Vatican City, Feb 26, 2018 / 12:27 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Rebecca Bitrus, who was a prisoner with Boko Haram for two years, is a stark reminder that behind all the rhetoric about promoting peace and helping persecuted Christians, there are real people who have suffered unimaginable atrocities.
In Bitrus’ case, these atrocities include losing her unborn child as a result of her captivity; watching her three-year-old son be killed because she refused to convert to Islam; and being raped and forced into a marriage with a Boko Haram fighter.
Stories such as this are commonplace in Nigeria, where Boko Haram militants since 2002 have killed tens of thousands of Christians and Muslims who don’t share their extremist ideals.
Based in northern Nigeria and active in Chad, Niger, and Cameroon, Boko Haram has been responsible for multiple deadly attacks on villages, schools and churches, often using children in suicide bombing missions as parts of territory controlled by the group have come under attack by local forces seeking to reclaim the area. In 2015, they pledged allegiance to the Islamic State.
Yet despite all of the suffering she was forced to endure at the hands of her captors, Bitrus has also learned to forgive, pointing to the mercy of Christ as a model.
Speaking to EWTN Feb. 23, Bitrus said she was abducted by Boko Haram in August 2014, when late one evening the militants invaded the small town where she and her husband lived with their two small children, Zachariah and Joshua. At the time, Zachariah was five, and Joshua was three.
Bitrus tried to flee, but she and her sons were abducted by Boko Haram and taken to the group’s camp in the forest.
Forced to take the name “Miriam,” she said that she was immediately put to work in a labor camp. She said she had been pregnant with her third child at the time of her abduction, but lost the baby due to the strains of her captivity.
After arriving in the camp, she said the fighters wanted her to convert to Islam. Having been raised a devout Catholic, Bitrus refused. As a result, she said the militants grabbed her youngest son, Joshua, and threw him into a river.
“I have lost him,” she said, explaining that after the incident, she went through the motions and pretended to accept the Muslim faith, “but never did.”
Each time they were forced to recite the Muslim prayers, Bitrus said she would instead pray the rosary, asking God to free her “from the hands of this wicked people.”
“I was never convinced about Islam. I kept my trust in the Lord and I was praying the rosary with my fingers,” she said. “I am convinced that the prayer of the rosary saved me from captivity.”
Bitrus said that at one point, she was forced into a marriage with a Boko Haram fighter, and – like many of the other female prisoners – subjected to repeated rape. She eventually became pregnant and gave birth to a child on Christmas day, whom she named Christopher, in honor of Christ.
After two years in captivity, Bitrus and her two living sons were able to escape when the militants fled as Nigerian troops closed in on the encampment. Amid the chaos, a group of prisoners fled into the forest, where they spent nearly a month with almost no food or water, she recounted, adding that mosquitoes constantly attacked them and she developed severe rashes that have left scars on her body.
With the help of a local community, they were eventually pointed in the direction of the Nigerian army. The troops initially didn’t believe that Bitrus was Christian, and thought she was a member of Boko Haram. However, after reciting several prayers, including the Hail Mary and the Glory Be, they believed her and sent her to a nearby hospital for treatment.
Afterward being discharged, she was sent back to her hometown of Maiduguri, where she was reunited with her husband. For the two years prior, they had each believed that the other had been killed.
When she first escaped, Bitrus said she struggled to accept her youngest child, who was six months old at the time, because he reminded her of the atrocities she had suffered. However, the local bishop, Oliver Dashe Doeme, talked to her and encouraged her to both “accept and love” the child, saying he could grow up to be “an important person in life, a person who could help me.”
She voiced gratitude to Bishop Dashe Doeme, saying he “cared for my needs and I grateful for that.”
Although it was not easy, Bitrus said she was eventually able to forgive Boko Haram for everything she endured.
“I am convinced about Jesus’ teaching on forgiveness,” she said, noting how Jesus himself was tortured, treated unjustly and condemned to death.
However, “even on the cross Jesus forgave those who inflicted pain to him; he said ‘Father forgive them for they do not know what they are doing,’” she reflected.
Bitrus was able to tell her story to Pope Francis during a private Feb. 24 audience at the Vatican. Joining her were Ashiq Masih and Eisham Ashiq, the husband and daughter, respectively, of Asia Bibi, who has been on death row in Pakistan since 2010 on charges of blasphemy.
The meeting was organized by Aid to the Church in Need, a papal foundation dedicated to supporting persecuted Christians. On Saturday, the organization hosted an event in which Rome’s ancient Colosseum was illuminated red in order to raise awareness of anti-Christian persecution throughout the world and commemorate the modern martyrs who have died for their faith.
<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet” data-lang=”en”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>Tonight the colosseum in <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/Rome?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#Rome</a> is illuminated red in honor of persecuted Christians throughout the world <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/ColosseoRosso?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#ColosseoRosso</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/acn_int?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@acn_int</a> ???? <a href=”https://twitter.com/dibanezgut?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@dibanezgut</a> <a href=”https://t.co/9QlK0pQtaB”>pic.twitter.com/9QlK0pQtaB</a></p>— Elise Harris (@eharris_it) <a href=”https://twitter.com/eharris_it/status/967463801451892736?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>February 24, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>
In comments to EWTN Feb. 23, Ashiq Masih said that although his wife is still in prison, she is doing well and is “a symbol of faith.”
“We hope she is going to freed one day, by the grace of God,” he said, explaining that the ordeal has been difficult for the family to endure, because “we are missing her and she misses us.”
Bibi’s daughter, Eisham Ashiq, told EWTN that she wanted Pope Francis and all of Europe to pray that her mother would be released soon.
[…]
If I were pope and actually intended to have a substantive conversation on morals and the sacramental life with a Catholic head of state befuddled by invincible ignorance, or worse, I would also tell the secularist media voyeurs to take a hike. At least the atheist journalist Scalfari won’t be favored, this time, to misreport what Pope Francis may or may not say.
Hoping that this media blackout is a good sign. Maybe a meeting between a president and a pope is more than a presidential tourist stop dressed up with a Vatican walk-on in a white hat
On the other hand, the optics of the titular head of the Roman Catholic Church cozying up to President Biden–a well-known abortion proponent–may not be so edifying for the faithful.
Agree! Also that the CNA owned by the serial Pope Francis basher EWTN do not misreport this time similar to what it did implying and highlighting that Pope Francis was upset with Fr. James Martin during a meeting with a group of U.S. Bishops in September 2019.
Emerson, keep in your mind and soul and words the 5th and 8th Holy Commandments, nor impute intentions or vices, not even to one’s supposed enemies, becoming an ewtn basher after accusing them is doubly wrong and has a vicious name…imitate Jesus, not the adversary….he’s clever but Jesus is Eternal Triune Wisdom….Blessings
Pater, before you make your pious protestations, be sure you know what you’re talking about. Here, read this…
https://www.ncronline.org/news/people/archbishop-wester-responds-recounting-popes-words-about-jesuit-fr-james-martin
Let’s pray that the reason for this is that the Pope is going to give the president a talking-to and wants to keep it private.
That must be it. His appointment of Sachs to the Pontifical Academy on Social Sciences earlier this week should have clued us in on what he is up to. What a surprise Joe is in for! I can’t believe Nancy is going to let the poor guy walk right into this trap Francis has laid for him. God bless our crafty Pope!
Yes, it might be a little awkward having a conversation that begins, “Bless me, Father . . .” broadcast to the world. . . .
Biden needs an exorcism, not an ordinary confession.
In my mind, both of these mere mortals were fraudulently elected. One by the Gallen Mafia and the McCarrick Syndicate and the other by corrupt Progressives slivering in The Swamp.
I would argue that part of the reason the Vatican cancelled the press coverage is not to avoid Biden using the PR, but rather, so the Catholic world doesn’t see its’ Pope schmoozing and glad-handing one of the biggest proponents of abortion in America.
The White House and secular medias complaints are pretty hypocrite. Everybody understands that this very publicized meeting is part of the internal cultural battle in the US. Emerson’s comment above is a good proof. I hope Francis starts to understand that powerful and far fromn vulnerable people are trying to use him.
I agree. Perhaps the Pope wishes to address the scandal being created by the current “Catholic” administration and everyone has a right to privacy during a pastoral visit. I’m praying it’s a good thing … plus another photo-op send the message of approval which adds to the mixed message.
All the dominos were lined up in a row for the MSM to show a smiling dementia riddled
Joe arm and arm with a equally smiling Pope Francis in a photo OP.This would of course bring instant elation to the socialist/liberal flock of the Catholic Church.See even our
Pope finds common ground with “Joe” on Abortion,and a host of other Evil practices championed by “Joe” and 26% of Americans who self identify as liberal.
It’s difficult to accurately discern what the exact motivation is behind the cancellation. After the Pelosi/Francis love fest was splashed all over the place for the world to see, one would expect this incoherent and dangerous Pontificate, to paraphrase Father Rutler, to give the same treatment to her fellow heretic, dementia Joe.
The Vatican has promised video after Chairman Joe and Francis meet. It will undoubtedly edit out the pope slapping Joey and asking him, “What are you thinking?”
Pious hopes and fervent prayers that Bergoglio is going to convert Biden from his decades of pro-abortion extremism are well and good, but I think it far preferable to take Divine Wisdom’s instruction that men are known by their actions as my guide in determining whether Bergoglio and Biden are anything other than bloviating hypocrites.
The Catholic World Report could only report about the Pope-President meeting from this angle? Nothing more positive, substantial, and in-depth? Has CWR shamelessly shown itself to be more of a propaganda organ of a political action committee than a Catholic publication “with and under the Pope”? Is it just catering to a small sector of the Catholic Church in America? CWR should join the Facebook bandwagon and change its name into the Catholic Village Report!
” Nothing more positive, substantial, and in-depth? ”
Ever hear the adage “you can’t get blood from a stone”?
This article is written by Catholic News Agency. CWR merely passes along CNA’s their newsworthy items, as a service to its readers.
The comment section is your source for immediate in-depth substance. Next week, after the news has meshed and settled and bubbled anew with the help of the Holy Spirit, essays with meat, vegetables, and dessert will arrive. Stay tuned.
Of course you yourself could always submit a comment which is positive, substantive, and in-depth rather a smear. Think about it if your mind is big enough.
The Pope is experienced enough to know that Democrats in the US (including “journalists”) will exploit any opportunity to generate publicity for Biden and the Catholic vote. Obviously, the Pope knows all about “fake news.”
By their fruits you shall know them. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, and the evil tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can an evil tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit, shall be cut down, and shall be cast into the fire. Wherefore, by their fruits you shall know them (Mt 7: 16-20).
Myself all for transparency — authentic transparency — I can only breathe a sigh of relief that we are spared the theater of the “pious Biden” before the South American Jesuit.
Now I do hope that the actual reason access has been denied is that the Holy Father was fulfilling his responsibility to Almighty God, humanity and to the Church in this private meeting to bring to correction pious Biden on life issues, sexual morality and a host of other realities. Of course the web of disingenuousness binding in inextricable intimacy Church and globalist power has likely precluded realization of that hope.
Trust in Jesus Christ alone. Men will inevitably fail us.
Biden came out of meeting with pope and said “ the pope told me I was a good Catholic” I hope not but the pope looked on pelosi and Biden with awe. We need to start protesting this pope
“No, it didn’t. It came up,” Biden told reporters when asked if “the issue of abortion [came] up at all” during his meeting with the pope. “We just talked about the fact he was happy that I was a good Catholic, and I should keep receiving communion.”
– Reported by Washington Examiner, 10/29/21