Letter from Archbishop of Mosul: Thank you for your aid, supporting the plight of refugees
Erbil (AsiaNews) - A lack of food, warm clothes, blankets, shelter, medicine: This is the picture of the pain faced by the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi refugees who fled from Mosul and surrounding villages, who managed to escape in Kurdistan. Msgr. Nona, the Chaldean archbishop of Mosul, who is also a refugee, writes to thank AsiaNews and all those who have contributed to the "Adopt a Christian from Mosul" campaign. The prelate also speaks of the comfort offered by the testimony of Christian faith before the violence and threats of the militias of the Islamic Caliphate. The humanitarian crisis is also an opportunity for him to discover a new way of being a pastor: never forget God in the midst of harrowing humanitarian emergencies of everyday life. Below is a letter that Msgr. Ninth sent us after receiving the second tranche of funds from the "Adopt a Christian from Mosul" campaign. So far, almost 700 thousand euro has been donated and sent. Please continue to support us (See. Here).
Dear Father Cervellera
I would like to inform you that we have received the sum of 123, 297 Euros sent by
you, AsiaNews, as well as 270,000 Euros sent by
the PIME non-profit foundation. This is the second donation sent by AsiaNews,
to our bishop's committee to help Iraqi Christian refugees. Your donation goes directly to the Committees bank account and is registered in your name with all the details of the donation:
the date, the sum, the organization
that makes the donation. Instead, I am writing to give you some details
about this aid, the way in which this
money is spent. We are also
available to respond to any questions regarding donations.
The support we receive is very
important to us because it helps in the daily lives of our refugees,
which is not easy at all.
Today the refugees are suffering a very difficult situation, especially because winter has already started and the rains are due. The difficulties arise
from the lack of food, warm
clothes, blankets against the
cold ... There are also difficulties regarding health
issues. Thousands of families cannot
pay rent on the apartments where they
are living because it is very high, and they are out of work. Every day
the need and demand for safe housing and shelter increases.
Those who live in places paid for or provided by the Church - with the help
of charitable organizations, such as our friends at AsiaNews - are facing other
difficulties such as lack of work
and lack of money. Although these lodgings are overcrowded and full of people.
The donations that come to the Church from various sources, are spent to find decent housing for our Christians such as a house instead of a tent, or to find a place for those who live in a school or in overcrowded classrooms. The aid is spent on medicines, that the needy cannot afford. Rent for houses or hostels for refugees, or to build caravans. This is the most important use for such aid, because the majority of refugees cannot pay the rent of the houses.
In our dramatic situation every now and then we glimpse a ray of light from heaven, which gives us the courage to continue our life of faith despite all the difficulties and problems. For example, we received some testimonials from our remaining faithful in the Christian villages in the Nineveh Plain. I've heard that a few days ago in the village of Bartella, a family with one of their neighbors had remained there even after the arrival of the army of the Islamic State (or Isis). They were caught as the attempted to leave the village, were arrested and forced to convert to Islam. The neighbor refused and this was immediately killed. But the woman, fearing for the fate of her children, said the formula by which we convert to Islam. But on arriving at Erbil she repented and asked for forgiveness, returning to the Christian faith. Another story concerns two elderly women remained in a village called Karemless, on the Nineveh Plains. These courageous women met the Isis militants who wanted to force them to convert to Islam. Instead they argued with courage, defending their Christian faith and saying that everyone has the freedom to profess their own faith ... They argued for about an hour with the militants that threatened to kill them, but without having to convert. In the end they let them go. I have personally met the two women because they are in my diocese. I've seen them happy and full of trust in God and in themselves. They did not renounce their faith and gave a great testimony.
Our Christian faith compels us to help others in spite of the diversity of religions and ethnicities. This is why our Church also
helps others who are in the same
crisis such as Yazidis
and members of other minority called Kakai:
several of them are with our Christian refugees, and we help them
all.
This whole crisis makes life difficult for the refugees, including my own as a pastor of a diocese marked by 11 years of pain, with some martyrs, many
families who have emigrated and
now with the arrival of the Isis,
which has emptied the diocese of all its members.
Our daily life is a continual watching and listening to
the refugees and their needs, and trying to do the best we can for them.
My work as a bishop has become concrete
action to meet the daily needs
of my faithful. At the same time,
in this very difficult humanitarian situation, it is important to find the most adequate way to support the spiritual dimensions of those affected.
It is complex and not easy when you have to find
a balance between the daily humanitarian
needs in a very difficult crisis
and the importance of keeping the spirit of Christianity in the soul of our people.
But in the end, we thank God for everything, including the situation we bishops are faced with, because it teaches us more and more, how we
can be faithful servants to Him
and to His people.
+ Amel
Nona
Archbishop of Mosul of the Chaldeans
Head of the Catholic Bishops' Committee for Aid to Christian
Refugees
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