Erbil, Iraq, Jun 25, 2018 / 05:28 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Sister Ban Madleen, a Dominican sister from Iraq who had to flee ISIS, has once again been denied entry to the United Kingdom.
Madleen was attempting to visit her sick sister, who lives in the country, but immigration officials said that she had not provided enough evidence that she was not going to overstay her visa and attempt to live in the U.K. permanently. Madleen runs a kindergarten in Iraq and belongs to a religious community there, the Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine of Siena.
The religious sister first attempted to obtain a visa to the U.K. in April, but was denied. Government officials said that she had failed to demonstrate that she made a sufficient income as a school principal, and she had not shown that her community would be funding her trip. The denial letter also questioned why she had not visited the U.K. since 2011, when she was last granted a visa.
Madleen, along with the rest of her community, was forced to flee the Christian town of Qaraqosh in 2014 when ISIS took over their convent. She has since been living in the city of Erbil, in northern Iraq.
ISIS controlled the convent until late 2016, when the sisters were finally able to return to visit their now-demolished church.
The news of her most recent denial was shared on Twitter by Fr. Benedict Kiely, the founder of Nasarean.org, which seeks to assist persecuted Christians in the Middle East.
“The U.K., has, for the second time, denied a visa to my friend, Iraqi nun Sister Ban Madleen- driven out of her convent by ISIS but unacceptable for a month’s visit to the U.K.,” Kiley wrote on Twitter.
<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet” data-lang=”en”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>The U.K. has, for the second time, denied a visa to my friend, Iraqi nun Sister Ban Madleen- driven out of her convent by ISIS but unacceptable for a month’s visit to the U.K. what is wrong with Britain? <a href=”https://t.co/rMwbgW018t”>pic.twitter.com/rMwbgW018t</a></p>— Benedict Kiely (@benedict_kiely) <a href=”https://twitter.com/benedict_kiely/status/1009533527866728449?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>June 20, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>
Other Catholic religious from Iraq have also encountered problems while attempting to visit the U.K. and other western countries. One of Sr. Madleen’s sisters, Sr. Diana Momeka, was initially denied a visa to visit the United States to testify before Congress. She eventually received permission after an uproar.
In 2017, the Institute of St. Anselm, a theology school for priests and nuns formerly located in Kent, was forced to relocate to Rome after experiencing significant issues with acquiring visas for foreign students, the Catholic Herald reported.
The U.K.’s Home Office withdrew the school’s license for visas after more than 10 percent of applications were denied. Among the reasons listed for the denials was a concern that a priest was unmarried, and that a religious sister did not have a personal bank account. According to Fr. Kiely, a nun with a PhD in theology from Oxford University was similarly barred from visiting the U.K.
In 2016, the U.K. denied entry to three archbishops from Iraq and Syria. They were invited to attend the consecration of London’s Syriac Orthodox Cathedral, and were supposed to meet with Prince Charles, according to the Catholic Herald. The Home Office said there were significant concerns that the three would be unable to support themselves.
If you value the news and views Catholic World Report provides, please consider donating to support our efforts. Your contribution will help us continue to make CWR available to all readers worldwide for free, without a subscription. Thank you for your generosity!
Click here for more information on donating to CWR. Click here to sign up for our newsletter.
Bamenda, Cameroon, Nov 6, 2018 / 11:49 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Armed separatists kidnapped 79 students from a Christian boarding school in Cameroon Monday.
The principal, a teacher, and one other staff member were taken hostage Nov. 5 with the students a… […]
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 26, 2020 / 04:00 pm (CNA).- As Lebanon continues to deal with fallout from the massive August explosion that devastated parts of the capital, Beirut, advocates for Lebanese Christians call for continued U.S. aid and collaboration with local NGOs, while one State Department official says that conversations about additional aid have stalled.
On Oct. 19, the Daily Star, an English-language newspaper in Beirut, reported that US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Lebanese President Michel Aoun by phone that the United States would send additional aid to rebuild areas damaged by the port explosion in Beirut earlier this year.
An official State Department read-out of the call between the leaders did not mention such a pledge, and a spokesperson for the State Department did not return a request for comment on whether Pompeo had pledged additional aid to the president, but an official within the State Department said conversations about a second round of aid have stalled within the government.
Lebanese authorities attributed the Aug. 4 blast in the port of the country’s capital and largest city to “highly explosive material stored unsafely.” The explosion left 190 dead, more than 6,500 injured, and three people missing, as well as approximately $15 billion in direct damage.
In the aftermath of the explosion, the United States pledged more than $17 million in initial aid for Lebanon for food assistance and medical supplies. Some advocates called for additional relief funds in response to the disaster, pointing to approximately 300,000 people officials said have been displaced from their homes. Al Jazeera reported 70,000 homes were among the buildings damaged in the explosion.
Advocates for Lebanese Christians told CNA that funds dedicated specifically to reconstruction were vital, because much of the damage occurred in neighborhoods with a Christian majority. If these Christians are unable to return to their homes, it could shift the demographics of the city—and the country—by destabilizing the Christian community there.
They also stressed that working with established partners in NGOs would safeguard funds from Lebanon’s corrupt government.
A State Department spokesperson told CNA that the U.S. government provided more than $750 million to Lebanon last year, and that the United States has provided more than $41.6 million in supplemental foreign assistance and redirected $11.5 million in USAID Mission funding to help Lebanon respond to the COVID-19 crisis. According to data from the Department of State, the United States has provided more than $4 billion total in foreign assistance to Lebanon since 2010.
“American assistance to Lebanon saves lives, strengthens our strategic partners, ensures key services reach the Lebanese people and refugees, and counters Hezbollah’s narrative and influence,” the spokesperson said in an email.
The spokesperson added that the U.S. government “directly supported the Lebanese people in the aftermath of the port explosion,” by providing “immediate humanitarian assistance to meet emergency needs,” including emergency food, shelter, and medical assistance.
“We continue to work with our partners in Beirut to identify additional recovery needs,” the spokesperson said.
Despite those remarks, a senior state department official, who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to speak to the media, told CNA that discussions about an additional round of reconstruction aid have stalled, over concerns from some U.S. officials that the funds would end up in the hands of the Lebanese government, which has close ties to Hezbollah. The group, a political party in Lebanon, is designated as a terrorist organization by the United States.
“The idea that any aid to Lebanese Christians confers a benefit on Hezbollah is deeply problematic,” the official said. “That’s not the policy of the administration or the [State] Department or Secretary Pompeo.”
“Lebanon’s political leaders need to end their association with Hezbollah. The U.S. won’t achieve this end by withholding aid to blast victims,” the official told CNA.
Toufic Baaklini, president of In Defense of Christians, told CNA it is crucial for American relief funds to go directly to local NGOs and not through the Lebanese government due to its corruption and ties to Hezbollah.
“We want to make sure that people on the ground are receiving the aid and rebuilding their homes,” Baaklini said, adding that he thinks the administration is committed to finding the best way of getting aid “directly to the people.”
Baaklini said he hopes the aid comes through soon because “the winter season is coming.”
Bishop Gregory Mansour of the Eparchy of Saint Maron of Brooklyn told CNA in an interview that following the blast “the need is great.”
“We don’t want to lose the special character of Lebanon,” if Christians are forced by circumstance to leave, Mansour said.
“It’s very clear to every Christian of the Middle East: outside of Lebanon they are minorities,” he added. “They don’t have those freedoms in other parts of the Middle East.”
Mansour said he thinks the administration seems “to understand the importance of helping Lebanon even though Hezbollah is present in the government.”
“They’ve been very careful; nobody wants to fund a government that has close ties to Hezbollah, I don’t blame them,” Mansour said. “But at the same time, they haven’t let the good people of Lebanon feel like they have to swim on their own.”
Marc Malek, the founder of Conquest Capital Group and an advocate for Lebanese Christians, said the matter is of great importance to Lebanese Americans and Christians in the United States.
“We’ve been trying to make a push here as Christians and Lebanese Americans to dedicate some of that money for shelter,” Malek said, arguing that in some cases a small refurbishment can make a home damaged by the blast habitable again.
Robert Nicholson, president and executive director of The Philos Project, told CNA that he would urge a “robust response to the crisis in Lebanon.”
“There’s actually an opportunity in Lebanon to do some of these things we could never have accomplished in other countries,” Nicholson said, pointing to the country’s “historical, cultural, and religious connection to the West.”
Nicholson called for a “creative and strategic” response to the crisis, “using our dollars to help our friends.”
“There is a way for the US government to spend our aid—which we should give—but to do it in a way that actually advances our mission in the country, which is to raise up the good guys and disempower the bad guys,” Nicholson said. “We need to be clever.”
The Sisters of St. Joseph of the Apparition cover the altar, just dedicated by the cardinal. The covering of the altar signifies that it is both the place of the Eucharistic sacrifice and the Lord’s table. / Credit: Photo courtesy of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem
Jerusalem, Sep 12, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).
On Aug. 31, exactly 100 years after its dedication, the Church of Our Lady of the Ark of the Covenant was reopened for worship on the hill of Kiryat Yearim, nine miles from Jerusalem.
The church, which was closed for four years for restoration work, stands atop the hill overlooking the (Muslim) village of Abu Gosh. From the top, visitors can see Jerusalem.
A view from the hill of Kiryat Yearim, where the Church of Our Lady of the Ark of the Covenant stands. At the foot of the hill lies the Muslim village of Abu Gosh, with Jerusalem visible in the background, a little more than nine miles away. The place, mentioned in the Bible as “Kiriath-Jearim,” held an important role in the history of the Jewish people, as it was here that the Ark of the Covenant rested for about 20 years until King David brought it to Jerusalem. Credit: Marinella Bandini
The place, mentioned in the Bible as “Kiriath-Jearim,” has held an important role in the history of the Jewish people as it was here that the Ark of the Covenant rested after being recovered from the Philistines (see 1 Samuel 6).
The ark contained the two stone tablets on which the Ten Commandments — God’s covenant with the Jewish people — were inscribed and was the sign of God’s presence among his people.
According to the Bible, it was hosted in the house of Abinadab, where it remained for about 20 years (see 1 Samuel 7:1-2) until King David brought it to Jerusalem.
For this reason, even today, the site is visited by many groups of Jews.
A Byzantine basilica was built on the top hill around the fifth century. The current church, the foundation stone of which was laid in 1920, stands on the remains of that building. It was consecrated in 1924 by the then-Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, Luigi Barlassina, and dedicated to Our Lady of the Ark of the Covenant.
The Church of Our Lady of the Ark of the Covenant in Kiryat Yearim (exterior). The church is dedicated to the Virgin Mary, whom Christians also honor with the title of “Ark of the Covenant.” “The covenant of God with his people finds its fulfillment in Jesus Christ, who is no longer just the sign of God’s presence but God himself among us. Mary is the new Ark of the Covenant because she carried Christ himself in her womb,” said Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, in his homily. Credit: Marinella Bandini
Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the current Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, recently came to the basilica to dedicate its new altar on the occasion of the reopening of the church.
“This reopening is a moment of trust in the future, a desire to start anew, and this is what we need most at this time, when everything around us speaks of death and endings,” he told CNA after the celebration on Aug. 31.
The opening of the doors of the Church of Our Lady of the Ark of the Covenant in Kiryat Yearim on Aug. 31, 2024, for the solemn celebration with the rite of dedication of the altar, presided over by Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem. Credit: Photo courtesy of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem
“Climbing this mountain, blessed by the presence of the Lord,” he added, “invites us to have a broad and farsighted perspective on events and not to close ourselves off in the dramatic present moment.”
Hosting the event were the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Apparition, a French congregation founded in 1832 by Mother Emilie De Vialar, which owns and operates the church and surrounding property.
The complete details of how the land came to be acquired by the sisters are lost to history, but it centers on one of the order’s sisters who died in 1927. Sister Josephine Rumèbe, who is buried in the church, was reportedly endowed with special mystical gifts and managed to acquire the land on behalf of the sisters. The story goes that she had 5,000 francs at her disposal and sought the help of a clergyman for the purchase. To prevent a competing buyer from acquiring it, the cleric secured the entire hill for 20,372 francs. Miraculously, when Sister Josephine counted the gold coins hidden in her room, the amount matched exactly what she needed.
Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, pours the chrism oil on the new altar of the Church of Our Lady of the Ark of the Covenant in Kiryat Yearim. On Aug. 31, 2024, he presided over the solemn Mass with the rite of dedication of the altar, marking the reopening of the church after four years of restoration and maintenance work. Credit: Marinella Bandini
The dedication of the new altar in the basilica took place after the recitation of the creed and chanting of the litanies. The cardinal placed relics in the altar, including that of Mother Emilie De Vialar, who was canonized a saint in 1951. This was followed by the anointing of the altar with chrism oil, the incensing of the altar, the covering of the altar, and the lighting of the altar.
The relics placed inside the new altar of the Church of Our Lady of the Ark of the Covenant in Kiryat Yearim, which was dedicated by Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, on Aug. 31, 2024. Among the relics are those of Mother Emilie De Vialar, founder of the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Apparition, the order who owns the church and surrounding property. Credit: Marinella Bandini
“The covenant of God with his people finds its fulfillment in Jesus Christ, who is no longer just the sign of God’s presence but God himself among us. Mary is the new Ark of the Covenant because she carried Christ himself in her womb,” said the cardinal in his homily, inviting the faithful, following the example of the Virgin Mary, to renew their trust in God as the Lord of history and active within history.
Upon entering the church — whose iconographic elements were created by artists from the Ave Center of the Focolare Movement — the eye is drawn to the golden flame emanating from the center of the apse.
Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, celebrates the Eucharistic liturgy on the altar he dedicated in the Church of Our Lady of the Ark of the Covenant in Kiryat Yearim on Aug. 31, 2024. Credit: Marinella Bandini
A special decoration that, on one hand, evokes the biblical significance of fire, symbolizing the presence of God, and on the other, is connected to the history of this place and particularly to Sister Josephine’s vision of a “mountain of fire,” holds significance here.
When she was still a young postulant in France, during Eucharistic adoration, Sister Josephine had a vision of flames forming a mountain with Jesus above them instead of the host. The vision then vanished, and only 50 years later, at the time of laying the foundation stone of the church, it was revealed to her that the “mountain of fire” was indeed Kiryat Yearim, which she used to call “the Holy Mountain.”
Sister Valentina Sala, the current provincial of the congregation for the Holy Land, immediately felt a strong connection to this place. She recounted to CNA: “The first time I came here for a few weeks, a sister took me to Kiryat Yearim. I knelt at Sister Josephine’s tomb and prayed to return if that was God’s will.”
Sister Valentina Sala, the current provincial of the congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Apparition for the Holy Land, prays at the tomb of Sister Josephine Rumèbe, founder of the convent and the church in Kiryat Yearim. “The first time I came here for a few weeks, a sister took me to Kiryat Yearim. I knelt at Sister Josephine’s tomb and prayed to return if that was God’s will,” she recounted to CNA. Credit: Marinella Bandini
On the centenary of the church’s dedication, Sister Valentina also emphasized the significance of this place for her congregation, whose charism is to serve the needs of people through works of charity.
“What is charity work? What people need today is not just health care or education; there is a hunger and thirst for God. We must be able to recognize this need, helping those who come here to listen to his voice. We need places where people can pause and rest with God,” she said.
When the construction of the church was nearly complete, Sister Josephine had a vision of the Virgin Mary, at the top of the church, facing Jerusalem with outstretched arms in a gesture of dispensing grace. A statue now stands above the church to recall that vision, facing away from those entering and directed toward Jerusalem.
“This place, which evokes the covenant, invites us to realign ourselves with God and to be under this blessing,” Sister Valentina concluded.
This is also the meaning of the words she addressed to those present — the vast majority of local faithful from Jerusalem as well as from Galilee — at the end of the Mass.
Hundreds of local faithful from Jerusalem and Galilee attend the solemn Mass with the rite of dedication of the altar, marking the reopening of the Church of Our Lady of the Ark of the Covenant in Kiryat Yearim, on Aug. 31, 2024. A hundred years ago, Sister Josephine Rumèbe of the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Apparition wrote about having seen a vision of “a crowd rushing toward the basilica. I saw priests, sisters of our order, and then men and women of the world who were even more pleasing to God than all the others, holy souls shining like stars.” Credit: Marinella Bandini
“Sister Josephine had already seen you in various visions: ‘I saw a crowd rushing toward the basilica. I saw priests, sisters of our order, and then men and women of the world who were even more pleasing to God than all the others, holy souls shining like stars.’”
She continued: “And what if we are that vision? What if we are that future? Of course, we are! From now on, you will be the ones to bring life to this hill, to this covenant between God and his people. Come, rush, stay, feel at home. There is not only a newly renovated church to see but a Presence to discover: Take the time to dwell with the Lord. What could be more beautiful… Many graces await to be dispensed from here!”
Leave a Reply