Humanitarians bringing food to migrants - a team effort

This article should receive international acclaim because people must know that we all can do our part to help the innocent immigrants and migrants who are being caged in concentration camps at the US and Mexico border. We can do something and the Knights of Columbus have stepped up.

Published in The Knights of Columbus Magazine "Columbia" by Daniel Cavazos

Louder than words: Knights bring food, clothing, medicine and a Posada celebration - to desperate migrants on the border.

It's hardly ironic that the Posada celebration is about the Biblical migration of Mary and Joseph, from Nazareth to Bethlehem. 

Las Posadas, (Spanish: “The Inns”) religious festival celebrated in Mexico and some parts of the United States between December 16 and 24. Las Posadas commemorates the journey that Joseph and Mary made from Nazareth to Bethlehem in search of a safe refuge where Mary could give birth to the baby Jesus.

Servando Salinas Rios and a dozen other Knights hoisted the last boxes of food and supplies over their shoulders and carried them to the nearby Casa del Migrante, a migrant shelter in Matamoros, Mexico.

"Helping people who don't have anything to eat, or a place to live, fills me with a lot of joy," said Salinas Rios, 23, a member of the Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe Council 16378, in Matamoros, just across the border from Brownsville, Texas.

Inside the shelter, young mothers holding toddlers balanced music sheets with their free hands to sing during a Posada celebration, hosted by the Knights.

Among those participating in the December 13, event were Bishop Daniel Flores, of Brownsville, who had earlier blessed the truckload of supplies, and Bishop Eugenio Lira of Matamoros.  Bishop Flores noted that Las Posada, an Advent tradition reenacting Mary and Joseph's search for shelter before the birth of Jesus, can be viewed as a reflection of the whole immigrant experience.

"At times, the world closes its eyes and does not want to recognize the difficulties of human existence," Bishop Flores said. "I'd like to thank the Knights for raising awareness and reaching out to people who are on the peripheries."

Matamoros an the event there, was part of the Order's initiative, announced at the Supreme Convention last August, to provide vital humanitarian assistance to migrant families in cooperation with dioceses and councils near the U.S. Mexico border.  Knights in Texas and Mexico have similarly distributed in the Piedras Negras and Ciudad Juarez, where Central American immigrants seeking asylum await lawful entry in the United States.

A Team Effort

This Knights of Columbus border initiative began in El Paso, Texas.  Knights there, in conjunction with local parishes, had spent $54,000 by mid-2019, to purchase food, prepare cooked meals and rent showers for migrants across the border in Ciudad Juarez.

Border towns like Juarez have struggled to accommodate the growing number of men, women and children waiting to be considered for asylum in the United States.

"Parishes and councils were simply running out of money," said Supreme Director Terry Simonton, a past state deputy of Texas.

Simonton approached the Supreme Council for help and his request led to the initiative announced by Supreme Knight Carl Anderson at the Supreme Convention in Minneapolis.

In his annual report, the supeme knight stated, "This is not a political statement....This is about helping people who need our help right now."

In fact, the Knights of Columbus has since delivered more than $270,000 in aid to help meet the humanitarian needs at the border. With each delivery, Texas Knights have been welcomed and assisted by their Mexican brothers.

I can't say enough about our brother Knights from Mexico and the United States, working together to help make the migrants lives a little better," Simonton said.  "The bonds that our brother Knights made at these distributions will never be forgotten."

Armando Gonzalez, a member of the Sacred Heart of Jesus/San Felipe Neri Council 11980 in Hidalgo, Texas, and a former district deputy, said it was gratifying to help those in need who are so close to home.  

"We have helped people in many parts of the world," he said.  "Today, we are helping our Hispanic brothers who find themselves here in Mexico."

The migrants need more than food and shelter, said Servando. Salina Rios, who also helped with the delivery.

"We should support people in need with food and bread," he said, "but more importantly, with love and an embrace- taking the time to meet them and talk to them and listen to what they have to say."

"We are here to give this testimony, that you are to be treated as a person, not a problem, a number, a statistic, that does not have an identity."  Bishop Flores said, "You have an identity that God has given to you as sons and daughters of God."

Joy and Sorrow

Fraternity and love of neighbor were especially evident during the shared Posada celebration, which was followed by a hearty lunch and festivities for the children.  Excited boys and girls swung sticks at pinatas and then scurried to scoop up the candies that had fallen to the floor.

Yet, the joy and fellowship felt at the event were interspersed with painful reminders of what drove the migrants on long journeys from their homelands. Edwin Reyes, a young Nicaraguan barely past his teenage years, spoke emotionally about fleeing the political repression in his country.

"I am one of the people who defends our country, civically and democratically, and yet the government has tried to kill us," he said. "Like many who are here, I am asking for an opportunity, because we fear losing our lives."

Another migrant, Wendy Concepcion Castro Cruz of Honduras, spoke about being separated from her husband and son shile staying at the shelter with her daughter. Her husband and son are awaiting initial asylum hearings in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas.

"It is difficult being apart," said Castro Cruz, who worked daily at the shelter kitchen in Matamoros to show her gratitude.  "We hope to be back together someday and make it to the United States to work hard, do our part and provide for our children."

Moreover, the Knights witnessed the character and resiliency of the migrants, along with their gratitude for the distributon of food, shoes, medicine and hygiene items.

"AT every distribution, the people were so appreciative," Simonton said. "There is no doubt that these events have changed the lives of the migrants for the better. It has also changed the lives of the Knights who have participated."

Bishop Eugenio Lira of Matamoros connected the distribution of aid to the golden rule taught by Jesus, about treating others as we would want to be treated.

"This is what the Caballeros are doing, in expressing love and solidarity, with migrants who are going through very difficult circumstances," Bishop Lira said.  "The testimony of what's actually done is stronger than words."

For Simonton, the response from the migrants says it all.  

"The smiles on their faces and from the children and their parents are priceless," he said.  "I'm so proud of what the Knights have done." 

Centennial Mass - tribute to sacrifice ending World War One

Ceremonies on the Eleventh Hour of the Eleventh Day of the Eleventh Month- Mass in Washington DC reported in the Columbia Magazine, a Knights of Columbus publication.

Appealing for Peace:

Saint John Paul II National Shrine in Washington DC hosted an event co-sponsored by the Knights and the Archdiocese for the Military Services USA to mark 100th anniversary of end of WWI.

On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, the carnage that characterized World War I came to an end in 1918. A Mass, co-sponsored by the Knights of Columbus and the Archdiocese for the Military Services (AMS), USA, was held on Veterans Day at that same time to observe the conclusion of the “War to End All Wars.”

Baltimore Archbishop William E. Lori, the K of C’s supreme chaplain, was the main celebrant, and Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the AMS preached the homily.

“We have gathered not to assign blame, look at causes or rejoice in victory,” said Archbishop Broglio in his homily. “We gather to give thanks to those who sacrificed themselves. We also assemble to beg God for lasting peace. The soldiers we honor today risked their lives for a greater value: to end a senseless war.”

Prior to the Mass, a special ceremony featured a color guard composed of each branch of the U.S. military presenting the U.S. flag as well as the individual flags of the armed forces. There was also a wreath-laying in memory of those who served in the conflict.

In addition, there were readings from noted Catholic poet Joyce Kilmer, a soldier of WWI and Knight of Columbus who was killed in the conflict, and excerpts presented from Pope Benedict XV's 1914 encyclical, Ad Beatissimi Apostolorum (Appealing for Peace).

At an event following the Mass, Supreme Knight Carl Anderson spoke of the Knights’ work in the war, particularly that involving K of C recreation centers — known as “huts” — that were set up near training areas and the front lines to offer soldiers some comforts of home.

“From New York to Paris to the front lines, these centers, staffed by men known as “Caseys,” supported those who bore the burden of war,” Supreme Knight Anderson said. “Holding all of it together was this simple motto: ‘Everybody welcome. Everything free.’ In a world of hatred and bloodshed, those words expressed that the Knights of Columbus had a higher mission — a mission that continues today.”

Additionally, a ceremony on November 1, 2018, honored the Knights of Columbus for their service to the soldiers who fought in The Great War. The Leadership of teh U.S. Army Chaplain Corps, visited the Knights of Columbus Museum in New Haven, CT, on November 1, to commemorate the end of World War One and the Order's support of the U.S. troops in the Great War.  Father Paul K. Hurley a major general and the chief of chaplains in the U.S. Army, conferred a commendation and inducted the Knights into the Order of St. Martin of Tours.  

Father Ragheed Aziz Ganni - an Iraqi Christian Martyr

Haitham Beno (right) and his wife, Almas Shankol, stand with their four sons in front of their newly renovated home in Karamles, a town in the Nineveh Plain area of northern Iraq. The family began rebuilding efforts last year with support from the Knights of Columbus’ $2 million initiative to help residents return to their liberated hometown. Photo by Claire Thomas

http://www.kofc.org/en/columbia/detail/land-of-modern-day-martyrs.html

Return to the Land of Modern-Day Martyrs
Reporting by Inés San Martín*

The Knights of Columbus continues to support efforts to rebuild and resettle a Christian Iraqi town ravaged by the terrorists ISIS

After leaving Holy Spirit Chaldean Catholic Church in Mosul, Iraq, on June 3, 2007, Father Ragheed Aziz Ganni and three subdeacons were shot and killed by Islamist gunmen.

Despite being threatened with violence if he did not close the church, Father Ganni had just celebrated Mass for Trinity Sunday. Facing his attackers that day, the 35-year-old native of Karamles, Iraq, responded, “How can I close the house of God?”

The four men’s bodies were recovered and then buried at St. Addai Church, which served a thriving Chaldean Catholic community in the town of Karamles, 20 miles to the east of Mosul. When ISIS later seized Karamles in August 2014, homes were torched, the church was largely destroyed and Father Ganni’s tombstone was smashed.

ISIS was finally driven out in late 2016, and last spring, the Vatican officially opened the cause for canonization of Father Ganni and his companions — a decision welcomed with “great joy and pride” by Najat Sleman, Father Ganni’s aunt, who returned to Karamles after reconstruction efforts began last year.

Sleman’s family now lives in one of more than 350 homes rebuilt thus far through a $2 million initiative by the Knights of Columbus. Announced at the 135th Supreme Convention in St. Louis in August 2017, the project is overseen by the Nineveh Reconstruction Committee, a coalition of local churches working together to resettle predominantly Christian towns in the region.

Father Thabet Habib Yousif, a Chaldean Catholic priest and relative of Father Ganni, is serving at St. Addai and coordinating efforts to rebuild in Karamles. He initially returned just two days after the town was liberated, and he has witnessed the slow but steady transformation as hundreds of families — some 1,000 Christians — have now returned to reclaim their ancestral homeland.

“People are very happy to be back,” Father Thabet said. “Their identity is in this town.”

From Shock to Hope

Ghanim Shaba Hanna and his family are among the many who have benefited from the rebuilding in Karamles. 

Repairs to their home were completed in February.

Until 2014, Hanna, his wife and their son lived off Hanna’s salary as a driver, together with income from a mini-store attached to their home. When ISIS arrived, they had three hours to vacate, leaving their possessions behind. They fled to the Kurdish-controlled city of Erbil, where most of the Christians forced out of the Nineveh Plains ended up.

“My home was charcoal when we came back,” Hanna recalled. “The shock of seeing it put me in the hospital for three days. I couldn’t believe what they had done.”

Though still standing, the entire home was blackened by fire. In addition, a bomb that destroyed a neighboring house had left a large hole in the walls of a room on their second floor.

“This is my place, where my roots are,” Hanna said, adding that he didn’t “doubt for a second” he would return when he learned that Father Thabet was helping people come home.

In all, more than 750 houses in Karamles were damaged by ISIS, either totally or partially. Father Thabet has been working against the clock to have as many homes ready as possible before summer ends. Some 40 houses are being repaired simultaneously, in the hope that new families can arrive before the start of the school year.

The work itself is being done by a team of some 50 people, including masons, electricians and plumbers. All are locals, so efforts to rebuild are also a source of employment.

“Whenever new help comes and we reconstruct a house, hope grows and increases,” said Father Thabet.

DETERMINED TO REBUILD

Father Thabet has also been working on finding a temporary home for two Chaldean religious sisters moving to Karamles to teach children at a primary school the committee recently finished rebuilding.

A convent in the town was hit during one of many aerial strikes by the government in an effort to drive ISIS out, and there is a hole in the ground where a three-story building used to be.

“A lot of work still remains, since many houses are still burned and run-down,” said Father Thabet. “If people decide to come back home and nothing has changed from when they left, they will leave Iraq. We can’t afford for this to happen.”

Long term, Father Thabet has his mind set on opening a university, a playground and a meeting center, and on using some of the land owned by the Church to create small farms for young people to grow crops.

Other efforts are already beginning to pay off. For example, a new factory, where dozens will find employment, is being built between the historic St. Barbara Church and the skeleton of a university that never was.

“Karamles is not what it was before the war, but things are changing for the better,” said Almas Shankol, who returned to Karamles in August 2017, with her husband and their six children. “For instance, the town is clean again. We are very grateful for what Father Thabet and the reconstruction team has done for us.”

When visiting the United States recently to speak about their experience, Shankol’s 14-year-old son, Noah, was often asked if he wanted to stay in the United States. His response was always “No.”

“Karamles is my mother,” he said. “We have deep roots there.”

A Saint from Karamles

In 2006, less than a year before his martyrdom, Father Ganni wrote what he called “My last prayer”, after attending the funeral of a priest who had been decapitated by terrorists. 

In the prayer, Father Ganni did not ask God to protect him from suffering. Instead, he wrote: “Lord, give me the strength not to humiliate your priesthood, which I represent.”

A decade later, when Father Thabet first returned to Karamles in October 2016, he entered St. Addai Church and wept at the sight of Father Ganni’s grave.

“Today, when I pass in front of his grave, I greet him as a living person, recalling the memories of an active and joyful man,” Father Thabet said. “Parishioners also stand in front of his grave, speaking to him and asking for his intercession.”

Rami Sadeeq, 26, remembers the day the people of Karamles learned of Father Ganni’s martyrdom. A girl came screaming in tears to share the tragic news with a small crowd.

“It was a very sad moment. Everyone knew him, and he was a very kind person,” said Sadeeq, who now assists Father Thabet in his spare time. “But today we’re very proud. It’s very precious to have a saint from Karamles!”

Many Christians forced out of the region have emigrated. However, those who have decided to remain in a land with a Christian presence since the earliest days of the Church, are steadfast in their conviction, counting on those helping from abroad and those interceding from above.

*INÉS SAN MARTÍN is an Argentinean journalist who covers the Vatican in Rome for Crux. Visit cruxnow.com

Terrorism and faith during persecution in Iraq

By Archbishop Amel Shamon Nona published in The Knights of Columbus Magazine "Columbia".

Archbishop Amel Shamon Nona offers a hopeful message based on his personal experiences and cautions Iraqi Christians not to give into the fear of ISIS. Unfortunately, there are a dwindling number of Christians remaining in Iraq and Mass is no longer celebrated in Mosul, he says.

http://www.christiantoday.com/article/no.mass.said.in.mosul.for.first.time.in.1600.years.says.archbishop/38493.htm

Reports say the estimated 3,000 or so Christians who are still there - from about 35,000 in 2003 - all fled ahead of the militias' takeover of control, although some families were reported to have returned. 

Archbishop was born November 1, 1967, and he has been the Chaldean Catholic Archbishop of Mosul in the northern part of Iraq since the consent of Pope Benedict XVI, to his election on 13 November 2009. He took over the position after the murder of Paulos Faraj Rahho in early 2008.

Pope Francis nominated Archbishop Amel Shamon Nona, 46, as the new bishop of the Chaldean eparchy of St. Thomas the Apostle in Sydney, Australia. Nona is now the former Chaldean archbishop of Mosul, Iraq.

We know the horror Christians have faced in Mosul, as ISIS forced Catholics and other Christians to flee, including this archbishop. 

In fact, Nona famously said that, with his absence, it marked the first time in history when no Mass was offered in his diocese in about 1700 years: he lost his diocese.

The diocese, until 2003, was home to 35,000 souls; Mosul is 95 miles north of Baghdad. Archbishop Nona has been living in Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan at the Chaldean seminary.

Back in August, Jesuit Father James Schall wrote, quoting the archbishop:

“Try to understand us,” Archbishop Nona pleads. “Your liberal and democratic principles are worth nothing here.” Indeed, we can even argue that these principles paralyze us and make us blind to the reality of persecution by and in Islamic spheres. 

The Christians of Mosul were given the standard Muslim choice—conversion or death. Some managed to flee. The Islamic State means business.

Columbia- EDITOR’S NOTE: 

Chaldean Archbishop Amel Shamon Nona served as archbishop of Mosul, Iraq, from 2010 to 2014. When Islamic State militants (also known as ISIS or Daesh) overran Mosul in June 2014, Christians were forced to flee to the Kurdistan region in the north of the country. In January 2015, Pope Francis appointed Archbishop Nona to head the Eparchy of St. Thomas the Apostle of Sydney – the Chaldean Catholic diocese for Australia and New Zealand. This text was adapted from an address he delivered Jan. 17 at the New York Encounter – an annual gathering in New York City organized by the Catholic lay movement Communion and Liberation – and is reprinted with permission.

Archbishop: On Jan. 16, 2010, I arrived in Mosul, the most dangerous city in Iraq at the time. I arrived as a new archbishop for an ancient diocese, which traces its origins to the end of the first century.

Once the second largest archdiocese in Iraq after Baghdad, Mosul had remained without a bishop for about two years after my predecessor, Archbishop Paul Faraj Rahho, was kidnapped and killed in 2008. Because of the persecution of Christians, the majority of the faithful had already fled the city by the time of my arrival.

One might ask: How could one go and live in a place like Mosul in 2010? I think that the more correct question is: How does one confront persecution from a standpoint of faith?

COUNTERING FEAR WITH FAITH

Several weeks after my arrival in Mosul, I said to the faithful gathered for Mass: “Our lives are worth living fully with joy and strength at every moment. Even if others want to kill us, even if I have to die an hour from now, it is required of us to live life well, rejoicing and filled with courage in the present moment. The strongest weapon against terrorism is a joyful, fully Christian life.”
In preparation for my first Easter as archbishop, I announced that we would work to have a Mass in the evening, and a late one at that. Since 2003, there were no more late and evening Masses because of fear and also because an 11 o’clock curfew was imposed at night.

“Make one Mass and live it with joy and as a truly spiritual moment,” I told the faithful. “We will face fear with our faith, with unity and participation in our destiny. After that, if they wish to kill us, so be it.”

When the time came, we celebrated Easter Mass at a very late hour. The church was filled to standing room only, and it was wonderful. We challenged fear with the joy of our faith, and with courage, unity and reason – sticking with our culture and Christian tradition amid the high waves that countered them.

In 2011, we planned for Easter to be celebrated during the afternoon so that people did not stay late into the evening.

In the morning, I woke and was told that the army had imposed a “curfew” in all of Mosul. No one could go out in a car, and in some places people were not even allowed to walk. I was waiting with concern and hoping that this curfew would be lifted before Mass, but it was not. I asked the local police to take me to the church, and considered if Mass could take place with just one or two people.

When I arrived, about a third of the church was filled with people, and soon more people came and filled it. I was amazed, because I knew they were from distant neighborhoods, and I asked them how they came to the church.

“We walked,” they said. Some families had walked more than an hour – father and mother, sons and daughters, including young women.

When the army saw Christians along the streets, they asked, “Why are you walking during the curfew?”

The Christians replied, “Because today is our feast.”

In some cases, the soldiers invited them into their cars and brought them to the church.

Do you know what it means for a Christian family, especially women and girls, to walk on the street when there is curfew in Mosul? It means they are easy targets for anyone who wants to kill or abduct them.

When I saw the actions that these people took, we began Mass, and it was very beautiful.

If someone asks me how can one could go to Mosul and live with fear, I always answer them with this parable, this real example. I say, “How can we not have courage when we see faith like this? With faith and courage like this, we can defeat any evil, without fear.”

THE POWER OF CHRISTIAN JOY

Islamic terrorists are well aware that implanting fear in others helps them do what they want in the world. So our weapon as Christians is to live without fear – showing them that we love life and will never give up.

When they see our brave choice they lose the foundation of their fear-based ideology. In other words, we fight them by living out our Christian life, which counters their basic thinking and principles.

From my experience in Mosul, I can say that we can defeat the evil incarnate in those terrorists. And we do it by a solid, strong Christian life and the fullness of joy, showing all this openly to others. Terrorists are afraid of a very happy Christian life. So let us become joyful Christians who are delighted in our faith in order to defeat them.

There are many people who come back to Christianity because of fear. The return to faith is good, but the cause of this needs to change from fear to courage, from fear to strong Christian conviction. We have to be convinced and believe that Christianity is the true way of life.

I know one thing from my experience having lived in Mosul: the Christian faith is the solution. It is possible to fight fear with courage in the declaration of our faith. And such a declaration does not just mean the Christian example, but also the courage to talk about this example and to reveal this everywhere and to everyone.

We fight fear when we believe that we are going to die someday. When? I do not know, but until I die, the question is: How do I live my life? With strength and joy – because I am a Christian. If not in this place, then in another. If not in Mosul, then maybe in New York. Daesh can do nothing, terrorists can do nothing, when Christians live as true believers.

During the recent wave of immigration to Europe, I saw a report on television about a Greek lady who rescued a family from drowning in the sea. She said that people’s lives have changed: They have lost joy and safety; they have lost interest in life due to the large number of tragedies. They no longer feel reassured and loved.

I reflected on what she said and I did not feel the same, even though I lived for four years surrounded by terrorism, in very critical conditions. When I drove to homes and churches, I had to frequently change routes and dress in lay clothes for safety. Still, I did not feel what the woman described, but her words made me wonder: Why had her situation and that of others reached this point?

I think the reason is not the tragedies in front of us, but rather the empty space in our lives. What is the basis upon which we live our lives?

BEARING WITNESS TO TRUE FREEDOM

In the Western world, we have established life based on one thing: freedom. We fought for freedom, and it is really worth fighting for. But we have set all of our life on this one and only basis. Only freedom.

As a result, with the first signs of a problem or a challenge to our freedom, everything breaks down. We lose joy and safety, we no longer feel reassured and loved.

Freedom is necessary, but it cannot be separated from truth and love. We cannot live as free people without Christian principles, values and ethics informing all aspects of our lives, such as the economy, politics and relationships. When we deprive freedom of all this, it becomes only an idol and comes to mean merely that we do whatever we want.

When confronted with terrorism, the majority of people are afraid not only of losing their lives, but also of losing the kind of freedom on which we founded our current system of life. At the same time, there is a growing fear of Christianity in Western society because people think that anything with fixed principles is a threat to their way of life.

But faithful Christians are called to face challenges with strength, firmness and lack of fear. We should not be afraid to call ourselves Christians and to embrace a different way of life. As Christians love their haters and persecutors, they show their strength and teach others how to respect life, even when they sometimes have to resort to the use of pressure and force. To love the other does not mean giving in to what the other wants, but nurturing and educating the other with the love that we received from Christ.

In a culture that evades responsibility, Christians need to be responsible even for the wrongdoer, the villain who wants to kill us; we should not allow him to continue his wickedness.

Jesus said, “If anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also” (Mt 5:39). This means to stop the evildoer by showing him a face that he does not know. It does not mean that we always are to be pessimistic and submissive and to allow others to hurt us. But to stop them and stop their evil, we can show that we do not hurt them even though we could, because we love their humanity in spite of their wickedness.

We need a responsible Christianity, a faith that takes responsibility for the evil and the good, for the whole world. Pope Francis says that there is “globalization of indifference.” We must be witnesses to our mission, not indifferent or apathetic to what is happening around us.

This includes the question: How can we in the West help those persecuted Christians?

You can help the persecuted Christians when you return to your community with courage and say that we are Christians and we want a society that is Christian; when you declare by your words and actions that you are Christians at every moment and in all areas of life: in the home, in relationships, at work, with friends and with strangers, with your social, political and economic stances. When you do all that, you are helping persecuted Christians.

Shemon Bar Sabbae, a patriarch of our Church, was martyred in the fourth century under Persian rule for refusing to deny his faith. When they were taking him and hundreds of Christians to execution, stripped of their clothes, he sang a hymn that we still sing in the Chaldean liturgy. I conclude with two lines from this hymn: “Even if they stripped off your outer clothes, do not take off your inner clothes, dear baptized faithful. If you are dressed with this invisible weapon, even the waves of many temptations will not defeat you.”

Just as the martyrs at the beginning of Christianity were filled with joy when they gave their lives, so it is today in many places of the world. Our behavior shows our faith. Our words translate our Christianity.

ARCHBISHOP AMEL SHAMON NONA, a native of Iraq and former archbishop of Mosul, currently serves as head of the Chaldean Catholic Eparchy of St. Thomas the Apostle of Sydney, Australia.

Maine Writer note- Archbishop Nona raised controversy about his criticism of the massive Muslim migrations into Western nations. This article published in "Columbia" doesn't mention his warnings, but my blog is posted to draw attention to the risk Christians are taking in the face of extraordinary danger as well as to bring awareness to the dire circumstances faced by those who oppose ISIS terrorism