Global Solidarity Week at Morris Catholic H.S.

Iraqi-born Syriac Catholic bishop details persecution of Christians in talk about atrocities in homeland

DENVILLE  An Iraqi-born bishop of the Syriac Catholic Church brought into clearer focus for students of Morris Catholic High School here the horrors of the systematic persecution of Christians in his homeland and in Syria at the hands of the Islamic State. On March 17, the U.S. finally declared these atrocities — which have been leading to the wiping out of the Christians and other ethnic minority populations in the region — as “genocide,” leaving the prelate unimpressed.

Bishop Yousif Habash, the eparch of Our Lady of Deliverance of Newark, painted a bleak picture of an Islamic political system in Iraq and Syria that has been terrorizing, displacing and slaughtering Christians for more than a decade. The bishop spoke to Morris Catholic students, teachers and staff March 17 as part of the school’s Global Solidarity Week in partnership with Catholic Relief Services (CRS), the U.S. Catholic Church’s humanitarian relief agency.

“There are many good Muslims [in Iraq and Syria] but the political system there strengthens Muslim power. Nothing good has come of it. They [ISIS fighters] have destroyed everything good and killed innocent people. Most people there are miserable because they have no dignity, no freedom and no hope,” said Bishop Habash, spiritual leader of the Syriac Catholic Church in the U.S. and Canada, who recently returned from a trip to the region. “[At some point], there was a decision that there would be no more Christians in the Middle East. This has been breaking down bridges to peace,” he said.

Earlier that day, Secretary of State John Kerry had asserted that the Islamic State of Syria and Iraq, known as ISIS, “is responsible for genocide against groups in areas under its control, including Yazidis, Christians and Shiite Muslims” — the first time that the U.S. has declared a “genocide” since Darfur in 2004.

Bishop Habash blamed the United Nations — and the U.S. — for inaction, calling it a “shame for the world.” The international community stands by as ISIS continues to seize the cities where Christian and other ethnic minorities live, taking their possessions, kidnapping them and forcing them to make a horrible choice: convert to Islam, pay a religious tax to keep practicing their faith or be executed. Also, the Muslim political structure marginalizes these groups in Iraq and Syria by denying them adequate housing, social services and education, said Bishop Habash.

“The time [for meaningful action] has ended. No one cares and no one asks why. It’s a very sad fact of this world,” said Bishop Habash, who has lobbied the U.S. Congress on this issue several times and noted that many Catholic leaders, such as Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, retired archbishop of the Washington Archdiocese, have visited the region. After his talk, Bishop Habash responded to Kerry’s declaration, by telling The Beacon, “You can call it genocide [the deliberate killing of a large group of people, especially those of a particular ethnic group or nation] but show something [international action].”

Following his talk, Bishop Habash answered questions from Morris Catholic students, such as “When did it [the atrocities] start?” They began after the fall of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in 2003 and were sparked by an ongoing power struggle among three tribes: the Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds, the bishop said. Another student asked, “How do you keep going in your faith in the face of persecution?” He answered that Christians have taken a stand against ISIS: “You can take my life but not my faith.”

“I want to work for peace and justice of the other, no matter if they are Christian, Jew or Muslim,” said Bishop Habash, who called Christianity “the keeper of values” in the embattled Middle East and issued a challenge to the Morris Catholic students: “Hear the voices of those who have no voice. Serve the justice of the other with love, even if they persecute you or want to kill you.”

Before Bishop Habash’s talk, Father Carmen Buono, Morris Catholic’s chaplain, led a prayer to “the God of Compassion:” “Hear the cries of the people in Iraq and Syria, bring healing to those suffering from violence, bring comfort those mourning the dead, strengthen their neighbors in their care and welcome her refugees, convert the hearts of those who have taken up arms, protect those who are committed to peace and inspire our leaders to choose peace over violence.”

One of students, Curtis Boyd, president of the Morris Catholic freshmen class, told The Beacon afterward, “I’ve seen some of the violence on TV. I was surprised to learn from the bishop that people are being pushed out of the their cities. He and the other Christians have stayed strong in their faith, despite facing such persecution and adversity.”

Bishop Habash’s talk was part of Morris Catholic’s “Global Solidarity Week,” under the theme of “Peace Building.” That week, each class included lessons and activities that helped impart that theme to the students. Last year, CRS chose Morris Catholic — long involved in the mission of social justice — along with 13 other high schools around the U.S. to pioneer a four-year pilot program that partners with the agency. The initiative will serve as a model for educators with the desire to implement Catholic Social Teaching in their curricula, according to Jeanne Gradone, dean of guidance.

After the bishop’s talk, Robert Loia, Morris Catholic’s principal, told the student body that “the struggles of the people are going through in Syria and Iraq under this regime is a story that we need to hear — a story we need to be aware of.”

“I am strengthened by his [Bishop Habash’s] story,” Loia said. “It helped us to be in solidarity with those Christians who are being persecuted in Iraq and Syria — those who have to run because violence pursues them. We cannot help but be moved by the stories that he told and think about all of us in those situations, thinking about our families and what courage those people have,” he said.