Bejn it-13 u l-20 ta’ Lulju 2015 kien hawn Għawdex Patri Rebwar Basa, Monaku Kaldew mill-Iraq, mistieden mill-Bażilika ta’ San Ġorġ fil-Belt Victoria biex jaqsam mal-Insara lokali l-esperjenza tal-komunità Nisranija f’Mosul imġarrba mill-persekuzzjonijiet vjolenti tal-Istat Islamiku.  Xi xhur ilu, il-monasteru u l-knisja ta’ San Ġorġ f’Nineveh, Mosul ġiet meqruda mit-terroristi.

Nhar l-Erbgħa 15 ta’ Lulju, Patri Rebwar ta konferenza fl-Awla Mons. Giuseppe Farrugia tal-Bażilika ta’ San Ġorġ fejn spjega s-sitwazzjoni tal-Knisja fl-Iraq, li hu sejħilha “Knisja tal-martri”.  Hu rrakkonta kif ħafna minn sħabu, is-saċerdot li għammdu u l-Isqof li għallmu l-katekiżmu, inqatlu kważi taħt għajnejh, u kif f’ħajtu sa issa lil pajjiżu jafu biss fi stat ta’ gwerra.

Patri Rebwar qasam ukoll riflessjoni sabiħa mal-miġemgħa li attendiet għall-Pontifikal tal-Festa ta’ San Ġorġ, Patrun ta’ Għawdex, nhar il-Ħadd li għadda, fil-Bażilika tiegħu fil-Belt Victoria.  Quddiem ġemgħa kbira ta’ nies, fosthom il-Ministru għal Għawdex Dr Anton Refalo u membri oħra parlamentari, fl-aħħar tal-Quddiesa hu ġie mistieden mill-Isqof ta’ Għawdex Mario Grech jagħti x-xhieda tiegħu tal-Knisja ppersegwitata fl-“art ta’ Abraham u l-profeti”.

F’sejħa mqanqla lill-Knisja lokali biex titlob għall-Insara tal-Iraq “ħalli jagħtu xhieda ta’ Ġesù bil-kliem, bl-għemil u bid-demm tagħhom stess”, Patri Rebwar qal li l-festa ta’ San Ġorġ, qaddis tant għażiż għalihom, mhix biss xi tradizzjoni antika, imma hi wkoll “il-festa tal-martri kollha ta’ żmienna”.

SAINT GEORGE UNITES
THE PERSECUTED CHURCH IN IRAQ
WITH THE DIOCESE OF GOZO

Message by Fr Rebwar Basa OAOC,
a Chaldean Monk from Iraq,
at the Pontifical High Mass on St George’s Titular Feast,
St George’s Basilica, Victoria, Gozo,
Sunday 19 July 2015

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Your Lordship Bishop Mario, Monsignors, Canons, priests, deacons, religious; dear brothers and sisters in Christ.

First of all, I express my gratitude to God for giving me the grace of being here with you. It is really a grace to be with you here in Gozo, which is a piece of paradise on earth. I also thank you for your hospitality, solidarity and prayers. Thank you for the solidarity with the persecuted Christians around the world and especially with those of the Middle East.

In the magnificent liturgical celebrations of the Feast of St George, we prayed several times the Psalm 118 in which the Psalmist describes how his enemies attack him, saying: “They surrounded me, surrounded me on every side… They surrounded me like bees…” (Ps 118:11-12). This is exactly how the enemies in Iraq, Syria and many other countries around the world are attacking Christians, thinking that in this way they can separate us from the love of Christ. But St Paul says in a passage from the Letter to the Romans, which we also read several times in Vespers of these days: “Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?…”; and his answer is that nothing “…will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rm 8:35-39). Actually, Love is the strongest power, because God himself is love. Therefore, the effect of persecution is the opposite; I mean, it increases our faith in Jesus and our love for him.

The Book of Ecclesiastes says: there is “a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace” (Eccl 3:8). But as an Iraqi priest, I always ask myself: when will the time of hate and war finish and a time of love and peace begin in my country?  In my whole, I have seen Iraq in a state of war. Actually, I was born in 1978 and in that period there was conflict between the regime of Saddam Hussein and the Kurds; then from 1980 till 1988 there was war between Iraq and Iran; then the Gulf War in 1990-1991; and the embargo. After that, we had the invasion and the occupation of Iraq by the USA and the coalition forces in 2003. Then, the war of Al-Qaida and ISIS has begun, and it is still going on very furiously and with a very big amount of victims every single day.

Talking about myself, the consequences of these wars have been dreadful for me. I lost many relatives, friends and people whom I know and love. Many monuments and archaeological sites which I love in my country, were destroyed. As Iraqi Christians, many of our churches and monasteries were attacked, destroyed, profaned or transformed into mosques. Among these is also our great and ancient monastery of St George in the city of Mosul, where I lived for nine years and where I was ordained priest. Some people were even buried alive and more that 5,000 women and girls were captured as slaves and are being abused and sold in markets.

The priest who baptized me – Fr Yohanna Sher – was killed on Good Friday. The Bishop of Mosul, Mgr Paulos Faraj Rahho, who taught me catechism when he was priest, was kidnapped and killed. Fr Rageed Ganni, who taught me at the Faulty of Philosophy and Theology in Baghdad, was killed with three young sub-deacons after having celebrated the Sunday Holy Mass. Fr Thair and Fr Wasim, who were my colleagues at the Faculty of Philosophy and Theology in Baghdad, were killed during the celebration of the Sunday Holy Mass with more than fifty other Christians who were attending. Many priests and Christians were kidnapped, tortured and in some cases killed, although their families paid a big amount of money as ransom. Last year, more than 120,000 Iraqi Christians were obliged to convert to Islam or to leave the city of Mosul and the plain of Nineveh within forty eight hours, otherwise they would be killed. Therefore all of them preferred to leave everything behind and keep only their love for Jesus and their faith in him.

My dear brothers and sisters, my beloved country, the ancient Mesopotamia, where the first writing was invented and the first law was written, is bleeding. The earth of Abraham and the prophets, the land where St Thomas the Apostle preached, is devastated. Let the modern history of Iraq be a lesson for the entire world that hate and war are not the solution. The salvation of the world is in love. Please, pray for justice and peace in Iraq. Please, pray for the Iraqi Christians to be witness for the love of Jesus by words, deeds and blood.

The Feast of St George is not just an ancient tradition. It is also the feast of all modern martyrs. St George is Prince of Martyrs, and in celebrating his feast, we celebrate the victory of all martyrs, who, imitating Our Lord Jesus Christ, sacrificed their life for the Church. Let us follow their examples by overcoming war by peace, evil by good and hate by love. Amen.

Ritratti: Bażilika San Ġorġ