The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has designated this Sunday, the Feast of Christ the King, as a day of prayer for persecuted Christians, and the bishops have marked next week, 26 November to 2 December, as a time to raise awareness about the challenges our suffering brothers and sisters around the world are facing.
The Christian presence in the Holy Lands traces its roots to the earliest days of Christianity. These small, diverse communities have historically contributed to the vibrant social fabric of their societies in the fields of science, medicine, and philosophy. Their fraternity with the diversity of Churches and other religious groups helps to foster greater interreligious dialogue, unity, and peace in the Middle East.
In the midst of the turbulence in the Middle East, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops expresses solidarity with Christians and all those who suffer from the conflict and persecution in the region. The Church stands at the service of all people in the Middle East, both Christians and Muslims.
CNEWA is proud to be a part of this initiative and to offer our resources to help educate the public about this urgent issue.
The U.S.C.C.B. website has a wealth of material—including prayer cards, logos, homily notes and intercessions— for parishes to use in the days ahead.
We encourage you to explore all that CNEWA has to offer as well, with some of the most comprehensive journalism and reporting on this issue to be found anywhere:
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Middle East: Place of Promise (ONE Magazine, September 2017)
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‘God Wants Me Here’: Christians Keeping Hope Alive in Iraq (ONE Magazine, March 2017)
In Advent of 2014, Pope Francis sent a letter to Christians in the Middle East. As we near the season of Advent once again, and look with hope to the coming of Christ, his words today have even greater resonance:
Every day I follow the new reports of the enormous suffering endured by many people in the Middle East. I think in particular of the children, the young mothers, the elderly, the homeless and all refugees, the starving and those facing the prospect of a hard winter without an adequate shelter. This suffering cries out to God and it calls for our commitment to prayer and concrete efforts to help in any way possible. I want to express to all of you my personal closeness and solidarity, as well as that of the whole Church, and to offer you a word of consolation and hope.
Dear brothers and sisters who courageously bear witness to Jesus in the land blessed by the Lord, our consolation and our hope is Christ himself. I encourage you, then, to remain close to him, like branches on the vine, in the certainty that no tribulation, distress or persecution can separate us from him (cf. Rom 8:35). May the trials which you are presently enduring strengthen the faith and the fidelity of each and all of you!
Please join us in prayer this Sunday, to express what the bishops have called our “solidarity in suffering,” and pray for an end to persecution.