Prayer in the time of bombings

Sister Raghad was born in a small Iraqi town, and until a short while ago she was a refugee in her homeland after it was invaded in 2014 by the Islamic State of Iraq (ISIS). This is how she remembers her last Sunday spent in Mosul: “We went to the Mass under heavy bombardments and only a few families were there.” – She said. “Our hymns were mixed with the noise of the bombs and fears for the future.” (…)
Sister Raghad’s appreciation for physical sciences – studying the building blocks of creation – is strongly connected with her love for nature as well as with her Catholic faith and vocation.(…)
She had planned to enrol her doctoral program in 2014, but her dreams were shattered, when on 4 th June of that year the Islamic State began the occupation of Mosul. “I remember, I was just teaching, when we all were called to leave the school immediately. We did not know what was happening. We just left everything behind.”
The first evacuation lasted a few days only, though our safety did not last long. A week later, the Islamic State continued to take over the city. “The shooting and bombing lasted all day long, throughout the day and night, so we had no doubt that the ISIS would not stop himself in front of our door.” As soon as the terrorists reached the area, Christians were given three options only: either to convert to Islam, to pay a tribute so to stay in their hope –totally deprived of all their rights- or be killed.

“It meant of course, that these choice had no choice at all for the
Christians. We had to leave our homelands so to save our faith.”

They left the city under terrible circumstances: gunshots around them while fleeing away. The way that normally would have been a 20-minute drive, took them a 4 hours walk.
“There stood the ISIS soldiers on one side and that of the Government’s onthe other side. They were fighting, and we were passing in between.”
The sister’s qualifications on her studies remained in the convent, while all the documents of the Education Office had been destroyed by the ISIS when taking it over. Three years later the sisters could return to Mosul, and were surprised to discover that only one room in the convent had remained more or less intact: Sister Raghad’s room. There she has found the documents necessary to continue her doctoral studies. So she was able to enrol and go ahead with her the study program in the United States. As difficult as it was for Sister Raghad to pave the way to entering the United States, it was just as much the same to mentally face the situation, given that she had grown up in the time of the USA-Iraq war and political conflicts.

“It was not easy to come to the States, particularly because of the
many scary memories I had. Sometimes God invites us to go to
places where we just cannot imagine He would be and is really
wanting us to do that. Still, He was with us in Iraq all along, when
everything was dreadful.”

Though it is extremely difficult to be apart from her religious sisters and herfamily who are still in a dangerous situation, Sister Raghad, even in the current condition, feels and experiences God’s closeness, being with her in America. “God is working through the people who helped me all along. In America people are extremely kind, and this motivates me to be a better person. Many Americans are keen to help and they are very much moved by what is happening in Iraq. This helps me to recognise that we are all humans after all.”

One of the guest speakers of the 52nd International Eucharistic Congress, originally scheduled for September of 2020, would have been Louis Raphaël Sako, Cardinal of Baghdad, who was brave and strong to firmly raise his voice against the ISIS, and drew the attention of the apathetic world to the refugees. We do hope to see him amongst us during the new timing of the Congress, 5-12 September 2021. His story is to be read here:

Source: Magyar Kurír; Domonkosnoverek.hu; Catholic.edu
Photo: Catholic.edu