Over the last few years Catholics have been rightly concerned about government-imposed restrictions upon religious liberty. The United States Bishops have spoken out forcefully against attempts by both politicians and secular groups to silence the Church on important moral issues such as abortion and gay marriage. But the possible threats that Catholics face in this country are nothing compared to what our Catholic friends in Iraq are experiencing.
On Sunday, Nov. 12, a group of Iraqi Christians returned to their parish in Karamlis to find that it had been destroyed by Islamic State militants. So diabolical was this atrocity that the militants purposely beheaded a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary. They also desecrated a confessional by turning it into a closet and they burned pews. The pastor and parishioners wept and prayed in the destroyed church.
As we approach Thanksgiving Day next Thursday, it is important for us to remember the great blessings we have in this country. We don’t live in a perfect country, but we live in a country that is relatively peaceful. Christians in the Middle East are threatened daily. Many have already lost their lives to Islamic militants; and Islamic State shows no signs of relenting. ISIS has made it clear that their aim is to abolish Christians at any cost.
We must continue to fight for our own religious liberty in the United States; but we must also pray and find ways to support our fellow Christians in the Middle East who stopped worrying about their religious liberty a long time ago. In fact, they are simply worried about staying alive.
