These days mark the 10th anniversary of the forcible displacement of Christians from Mosul and the rest of the Nineveh Plain in Iraq. It was in the first place an internal displacement to Erbil and the rest of Kurdistan, and then to neighboring countries, especially to beloved Jordan and brotherly Lebanon. These are the two countries that had received the forcibly displaced from Syria years earlier.
The investiture of Fr. Manuel Bader as a knight of the Holy Sepulcher has marked a day like no other day, as it sets off public jubilation among the Christian community in Amman and in Jordan at large.
On Thursday, August 8, 2024, Bishop William Shomali, Latin Patriarchal Vicar General, celebrated a ceremonial Mass at the Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Tla' Al-Ali for the investiture of Fr. Manuel Bader as a knight of the Holy Sepulcher.
Since the outbreak of civil war in 1975, Lebanon, a small Middle Eastern country, has not known peace or stability. The population, including Christians, have resisted and continue to resist. But since October 7 and the beginning of the war on Gaza and Israel, given the conflict with Hezbollah, which hold the country's fate in their hands and rule on war and peace, the situation has become hellish, not only in the south, near the Israeli border, but throughout Lebanon, with an economic and political paralysis that risks endangering the Nation's very identity.
Starvation has all the times been the scourge that afflicts nations in this world, while efforts to overcome this chronic problem have all the times been short of providing a viable panacea.
Apart from blaming climate change that adversely affects food production, one of the major and most outstanding cause of starvation is the incessant propagation of wars, or rather destructive wars that eliminate all sources of life.
I have always wanted to serve God —and I still do. As a child, I believed that the only way to fulfill this mission was by becoming a nun. I thought this was the sole path to helping others, bringing joy, and healing souls. This notion stemmed from my deep admiration for my teachers, most of whom were nuns. However, being Orthodox changed that plan.
On its 12th anniversary in Jordan, the Catholic Center for Studies and Media, in cooperation with SGP-Holland, has chosen an eye-catching title for its conference this year namely, "Artificial Intelligence for Peace and Human Dignity".
Ten years ago, in the days following August 6-7, 2014, the city of Erbil in northern Iraq became one of the largest concentrations of internally displaced people on Earth. Driven eastward across the Nineveh Plain by ISIS terror, nearly one million Iraqis of all faiths found themselves fleeing for their lives through the blazing heat of the Iraqi summer.
Included among the violently displaced that summer were nearly 150,000 Iraqi Christians from some of the world’s most ancient Christian communities. Many of them ended up in the diocese where I am pastor.
The Catholic Church has all the time been conducting numerous services worldwide through its various charity organizations that disseminate a message of love, peace, and harmony.
From India, it was announced that Umm El-Jimal was added on the UNESCO World Heritage List. This is not something strange with relevance to the history of Umm El-Jimal, as it was a major center for the resting of caravans, hence the name "Umm El-Jimal" refers to those coming from the East to the Levant and the West, passing through the city of Petra, as many caravans were coming from India, the country from where this announcement was made days ago.
Among the great measures undertaken by the Catholic Church towards the oppressed and suffering people was the establishment of the Pontifical Mission in Palestine.
After UN General Assembly’s adoption of a plan for the partition of Palestine on 29 November 1947, renewed hostilities began between Arabs and Jews which brought affliction and anxiety to the heart of the Holy Father, Pope Pius XII. He asked for supplications “that the situation in Palestine may at long last be settled justly and thereby concord and peace be also happily established.”
