MIDDLE EAST

SERVING CHRIST ON THE FRONT LINES
Fr. Qusay Ajim
Author: Colin Howell,  5 April 2020

ISIS may not be in America, but we all were affected by the destruction they caused. As Catholics we cannot help but feel the horrendous sting of the many thousands of murdered Christians. Imagine living in daily fear for yourself and your family, knowing you could all be slaughtered at any moment for the simple fact of being a Christian.

Fr. Ajim, a Catholic priest from the Christian city of Mosul, knows first-hand how terrible these attacks were for Iraqi Christians and how difficult the situation continues to be even after ISIS was driven out of northern Iraq. Tombs and places of worship were desecrated and destroyed. Homes belonging to Christians were often marked in red paint with the letter “N” for “Nazarat” (which means Christian), and their property stolen when families fled their homes, walking for miles to reach Christian cities where they would be safe.

Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city and the capital of the province of Nineveh, experienced religious genocide that cries out for justice and for support from the international community and particularly from Christians. Standing in solidarity with Fr. Ajim and other students of our partner institution from countries under attack by anti-Christian forces is very important. They will be the strong leaders these countries desperately need to support their people and strengthen their faith.

The devastation in Iraq seems all the more tragic because Catholics in Iraq are considered to be one of the oldest Christian communities in the world with perhaps the most vital contribution to Christian history after Israel/Palestine. Our patriarch Abraham and the prophet Ezekiel were from southern Iraq. Jacob’s sons, the twelve tribes of Israel, were all born in Iraq. Shrines to many other biblical prophets and saints are located throughout Iraq.

Father Ajim, had to leave Mosul when ISIS invaded and took control, killing thousands. But God gave Fr. Ajim a mission: to take care of the orphans fleeing from destruction. Christian children poured into his orphanage in Alqosh from many cities taken by ISIS. One boy from Baghdad lost his parents because his father, a Christian store owner, sold alcohol, something worthy of death according to their Sunni neighbors. Christian, a 6-year-old boy, had seen so much destruction that he was petrified by the non-stop explosions and gunfire heard in downtown Mosul 20 kilometers away. The only way for Fr. Ajim to calm him down was to cradle him and remind him over and over of Jesus’ love.

One night, Fr. Ajim woke up all the children and told them they were going on a surprise vacation. In reality they had to leave right away because the ISIS fighters where only about an hour away from their position, though Fr. Ajim dared not tell the children. Fr. Ajim feared for the children’s lives if ISIS arrived at the orphanage and secretly fled with the children from Alqosh across the desert to the Christian city of Zahko close to the border of Turkey.

With the grace and protection of God they all arrived in Zahko safely and he began to work around the clock to find homes of Christian families for all the children. Once Fr. Ajim found homes, he turned his attention to their continued Christian education, a greater challenge than ever in this war-torn region of northern Iraq. Fr. Ajim realized he needed further education himself to carry on his task and headed to Rome. In 2017, Fr. Ajim arrived at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross to receive advanced formation, so that he can go back and rebuild the lives and faith that have been so terribly impacted by the war.

If we wish to help heal this world, we must support priests like Fr. Ajim, ready to teach, to show the love of Jesus of Nazareth, to bring the sacraments to heal this world, to sacrifice everything to help children have a fu­ture and to help them grow in the Christian Faith.

They cannot do this without you and me. Let’s show our Chris­tian brothers and sisters in the East that we won’t abandon them by clicking on the donate button at the top of the webpage.