"The blood of Christians is seed." --Tertullian (c. 160-230), Apologeticum, ch. 50.
Tertullian's famous words (often repeated in the form "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church") are as true today as they were when he wrote them eighteen centuries ago. Faithful witnesses for Christ have been forced to water the earth with their blood in every age of history, only for the Church to spring up stronger than ever and triumph over her persecutors.
Ragheed Ganni, a Chaldean Catholic priest, was born in Mosul, Iraq (ancient Nineveh), and educated in Iraq and Italy. After the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, although Father Ganni could have stayed safely in Europe, he chose to return to Mosul (which was by then ranked as the second most dangerous city in Iraq) to become the pastor of Holy Spirit Church. There he set up theology courses for his congregation and devoted himself to working with young people and poor families.
After each terrorist attack, Father Ganni knew it was only a matter of time before the next one came. When bullets were fired into his church during Palm Sunday worship earlier this year, he wrote, "We empathize with Christ, who entered Jerusalem in full knowledge that the consequence of his love for mankind was the cross. Thus while bullets smashed our church windows, we offered our suffering as a sign of love for Christ." He later said, "Christ challenges evil with his infinite love, he keeps us united and through the Eucharist he gives us life, which the terrorists are trying to take away." Father Ganni kept encouraging his people to have hope in God for a better future: "It is our duty not to give in to despair: God will listen to our prayers for peace in Iraq."
On Sunday, June 3, just after he had celebrated an evening Mass, Father Ganni was seized, dragged away, and murdered, together with three of his subdeacons. The killers then surrounded the bodies with explosives to delay those who wanted to retrieve them and give them a proper burial.
Ragheed Ganni is dead, but his blood and the blood of his fellow servants of Christ is the seed from which the Church in Iraq will spring forth to greater life. May all those who love his Lord give thanks for him, and pray that peace and hope will truly come to his beloved Iraq.
(Sources: Sandro Magister in Chiesa, BreakPoint with Chuck Colson.)
Monday, July 16, 2007
In memoriam: Father Ragheed Ganni (1972-2007)
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2 comments:
Wow. No, I had not heard of this. It must have happened just as or just after I left. I know some other instances of Christians being killed as well, and I get the feeling they don't make the news. Oh if only his blood would be a passion planted in the hearts of those who had met him that the good news would spread across the nation and all of the Middle East!
A couple of things: Most people have a hard time understanding there have been Christians in what we know call Iraq from the time of the apostles. Most of the believers are in an area from Baghdad north.
Also, the attacks by the jiahdists on Christians started in 2004. They do not make the news because it doesn't fit the template. Also unlike the early attacks where Muslim religious leaders spoke out against them, you have more silence than outrage.
Pray for our brothers and sisters in Iraq that their faith doesn't waver.
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