Genocide of the Assyrian Chaldees:
a warning from the
Chaldean Catholic Archeparch and Archbishop of Mosul...
"I have lost my
Diocese to Islam - you in the West will also become the victims of
Muslims..."
Armenian Orthodox church
in Raqqa, Syria, now an office for the so-called "Islamic State"
"Our sufferings
today are the prelude of those you, Europeans and Western Christians, will also
suffer in the near future. I lost my diocese. The physical setting of my
apostolate has been occupied by Islamic radicals who want us converted or dead.
But my community is still alive.
Please, try to understand us. Your liberal and
democratic principles are worth nothing here. You must consider again our
reality in the Middle East, because you are welcoming in your countries an ever
growing number of Muslims. Also you are in danger. You must take strong and
courageous decisions, even at the cost of contradicting your principles. You
think all men are equal, but that is not true: Islam does not say that all men
are equal. Your values are not their values. If you do not understand this soon
enough, you will become the victims of the enemy you have welcomed in your
home."
From the Italian daily Corriere della Sera, 9 August 2014
Archbishop Amel Nona Chaldean
Catholic Archeparch of Mosul, now exiled in Erbil
Here is a partial
translation of the article by Italian journalist Lorenzo Cremonesi, in Erbil:
"9 August 2014. The young
ask for guns. The elderly approve. 'Our sufferings today are the prelude
of those you, Europeans and Western Christians, will also suffer in the near future', says Amel Nona, 47, Chaldean Archbishop of Mosul exiled in Erbil. The message
is unequivocal: the only way to end the Christian exodus from the places that
witnessed its origins in the pre-Islamic age is to respond to violence with
violence, to force with force. Nona is a wounded, pain-stricken man, but not
resigned. 'I lost my diocese. The physical setting of my apostolate has
been occupied by Islamic radicals who want us converted or dead. But my
community is still alive'. He is very glad to meet Western media.
'Please, try to understand us', he exclaims. 'Your liberal and
democratic principles are worth nothing here. You must consider again our
reality in the Middle East, because you are welcoming in your countries an ever
growing number of Muslims. Also you are in danger. You must take strong and
courageous decisions, even at the cost of contradicting your principles. You
think all men are equal', Archbishop Amel Nona continues, 'but that
is not true: Islam does not say that all men are equal. Your values are not
their values. If you do not understand this soon enough, you will become the
victims of the enemy you have welcomed in your home'."
Courtesy of post on 17
August 2014 at Rorate Caeli quoting the
article
The Chaldean Catholic Archeparchy of Mosul (Latin: Archieparchia Mausiliensis Chaldaeorum) is an Eastern sui juris (autonomous) particular church of the Catholic Church, located in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.
Mosul (Arabic: الموصل al-Mawṣil; North Mesopotamian Arabic: el-Mōṣul; Syriac: ܢܝܢܘܐ Nînwe; Kurdish: Mûsil/Nînewe; Turkmen: Musul) is a city in northern Iraq and the capital of the Nineveh Province, some 400 km (250 mi) northwest of Baghdad.
The original city stands on the west bank of the Tigris River, opposite the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh on the east bank, but the metropolitan area has now grown to encompass substantial areas on both banks. It is Iraq's second largest city after Baghdad.
The city of Mosul is home to the University of Mosul, one of the largest educational and research centers in Iraq and the Middle East.
The city is not only an historic centre for Chaldean Catholic Christianity but also the Nestorian Christianity of the Assyrians and it famously is home to the tombs of several Old Testament prophets including the Prophet Jonas (Yunus or Younis in Muslim Arabic and Yunan in Christian Arabic).
An eastern icon depicting Jonas emerging from the belly of the whale.
His tomb is in Nineveh, now part of the city of Mosul.
The name of the city is first mentioned by Xenophon in 401 BC in his expeditionary logs. There, he notes a small town of "Mépsila" (Ancient Greek: Μέψιλα) on the Tigris at about where modern Mosul is today (Anabasis, III.iv.10). Nineveh gave its name to Mepsila after its violent fall to the Babylonians, Medes and Scythians in 612 BC.
Mosul should not be confused with the ancient Assyrian capital of Nineveh which is located across the Tigris from Mosul on the eastern banks, at the famed archaeological mound of Kuyunjik (Turkoman for "sheep's hill").
This area is better known today as the town of Nebi Yunus ("prophet Jonah"). The site contains the tomb of the Biblical Jonah as he lived and died in Nineveh, then the capital of ancient Assyria.
Today, this entire area has been absorbed into Mosul metropolitan area. The surviving Assyrians, refer to entire city of Mosul as Nineveh (or rather, Ninweh).
The Chaldean Catholics are ethnic Assyrians and speakers of Aramaic, the colloquial form of Hebrew spoken by our Lord Himself.
They have been Christians since being converted by the preaching of St Thomas the Apostle.
The Christian Assyrians and Chaldeans have lived in Nineveh for more than 600 years before Islam even began and now Islamic terrorists and fanatics are trying to erase them from their own ancient homeland.
Under Arab nationalists like Saddam Hussein they had been protected but, since the Americans and the British invaded, destroyed and then shamefully departed, leaving chaos behind, these gentle Christian people have been subjected to relentless persecution and a campaign that can only be described as a campaign of genocide.
And what is the West doing about it? Very little! So much for Western compassion, humanity and alleged concern for human rights, democracy and international justice!
The beautiful liturgy of the Chaldeans is also in the language of Jesus Christ, Aramaic, since their conversion by St Thomas the Apostle, just as is the liturgy of other Syrian-rite Catholics, particularly the "St Thomas Christians" of the Syro-Malabar and Syro-Malankar rites in India.
The Archeparchal Diocese comprises the city of Mosul. The territory is subdivided in 12 parishes. The Diocese of Mosul was elevated to be the Archeparchy of Mosul on 14 February 1967 by Pope Paul VI.
The ordinary was Mar Paulos Faraj Rahho until his death in early 2008. "Mar" means "Lord" and is the title of bishops in the Oriental churches.
He was succeeded in November 2009 by Archbishop-elect Emil Shimoun Nona, who until his election and ratification had been a professor of anthropology at Babel College and a pastor and vicar general in the eparchy of Alqosh.
As of 2012 the Papal Nuncio was Archbishop Francis Assisi Chullikatt, whose Apostolic Nunciature is the entire state of Iraq.
Mosul has been the See of the Patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church from Mar Yohannan Hormizd (1778-1818) to Mar Yousef VI Emmanuel II Thomas (1900-1947).
The churches under the jurisdiction of the Archeparchy of Mosul are:
St Miskenta the Martyr - Al Mayasa
St Isiah - Ras Al Koor
St Paul - Hai Al-Majmou'a
Our Mother of Perpetual Help - Dawasa
St Joseph - Al-Mayda
Church of the Virgin Mary - Al-Dargazliya
St Ephrem - Mousal Al-Jadida
Sacred Heart - Tel Keppe
St Addai - Karamles
The Archeparchy is led by the prelature of an archbishop, concurrently the pastor of St Paul's Cathedral.
In 2004, there were 10 diocesan priests, 4 religious priest, 1 permanent Deacon, 4 male religious and a total of 10 parishes.
There were a total of only 20,600 Catholics remaining in the Archeparchy but the numbers are declining rapidly due to persecution.
The Cathedral was the target of a bombing on 7 December 2004, leaving the building badly damaged.
The Archeparch's residence was a modern two story building that housed the archbishopric, which was 10 km away from the cathedral.
The Archbishopric was built and inaugurated in 1995 by the late Mar George Garmo. It was destroyed on 12 August 1995 by five attackers who ransacked the building after forcing everyone to leave and loading the building with dynamite.
Late on 29 February 2008, according to a report given by the Catholic News Service, Archbishop Rahho was kidnapped from his car and his bodyguards and driver were killed.
On 13 March 2008, it was reported that the Archbishop's body had been found buried near Mosul.
Archbishop Mar Paulos Faraj Rahho (Arabic: بولس فرج رحو, Būlus Farağ Raḥū; Syriac: ܦܘܠܘܣ ܦ̮ܪܔ ܪܚܘ, Paulōs Farağ Raḥō; 20 November 1942-February or March 2008) was the Chaldean Catholic Archeparch of Mosul.
Archeparch and Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho, former Archbishop of Mosul, martyred by Muslim fanatics, meets Pope Benedict XVI together with His Eminence and Beatitude Cardinal Patriarch Mar Emmanuel III Delly, former Patriarch of Babylon
Also known as Paul Faraj Rahho and Paulos Faradsch Raho, he was an ethnic Assyrian, born in Mosul, where he lived almost his entire life.
Paulos Faraj Rahho was born to an Assyrian Catholic family in 1942. He spent nearly all his life in Mosul, a city with one of the largest and oldest Christian populations in Iraq. In 1954, he entered the St. Peter's junior and major seminary in Baghdad in order to become a priest. After his ordination on 10 June 1965 he briefly worked in Baghdad before being appointed to St Isiah's Church in Mosul.
Between 1974 and 1976, Rahho completed his religious studies with a Licentiate in Theology from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, the Angelicum in Rome.
Rahho later founded the church of the Sacred Heart in Tel Keppe, a town some 12 miles (20 km) north of Mosul. He also opened an orphanage for handicapped children.
On 12 January 2001, the Synod of Bishops of the Chaldean Catholic Church elected him Archbishop of the Archeparchy of Mosul.
His Beatitude Mar Raphael I Bidawid, former Patriarch of Babylon, and former Head of the Chaldean rite Catholic Church
On 16 February 2001, he was ordained Chaldean Archbishop of Mosul, giving him responsibility for around 20,000 Catholics in ten parishes. He was ordained by the spiritual head of the Chaldean rite Catholic Church, His Beatitude Mar Raphael I Bidawid, the Patriarch of Babylon. His church is known in Mosul as Safina (The Ship), but parishioners called it the Holy Spirit Church.
Archeparch Rahho expressed disquiet at the moves to incorporate Islamic Sharia law more fundamentally into the Iraqi constitution, and has continued throughout his life to be the spiritual leader of Chaldean rite Catholics in extremely difficult situations, often of persecution.
During his 2007 trip to Rome, with the then Patriarch of Babylon, His Beatitude Mar Emmanuel III Delly, who was then also appointed a cardinal, Archeparch Rahho confided that he had been threatened by gunmen in his native town.
His Eminence and Beatitude Cardinal Mar Emmanuel III Delly, former Patriarch of Babylon,
and Head of the Chaldean rite Catholic Church
Following the start of the Iraq war, persecution of Christians in Iraq increased dramatically. Archeparch Rahho commented on the precarious situation of Chaldean Christians in an interview with Asia News shortly before his kidnapping.
Late on 29 February 2008, according to a report by the Catholic News Service, Archeparch Rahho was kidnapped from his car in the Al-Nur district of the city and his bodyguards and driver were killed.
According to church officials, "gunmen sprayed the Archbishop's car with bullets, killed two bodyguards and shoved the bishop into the trunk of a car. In the darkness, he managed to pull out his cellphone and call the church, telling officials not to pay a ransom for his release, they said. Church officials added "he believed that this money would not be paid for good works and would be used for killing and more evil actions".
Other reports stated that investigators believed the Archeparch may have been shot at the time of the kidnapping.
The kidnappers demanded Christians contribute to jihad, through jizya, a ransom-like tax. The captors also demanded the release of Arab (non-Iraqi) detainees and that they be paid $3 million for Archeparch Rahho's release. The kidnappers also demanded that Iraqi Christians form a militia to fight the US forces.
On 13 March 2008, it was reported that the Archbishop's body had been found buried in a shallow grave near Mosul.
Officials of the Chaldean Church in Iraq said they had received a call telling them where the body was buried.
Dair Mar Elia (Syriac: ܕܝܪܐ ܕܡܪܝ ܐܝܠܝܐ, Arabic: دير مار إيليا) (the monastery of Lord Elijah), Saint Elijah's Monastery, in the Governate of Nineveh, near Mosul, is an abandoned Christian monastery, the oldest in Iraq, dating from the 6th century. The monastery was founded around 595 AD by Mar Elia, an Assyrian monk. It was later claimed by the Chaldean Catholics. For centuries thousands of Christians would visit the monastery to observe the Mar Elia Holiday, on the last Wednesday of November. In 1743, the Persian leader Tahmaz Nadir Shah ordered its destruction.
Khasro Goran, the Deputy Governor of the district of Nineveh, the ancient biblical town and a centre of Chaldean Christianity, stated that when relatives and authorities went to the location specified by the kidnappers and found the body, it had "gunshot wounds".
Some Assyrians within the community believe Al-Qaida and other Sunni Arab factions were behind the murder.
Archeparch Paulos Faraj Rahho is believed to be the highest-ranking Chaldean Catholic clergyman to have been killed in the Iraq war. The funeral services were held in the town of Karamlesh, with Chaldean Catholic Patriarch of Babylon, Cardinal Mar Emmanuel III Delly present in choir.
One of the Archbishop's killers, named Ahmed Ali Ahmed, was found and arrested. Ahmed was an Iraqi Al-Qaida cell leader in Mosul.
On 19 May 2008, the Iraqi Central Criminal Court sentenced Ahmed to death. However, high representatives of the Chaldean Catholic Church opposed the death sentence.
In his will, Archeparch Rahho called upon the Iraqi Assyrian Christian community to work with Muslim and Yazidi Iraqis to develop ties across religious divisions within Iraq.
His call has been heeded by Chaldean Catholics but not by the Muslim fanatics of the so-called "Islamic State" faction who, as everyone now knows, have been mass-murdering Christians and Yazidis in Iraq and look set to cause more death, murder and chaos across Iraq.
Shamefully, Western leaders are doing very little to protect the innocent from murderous attack and the shockingly pathetic response of President Barack Obama shows the extent to which the secularist West is willing to turn a blind eye to the persecution of Christians and religious minorities whilst being content to invade other countries when its suits the financial and power-mongering desires of corrupt and self-serving Western leaders.
Let us pray for Archeparch Amel Nona, the Chaldean Catholic Archbishop of Mosul - may he and his valiant flock be ever protected from evil!
~~~ " ~~~
"But he answered and said unto them, an evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas:
For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here."
—Gospel of St Matthew, chapter 12, verses 39–41
Coptic icon of the Holy Prophet Jonah emerging disgorged from the whale
صورة في موقع الأنبا تكلا: أيقونة قبطية تمثل الحوت يبتلع يونان
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