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gilliam
Guest
This isn’t the 2nd act. They have been bombing Christian churches in Iraq for awhile now.
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A.Pelliccio
Guest
Yes, as said earlier, between the abduction of an Archbishop and the murder of a Christian family in Jersey City (the town on the border with mine), this is so much to swallow in one day.
I pray for the conversion of these demons. I also pray for the safe release of the Archbishop. But it’s about time we put up. The Holy See should start to make aggressive motions to convert the Middle East. And should grant Catholic soldiers the same blessing that they gave us during the crusades.
I pray for the conversion of these demons. I also pray for the safe release of the Archbishop. But it’s about time we put up. The Holy See should start to make aggressive motions to convert the Middle East. And should grant Catholic soldiers the same blessing that they gave us during the crusades.
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trevor
Guest
Whenever I see something like this kidnapping, I think of the wonderful gift it is to live in the U.S. Can you imagine what it must be like to be persecuted based on your religion? People like the Archbishop are wonderful people because of their conviction and strength of their faith in the face of peril. I do hope and pray that our Father will soften the hearts of the kidnappers and that they will release him unharmed.
God bless the Archbishop,
Trevor
God bless the Archbishop,
Trevor
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Kevin_Walker
Guest
Whatever you do, do not use the word ‘Crusade’ to a Moslem or you’ll be arrested for a hate crime.
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gilliam
Guest
Kevin Walker:
But they can use Jihad?
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EddieArent
Guest
They’ve bombed our churches there (as others have mentioned) at least on two differant days. So, it’s no surprise that they kidnapped the Archbishop. Maybe one of these days we will stop with the PC talk and see what is really going on. Pray for the Archbishop, our brothers in Iraq and elsewhere that are being persecuted for possesing the True Faith.
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AsStAnselmPrays
Guest
I meant within the past few days. Sorry for not specifying…my bad.
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Malachi4U
Guest
Please say a prayer to God for the safe return of our Archbishop. Also pray for the Saints to help us as well in our prayer chain.
Our Church has been under persecution from Satan and that will continue. The NAZI’s killed 3.5 million Catholics alone. The Tyburn Tree in England was also a place of Faith for many of our clergy who were put to death there.
Let us hope that His Church becomes stronger in Iraq. Lets also pray for the terrorists that they see the error of their way and that God has mercy upon them. It is rough to remind ourself at times like this but Jesus came to save us all, including those terrorists if they can just find Faith.
Our Church has been under persecution from Satan and that will continue. The NAZI’s killed 3.5 million Catholics alone. The Tyburn Tree in England was also a place of Faith for many of our clergy who were put to death there.
Let us hope that His Church becomes stronger in Iraq. Lets also pray for the terrorists that they see the error of their way and that God has mercy upon them. It is rough to remind ourself at times like this but Jesus came to save us all, including those terrorists if they can just find Faith.
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Franze
Guest
The last year, three pakistanis catholics laics were murdered by extremists muslims but there are allways good news, several year ago, two condemned to death penalty wanted to be catholics as the last desire in pakistan, there the baptism of desire are working, because other things are difficult, greetings
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Matt25
Guest
Iraqi Christians’ long history
** Christians have inhabited what is modern day Iraq for about 2,000 years, tracing their ancestry to ancient Mesopotamia and surrounding lands. ** Theirs is a long and complex history.
Under Saddam Hussein, in overwhelmingly Muslim Iraq, some Christians rose to the top, notably Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz, and the Baathist regime kept a lid on anti-Christian violence.
Mr Karim said they had not even sought political power in the post-Saddam Iraq, aware of their vulnerability in the country so dominated by Muslims.
In the wake of the 1991 Gulf War and the imposition of sanctions, many Iraqi Christians, who had lived in relative harmony with their Muslim neighbours for decades, left to join family in the West.
The secular government of Saddam Hussein largely suppressed anti-Christian attacks, but it also subjected some communities to its “relocation programmes”.
For Christians this was particularly marked in the oil-rich areas, where the authorities tried to create Arab majorities near the strategic oilfields.
Christians live in the capital, Baghdad, and are also concentrated in the northern cities of Kirkuk, Irbil and Mosul - once a major Mesopotamian trading hub known as Nineveh in the Bible.
Most Iraqi Christians are Chaldeans, Eastern-rite Catholics who are autonomous from Rome but who recognise the Pope’s authority.
When Iraq became independent in 1932, the Iraqi military carried out large-scale massacres of the Assyrians in retaliation for their collaboration with Britain, the former colonial power.
Other ancient Churches include Syrian Catholics, Armenian Orthodox and Armenian Catholic Christians, who fled from massacres in Turkey in the early 20th Century.
news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/3526386.stm
** Christians have inhabited what is modern day Iraq for about 2,000 years, tracing their ancestry to ancient Mesopotamia and surrounding lands. ** Theirs is a long and complex history.
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Before the Gulf War in 1991, they numbered about one million, but that figures is now put at about 800,000 and falling.
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Interior Ministry spokesman Sabah Karim, described Iraqi Christians as one of the country's most respected communities.
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In return, Christians have been allowed to practice freely and relatively unharassed.
The only source of friction has been over alcohol shops run by Christians.
Alcohol consumption is forbidden under Islam and in recent months several shops have been ransacked.
** Biblical city **The secular government of Saddam Hussein largely suppressed anti-Christian attacks, but it also subjected some communities to its “relocation programmes”.
For Christians this was particularly marked in the oil-rich areas, where the authorities tried to create Arab majorities near the strategic oilfields.
Christians live in the capital, Baghdad, and are also concentrated in the northern cities of Kirkuk, Irbil and Mosul - once a major Mesopotamian trading hub known as Nineveh in the Bible.
Most Iraqi Christians are Chaldeans, Eastern-rite Catholics who are autonomous from Rome but who recognise the Pope’s authority.
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Chaldeans are an ancient people, many of whom still speak Aramaic, the language of Jesus.
** Monasteries **
The other significant community are Assyrians, the descendants of the ancient empires of Assyria and Babylonia.
After their empires collapsed in the 6th and 7th Centuries BC, the Assyrians scattered across the Middle East.
They embraced Christianity in the 1st Century AD, with their Ancient Church of the East believed to be the oldest in Iraq.
Assyrians also belong to the Syrian Orthodox Church, the Chaldean Church, and various Protestant denominations.
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Their villages were destroyed, and churches and monasteries torn down.
In recent years, however, some places of worship were rebuilt.
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There are also small Greek Orthodox and Greek Catholic communities, as well as Anglicans and Evangelicals.
Story from BBC NEWS:
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Matt25
Guest
No it doesn’t
Yes it is
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Shoshana
Guest
I read a report on the Archbishop’s word on the Chistian life since Saddan’s death and everything was quite good. It certainly was not that bad before the capture of Saddam. The report was in the CATHOLIC WORLD REPORT…I decided not to type it because it was so long. But things have changed. I hope and pray that the Archbishop shall be returned safely. I hope and pray…and hope and pray…:crying: smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/17/17_1_10.gif
Blessings,
Shoshana
Blessings,
Shoshana
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abcdefg
Guest
Underhanded tactics like kidnapping revealed the wickedness of Jihadists and only make Catholic Church stronger in Iraq, what really hurt is secularism in France
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sweetchuck
Guest
I’ll agree with that. Such acts of violence have not historically won minds. The tactics in France were much more repressive and vicious in their sublety. They were exponentially evil in their seeming mediocrity in that it convinced many to condone evil. I’m sure many Catholic leaders would turn over their lives as the archbishop has likely done if they could bring about free expression of the faith again in France.
Says our Lord, “In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world.” (Jn. 16: 33b)
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Matt25
Guest
Why not?
news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/10/1023_031023_jihad.html
What Does “Jihad” Really Mean to Muslims?
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Brian Handwerk
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Updated October 24, 2003
"Jihad" is a loaded term—and a concept that illustrates a deep gulf of miscommunication between Islam and the West. There are those in each community who see jihad as a clash of civilizations—and act on those beliefs. But jihad literally means "exerted effort" to most Islamic scholars and Muslims, and represents a range of activities.
Maher Hathout, author of *Jihad vs. Terrorism*, believed there was a twofold need to set the record straight about jihad. "Number one was the discovery that everyone is defining us except us, everyone is explaining jihad except for Muslims," he said. "Second, I noticed that some Muslims needed to brush up, to review the issue on their own for clarity and understanding of their own religion. This is why I made the book very textual. I tried to use verses from the Koran, from the Prophet… It includes personal opinion of course, but the backbone is textual."“It’s a range of activities all based on the Arabic meaning of the word ‘exerted effort.’ In the Koran it’s projected as exerting effort to change oneself, and also in certain situations physically standing against oppressors if that’s the only way.”
Which Jihad?
The concept of jihad as a struggle for self-improvement is little known among non-believers. Yet Noha Aboulmagd-Forster, who teaches Arabic at the University of Chicago’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies, stresses that it may be the most common interpretation of the term.
“Something widely quoted by the Muslim ‘man on the street’ is that the most difficult jihad is the one of the soul,” she said. “The biggest trouble is not with your enemy but with yourself.”
While inner struggle is one meaning of jihad, many others evidently use it to describe engagement with external enemies. It is there that the concept encounters the notions of other faiths.
“Religiously, jihad is the expending of utmost effort in upholding and defending justice,” said Sheikh Jaafar Idris, of the Saudi Arabian Embassy. Idris explained that he recognizes two kinds of jihad because there are two kinds of violations of justice: jihad with words against false beliefs, and jihad with the sword against acts of injustice. “The first is the basic and continuous jihad,” Idris said. “It was mentioned in the Qur’an very early in the history of Islam and at a time when Muslims were weak and even persecuted. God said to His Prophet, ‘Do not obey the kafireen (those who reject the truth) but wage jihad with it (the Qur’an) against them. [25:52]’”
Jihad of the Sword
But it is the jihad of the sword that has received the lion’s share of global attention. The concept began when early Muslims were driven from their land by enemies, said Idris, and were first given permission and later ordered by God to fight those enemies. They were not, Idris stresses, given permission to fight non-believers or those who rejected the faith—only those who transgressed against them. Idris references the following verses: “God does not forbid you, regarding those (non-Muslims) who did not fight you because of your religion, and who did not drive you out of your land, that you be good to them and treat them justly. Allah only forbids you regarding those who fought you because of your religion and drove you out of your homes, and came to the help of those who drove you out, that you should befriend them. Any of you who befriend them (and be their allies) are transgressors. [60:8-9]” But even this kind of military jihad is not necessarily a clash of religions. It can also be waged against transgressors who are themselves Muslim.
Hathout adds: “It is quite clear that if there is any other option to resolve an issue without violence it is preferred no matter what.”
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Fitz
Guest
I heard on the morning news that the archbishop has been released. Waiting to hear more. Prayers answered.
Archbishop Kidnapped in Iraq Is Freed http://www.comcast.net/images/pixelclear.gif document.write(getElapsed(“20050118T104704Z”)); 3 hours agohttp://www.comcast.net/images/pixelclear.gifhttp://www.comcast.net/images/pixelclear.gifMOSUL, Iraq - A Catholic archbishop kidnapped in northern Iraq was freed Tuesday, a day after his abduction, a church official said.
Archbishop Basile Georges Casmoussa of the Syrian Catholic Church was kidnapped by gunmen in the city of Mosul on Monday.
“He has been freed and he is on his way home without paying any ransom,” said Potris Moshi, an assistant to the church leader.
Earlier Tuesday, Catholic news agency MISNA reported that his captors had demanded a $200,000 ransom for the release of the 66-year-old archbishop.
Christians make up just 3 percent of Iraq’s 26 million people. The major Christian groups include Chaldean-Assyrians and Armenians with small numbers of Roman Catholics.
http://www.comcast.net/images/pixelclear.gifCopyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Archbishop Kidnapped in Iraq Is Freed http://www.comcast.net/images/pixelclear.gif document.write(getElapsed(“20050118T104704Z”)); 3 hours agohttp://www.comcast.net/images/pixelclear.gifhttp://www.comcast.net/images/pixelclear.gifMOSUL, Iraq - A Catholic archbishop kidnapped in northern Iraq was freed Tuesday, a day after his abduction, a church official said.
Archbishop Basile Georges Casmoussa of the Syrian Catholic Church was kidnapped by gunmen in the city of Mosul on Monday.
“He has been freed and he is on his way home without paying any ransom,” said Potris Moshi, an assistant to the church leader.
Earlier Tuesday, Catholic news agency MISNA reported that his captors had demanded a $200,000 ransom for the release of the 66-year-old archbishop.
Christians make up just 3 percent of Iraq’s 26 million people. The major Christian groups include Chaldean-Assyrians and Armenians with small numbers of Roman Catholics.
http://www.comcast.net/images/pixelclear.gifCopyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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sweetchuck
Guest
WOW!!! Thanks be to :bowdown: God!!!
Perhaps the terrorists’ leaders realized that they were asking for another holy war. I hope the archbishop embodied Christ to his captors so that they feel called to be converted.
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AsStAnselmPrays
Guest
Thank God! He was returned. Today in chapel, at the beginning of school, I prayed for his return, not knowing that he was released. Thank God that these BEASTS released the Archbishop.
My next prayer is that this event will help the Catholic faith in the Middle East, not hurt it.
My next prayer is that this event will help the Catholic faith in the Middle East, not hurt it.
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sweetchuck
Guest
He must surely have God’s favor. How many captives are released?
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