In Baghdad’s ‘Camp Virgin Mary,’

[MariaChristi]

Father Luis Montes is glad and he has reason to be: “We have just consecrated a new chapel. It was high time that our refugees got their own small church. This gives them back a piece of the home they have lost. And the people can now go to Mass without risking their lives,” the Argentine missionary said.

For five years now, the missionary, a priest of the Institute of the Incarnate Word, has been living in Baghdad, one of the most dangerous places on earth. “There were 128 bomb attacks in Baghdad in October alone,” he told international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need, adding: “It’s hardly surprising that the people are afraid of leaving their homes to go to Mass.”

Father Montes is in charge of a camp housing 135 displaced Iraqi Christian families. He said: “Because of the danger it was important that the Church came to them in the camp.”

Most of the residents of the camp—which is named after the Virgin Mary—are Syriac Catholics. They fled northern Iraq when the city of Qaraqosh was overrun by ISIS in the late summer of 2014. The majority of these faithful are bent on leaving Iraq for the West. “None of them still harbor hope that they will be able to return to their hometowns. After all, there are no signs of liberation. And furthermore, the people have lost their faith in Iraq and in the Arab world in general,” Father Montes explained…

…Father Montes refers to the new chapel as “our little container church.” There will be a vigil liturgy according to the Syriac Catholic Church every Saturday night. “I only saw thankful faces at the consecration. It shows them that they have not been forgotten… And we are all one in the Mystical Body of Christ. What we do for each other becomes a blessing for all. The small church is helping the people here. The benefactors, however, and all believers are blessed by the suffering of these confessors of the Christian faith. They are the true treasure of the Church—one we have to take care of.” ( – full article HERE)

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

This article touched me because of: 1) The title of the article, “In Baghdad’s ‘Camp Virgin Mary,’ Displaced Iraqi Christians Get Their Own Chapel”. How truly Mary is our refuge in times of trouble! 2) The truth of God’s blessings coming to all in the Mystical Body of Christ through suffering united with the suffering of Christ. Mary certainly teaches all of us, as she stood beneath the Cross of Her Son, to unite all our sufferings with His, just as she did.

Our world is in such need of souls united with Jesus through Mary. The one sad note to me in the article was the quote, “None of them still harbor hope that they will be able to return to their hometowns. After all, there are no signs of liberation…” May God give the leaders of the world wisdom to help people truly. It seems to me we all need to be safeguarded in our homelands. May God give us all strength against His enemies who hate both Him and those Who love and follow His Son Jesus Christ.