering, he called the police, and he went with the police there and found this great massacre. The police and the son arrived at about 10:30am.

The police tried to take Sr. Sally out of there — she refused to leave the people who were crying, “Don’t leave us; stay with us.” But the police forced her to go with them because the ISIS knew there were 5 sisters, and they were convinced they will not stop until they kill her too. So finally she had to leave. She took one set of clothes and the sisters’ bodies, and the police brought them to an international hospital called “Doctors Without Borders” for protection. As there was not enough room in the mortuary of that hospital for the sisters’ bodies, the police brought their bodies to a bigger hospital mortuary.

Sr. Sally told Sr. Rio she is so sad because she is alone and did not die with her sisters. Sr. Rio told her God wanted a witness and told her, “Who would have found the sisters’ bodies and who would ever tell us what happened? God wants us to know.”

Pope Francis had his secretary contact the Yemen Secretary of State very often – about once a week to check up on the sisters and reassure them of his closeness. Today, the Pope’s secretary sent the message: “I thank them — Little M.C. martyrs.” He said he is offering the 40-hour First Friday devotion for them.

Sr. Sally told Sr. Rio that Fr. Tom tells them every day, “Let us be ready for martyrdom.”

Sr. Judith — they were trying so hard to take her for senior course, but they were not able to get her out.

Sr. Reginette — they were trying to send her for junior course but could not get her out.

God wanted them there.

Aden is rich city – a port city. Aden wanted to be its own state, so they got ISIS in to help them fight against Yemen. So ISIS won for Aden. That was the war last year, with all the bombing. They won, so that is over, but ISIS won’t leave. They want to take over and exterminate any Christian presence. They did not kill the sisters in the war because they had no political reason to waste time on them. But now, they are the only Christian presence, and ISIS wants to get rid of all Christianity. So they are real martyrs — died because they are Christians. They could have died so many times in the war, but God wanted it to be clear they are martyrs for the faith.

Sr. Rio said Sr. Sally is fully surrendered. The police are trying to get her out because they will just keep after her until they kill her. She is fully surrendered and told Sr. Rio – whatever God wants. She said the other Muslims are so respectful of them. She said to pray that their blood will be the seeds for peace in the Middle East and to stop the ISIS.

She said that if they kidnapped Father Tom most probably they will wait 2 days, then ask in exchange for Father Tom either money or the release of their members held in prison.

Sr. Rio said they were so faithful – ISIS knew exactly when they leave and when to break in. And because of their faithfulness, they were in the right place at the right time and were ready when the Bridegroom came.

Sr. Adriana said she thinks the crushing of the heads has some evil connection with “She will crush head of the serpent,” some kind of mockery or evil meaning.

CORRECT NAMES:

Sister M. Sally, MC (Superior)

Sister M. Anselm, MC (Bihar)

Sister M. Marguerite, MC (Rwanda)

Sister M. Judith, MC (Kenya)

Sister M. Reginette, MC (Rwanda)

CRUCIFIED FOR BEING CHRISTIANS - A GENOCIDE STORY OF THE CHRISTIANS IN THE MIDDLE EAST

Crucified for being Christians in Syria (Photo Source: Express News)

We will NEVER FORGET their sacrifices. Martyrs of the Church, remember us and pray for us! -CD2000

John Kerry: ISIS responsible for genocide

By Elise Labott and Tal Kopan, CNN

Posted March 17, 2016

(CNN) Secretary of State John Kerry said Thursday that the United States has determined that ISIS' action against the Yazidis and other minority groups in Iraq and Syria constitutes genocide.

"My purpose here today is to assert in my judgment, (ISIS) is responsible for genocide against groups in areas under its control including Yazidis, Christians and Shiite Muslims," he said, during a news conference at the State Department.

Kerry said that in 2014, ISIS trapped Yazidis, killed them, enslaved thousands of Yazidi women and girls, "selling them at auction, raping them at will and destroying the communities in which they had lived for countless generations," executed Christians "solely for their faith" and also "forced Christian women and girls into slavery."

"Without our intervention, it is clear that those people would have been slaughtered," he said.

This is the first time that the United States has declared a genocide since Darfur in 2004.

The House of Representatives on Monday unanimously passed a resolution labeling the ISIS atrocities against Christian groups in Syria and Iraq "genocide," a term the State Department had been reluctant to use about the attacks and mass murders by the terror group.

The genocide finding does not legally obligate the U.S. to take any particular action, but it could put pressure on the Obama administration to take more aggressive military action against ISIS. It could also give weight to calls by other lawmakers and humanitarian groups pushing the Obama administration to welcome more refugees into the United States.

House to Obama: Label ISIS attack against Christians 'genocide'

The move, aimed at ramping up pressure on the Obama administration, appears to have worked.

The measure was non-binding, but both Republicans and Democrats in the House joined together 393-0 to back a "sense of Congress" saying the crimes committed against Christians, Yazidis and other ethnic and religious minorities in the region amount to war crimes and, in some cases, genocide.

Republican Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, whose Nebraska district is home to the largest group of resettled Yazidis in the U.S., authored the resolution with California Democratic Rep. Anna Eshoo.

During debate on Monday, Fortenberry noted it was a rare instance of an issue that has "risen above the petty and difficult differences we often work out on the floor of the House of Representatives."

Women secretly film inside ISIS stronghold

Courageous Women of God, Martyred in Yemen!

Photo Source: Roaming Romans

The courageous faces of God's beloved Nuns martyred in Yemen on March 5! ✝❤✝

Clockwise: Sr. Anselm, Sr. Reginette, Sr. Marguerite, Sr. Judith!