Rome Newsroom, Feb 17, 2021 / 06:05 am (CNA).- Pope Francis’ trip to Iraq comes at a time when the country faces severe political, socioeconomic, and security challenges. The European Union’s ambassador to Iraq has called Iraq’s curre… […]
Sokoto, Nigeria, Feb 15, 2021 / 07:19 pm (CNA).- One year after the burial of Michael Nnadi, an 18-year-old Nigerian seminarian abducted and killed by gunmen, the local bishop has indicated his sorrow at the lack of progress in preventing abductions and murders.
“It is quite tragic that one year later, we are still closer to nowhere we hope to be. The harvest of death has gotten richer, more and more people are dying,’ Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah of Sokoto said to journalists following a Feb. 12 memorial Mass.
“Things have gotten progressively worse as far as the lives of our ordinary people are concerned,” Bishop Kukah said in Sokoto’s Holy Family Cathedral.
He added, “It is a matter of great concern and great sadness that we haven’t come anywhere close to securing our people and securing our country.”
Nnadi was taken by gunmen from Good Shepherd Seminary in Kaduna around 10:30 pm on Jan. 8, 2020, along with fellow seminarians Pius Kanwai, 19; Peter Umenukor, 23; and Stephen Amos, 23. The four seminarians were at the beginning of their philosophy studies.
All but Nnadi were released by the end of January, but on Feb. 1, 2020 Bishop Kukah announced that Nnadi had been found dead.
Bishop Kukah described Michael’s death as a “message of renewal” for Africa’s most populous country.
“Amid all this trouble, we as Christians have a message of renewal that this is not where God wants our country to be,” Bishop Kukah said.
He added, “We believe in the supremacy of His will and we also believe that amid all these confusion, death, unnecessary blood-shedding, that He has a message for us, and the message is for us to urgently think about building our country.”
“There is a saying in Christianity that the blood of martyrs is the seed of Christianity. Our religion has never triumphed because of patronage or government or because of the amounts of kingdoms that we run,” the bishop said.
In honor of the slain seminarian, the bishop’s residence has been renamed Michael Nnadi House.
The bishops of the Ecclesiastical Province of Kaduna have also approved the construction of a shrine at Good Shepherd Seminary in honor of Nnadi.
“In future,” Bishop Kukah said, “we hope to advance the course for Michael for him to be recognized by the Catholic Church as a martyr.”
According to the bishop, Michael’s course for sainthood should be advanced because “we have never had that kind of experience. That the people who killed him, actually came and testified that they killed Michael because he was preaching to them and telling them that what they were doing was not right.”
Mustapha Mohamed, one of Michael’s killers, said they murdered Nnadi because he “continued to preach the gospel of Christ” to his captors.
Rome Newsroom, Feb 15, 2021 / 06:30 am (CNA).- The Iraqi government has announced new COVID-19 restrictions, including the closure of all places of worship, less than three weeks before Pope Francis’ scheduled trip to Iraq.
On Feb. 14 the health… […]
Kasese, Uganda, Feb 13, 2021 / 07:00 am (CNA).- Among the 12 men ordained priests of the Diocese of Kasese earlier this month was a pair of twins.
Fr. Peter Katuramu Isingoma and Fr. Andrew Kato Katuramu told ACI Africa their Feb. 6 ordination was the highlight of their lives, and a fulfillment of dreams they had harbored from childhood.
“It was a satisfying experience, which brought me so much excitement. So many people attended and they were all very happy,” said Fr. Peter in an interview with ACI Africa Feb. 10.
He added, “There were so many of us being ordained priests and many other deacons. For many years, I had never seen such a big number of priests ordained on the same day in our diocese. It was a very beautiful celebration.”
Fr. Andrew told ACI Africa, “At ordination, I felt great. To many, it was a mystery that twins were being ordained priests. I knew that God had chosen us before we were born and like Peter and his brother Andrew, the disciples of Jesus that our parents named us after, we had indeed been chosen to work with God’s people.”
The twins grew up inseparable and were difficult to tell apart. In fact, Fr. Peter jokes that the scar on his brother’s nose, which was left after he was injured during their pastoral work, now makes it easier for people to tell the two apart.
The brothers went their separate ways when their parents enrolled Peter at the Kasese diocese’s St. John the Evangelist Minor Seminary, while his brother proceeded to join a secular school.
“Growing up, my brother and I often talked about our dream to become Catholic priests. We admired the lives of priests who came to our homes, ate with us in humility and prayed for us,” Fr. Andrew recalled. “After we completed Primary seven, we made our desire known to our parents and said that we wanted to join a seminary for our education.”
Their parents, however, did not have enough money to enroll both boys in seminary, and Andrew joined a nearby Catholic School for his O-levels. The two re-united during their A- levels when Andrew joined his twin brother at the minor seminary.
For his studies in philosophy, Fr. Peter went to St. Thomas Aquinas Major Seminary, Katigondo in the Diocese of Masaka, while Fr. Andrew went to Uganda Martyrs Aloculum Major Seminary in Gulu.
For their year of pastoral experience, Fr. Peter went to St. Mathias Mulumba Ibanda and Our Lady of Assumption Nsenyi parishes in the Diocese of Kasese, while Fr. Andrew went to neighboring Immaculate Heart Parish, Hima and St John the Evangelist, Bukangara parish.
They proceeded with their theology at St. Mary’s National Seminary and St. Paul’s Major Seminary in Kinyamasika in the Archdiocese of Kampala.
Fr. Peter recalled their parents’ shock when the two announced that they wanted to join the priesthood.
“In the minor seminary, our parents thought that we were not serious about our desire to become priests and they thought we’d drop the idea to pursue other things. They were shocked when we announced that we wanted to proceed with philosophy,” Fr. Peter said.
He added, “Some people told our parents that we were throwing away our lives by joining priesthood. Being the eldest sons in our family of eight children, we were expected to marry to preserve the clan’s dignity.” The twins have another brother, and five sisters.
At one point, the twins were advised by their parents to decide who between them would drop out of formation to the priesthood, but they were both unwavering in their desire.
“Our parents wanted one of us to stay at home. It was an impossible decision to make so we both went to the major seminary,” Fr. Peter recalled. “Today, they are very proud of us and happy that we decided to pursue our dream.”
While in formation the brothers “called each other and talked about the importance of being humble and prayerful, respecting our formators as our own parents and the other seminarians as our own brothers,” Fr. Andrew said. “We took advice from people very seriously and that helped us a lot.”
Rome Newsroom, Feb 11, 2021 / 12:00 pm (CNA).- A Catholic missionary priest in Madagascar known for serving the poor living on a landfill has been nominated for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.
Fr. Pedro Opeka, 72, is a Vincentian priest from Arge… […]
Rome Newsroom, Feb 9, 2021 / 12:00 pm (CNA).- Lebanon’s Maronite patriarch called on Tuesday for the United Nations to help resolve the country’s crisis by convening an international conference.
In a homily for the feast of St. Maron … […]
Baghdad, Iraq, Feb 8, 2021 / 05:48 pm (CNA).- As Pope Francis’ trip to Iraq becomes more likely, the Holy See Press Office released Feb. 8 the logo for the first papal trip since the beginning of the COVID pandemic.
The logo represent the map of Iraq with its historic emblems: the rivers Euphrates and Tigris –which according to an Iraqi tradition, was the original place of the Garden of Eden- and the palm tree. A white dove symbolizing peace flies with an olive branch over the Iraqi and Vatican flags, intertwined as a symbol of friendship.
Over the image, the motto of the visit, “You are all brothers and sisters”, appears in Arabic, Kurdish (or Sorani), and Chaldean (or Chaldean Neo-Aramaic). Arabic is Iraq’s official language, Sorani is spoken among the northern Kurdish minority, and Chaldean Neo-Aramaic is spoken by Christians in the Nineveh plains.
On Feb. 8 the Vatican announced the schedule of the pope’s trip to Iraq, which will take place March 5 to 8 and will include stops in Najaf, Baghdad, Erbil, Mosul, and Bakhdida.
Rome Newsroom, Feb 8, 2021 / 12:10 pm (CNA).- The Great Al-Tahira Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Bakhdida was charred black inside after the Islamic State set it aflame after taking control of the town in 2014. Now the restored cathedral is prepari… […]
Baghdad, Iraq, Feb 2, 2021 / 03:19 pm (CNA).- During his upcoming trip to Iraq, Pope Francis will meet with the Shia Muslim leader Ali al-Sistani, a man in his 90s who many international analysts consider a decisive player in the region since the end of the Iraq War.
Pope Francis will visit Iraq March 5-8. According to the Holy See Press Office, Pope Francis will visit Baghdad, the site of Ur, Mosul, Bakhdida, and Erbil.
The details of the schedule of Pope Francis’ voyage have not yet been released yet. However, Raphael Cardinal Sako, Chaldean Patriarch of Babylon, revealed some of Pope Francis’ possible activities.
In a Jan. 28 meeting with journalists organized by the French Bishops Conference and the association Oeuvre d’Orient, Cardinal Sako said Pope Francis would have on March 6 a private meeting with Ali al-Sistani.
According to Cardinal Sako, the two leaders will release a joint declaration against “all those who attack life.” Cardinal Sako could not confirm if the two would sign a document on human fraternity, as is the cardinal’s wish.
According to Chaldean sources, Cardinal Sako has been working for two years behind the scenes to see this meeting happen. Right after the Declaration on Human Fraternity, signed by Pope Francis in Abu Dhabi with the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, a major figure in Sunni Islam, in February 2019, Cardinal Sako said that it would be important that the Pope might make a similar gesture with a Shia leader.
Cardinal Sako deemed that having a declaration for human fraternity signed with a Shia leader would be necessary for Pope Francis to embrace all the Islamic world. And Al-Sistani seems to be the most qualified person.
Ali al-Sistani was born in 1930. Hailing from Iran, he moved to Najaf in the 1950s. In 1993, al-Sistani succeeded Abu al-Qasim al-Khoei in Najaf’s Hawza, the senior Shia clerical leadership.
The Senior Vatican watcher Sandro Magister described al-Sistani in 2007 as “the most authoritative and consistent supporter of a vision of Islamic quietism.”
al-Sistani’s view was in contrast with that of the Iranian ayatollah Khomeini, who lived in Najaf from 1965 to 1978. Khomeini thought that “only a good society can create good believers,” and on this basis, he empowered the Muslim clergy and set the foundation for the theocratic state of Iran.
On the contrary, al-Sistani maintains that “only good citizens can create a good society.” In the last decade, al-Sistani has raised as the most heard and influential voice in Shia Islam and Iraq.
al-Sistani became famous outside of Iraq only after the overturn of the Saddam Hussein regime in 2003. His opinions on the fall of Saddam Hussein and the end of the Baathist regime quickly grabbed international media’s headlines.
In particular al-Sistani sent a message to the Iraqi people, saying that he “wished the Iraqis to overcome this difficult period of their history without being framed in sectarian and ethnic conflicts.”
The 2004 Battle of Najaf pitted US and Iraqi forces against the Mahdi Army, a Shia Islamis militia led by Muqtada al-Sadr. al-Sistani was in London for a medical visit when the battle began, and he promptly returned to Najaf, advocating a truce between the parties.
Between 2006 and 2007, Iraq experienced a wave of sectarian violence that broke with the strike of two military imams’ shrines in Samarra. Even in that extreme situation, al-Sistani showed his moderate side: he asked to abstain from violence and condemn the acts of violence “striking and dividing the country.”
al-Sistani backs the separation between religion and politics, and he supports a civil government based on the people’s will, not a common position among Muslims.
In 2017, Iraqi forces were about to defeat the Islamic State that had invaded the Nineveh Plains three years before. al-Sistani’s intervention was crucial. He called all Iraqi citizens to take arms to defend the country, regardless of their ethnicity or religious beliefs. Thousands of volunteers responded to the call and formed the Popular Mobilization Forces, playing a crucial role in stopping the Islamic State.
That al-Sistani has a different view from the Iranian Shia was evident in 2014, when the Iraqi premier was Nouri al-Maliki, considered a strategic partner to Iran. al-Sistani did not back his confirmation as premier, although he had won the elections. However, al-Sistani’s position did not go unheard: Haider al-Abadi, a moderate Shia, was appointed Prime Minister.
Recently, al-Sistani hit the headlines for another initiative: Ahmed al-Safi, one of his public representatives, asked in his behalf the abolition of pensions and privileges for high ranked officials. The saved resources, he suggested, should be allocated to provide service and alleviate the low-income population’s situation.
The pension for a member of parliament amounts to $6,500 a month, and is for life, which goes along with security, housing, and other privileges.
Iraq’s 2020 was not only characterized by the spread of COVID but also by protests. Thousands of protesters took to the streets to demand for a change in the political-institutional system and the end of rampant corruption.
The protesters sent several appeals to al-Sistani since they believed he was the only one able to understand their requests. And so it was natural to most of the international observers to set the gaze on al-Sistani since they knew that every word of his was going to be listened to.
al-Sistani is also strongly opposed to any kind of external interference on Iraqi issues. After the Iraq War, he weighed in the public debate asking to call for new elections, thus pushing the transition between US Ambassador Lewis Paul Bremer, who had served as Provisional Coalition Administrator of Iraq, and the interim government led by Ayad Allawi.
Despite his advanced age and precarious health conditions, al-Sistani is still considered a stability factor in Iraq.
For local observers, Pope Francis’ meeting with al-Sistani will, in the end, close the circle. First, the Pope backed the re-opening of the dialogue with Al-Azhar. The renewed rapport with Al-Azhar led to Pope Francis’ trip to Egypt in 2017, then to five consecutive meetings between the Pope and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, and the Document on Human Fraternity signed by the Pope and the imam in Abu Dhabi on Feb. 4, 2019.
Now, it is time for Pope Francis to extend his arms to Shia Islam, and Cardinal Sako saw in a meeting with al-Sistani an excellent opportunity to do that. The meeting between the Pope and al-Sistani could also tell the Iraqi people that the Pope backs the “quietist” –non-violent, more spiritual- wing of the Muslim world.
All of these issues will be part of the March 6 meeting. It will not be in Najaf, as Cardinal Sako hoped. It will be, anyway, an important meeting.
Rome Newsroom, Jan 28, 2021 / 12:00 pm (CNA).- The Vatican’s Secretary of State kicked off a week-long trip to Cameroon on Thursday in which he will visit a region blighted by clashes between government forces and separatists.
During h… […]
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