Christians of Iraq

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Updated list of Opression and Murders of the Assyrians in Iraq Not reported by the International Press

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---- Hermit Assyrian nun is anything but reclusive By Rich Barlow   November 11, 2006 For a hermit, Sister Olga Yaqob is remarkably extroverted. She ministers to students at Boston University's Catholic Center, crisscrosses the country giving talks on campuses, and uses public transit because by looking at other passengers, "I do feel that the world wants me to pray for them." Yaqob, 40, is the only canonical hermit in the Archdiocese of Boston, remaining in solitude and contemplative prayer every Saturday while conducting a public ministry the rest of the week. Yet as metaphor, hermit fits her life story as Yaqob tells it. She has often stood outside the community, be it growing up in Iraq's microscopic Christian minority or leaving her family and their ancestral church to become a nun. Just 4 feet 10 inches tall, Yaqob has been an outsized presence at BU, says Lydia Longoria, a graduate who was Yaqob's first spiritual advisee, an unusual request on Longoria's part, as Yaqob spoke little English then. "I didn't need someone who could understand my words; I needed someone who could understand my heart," Longoria says. Yaqob was born in Kirkuk. Her family belonged to the Assyrian Church, one of several Catholic churches with its own patriarch, or leader. Under Saddam Hussein, Christians lived peacefully with the Muslim majority, and the Assyrians treasured their heritage. Deeply religious, Yaqob attended Catholic Mass weekdays (the Assyrian Church worships only on Sundays). From about the age of 14, she wanted to be a nun. There was an unconquerable obstacle. Until a decade ago, the Assyrian Church didn't have nuns. Answering the call meant becoming a Roman Catholic, and that, to her parents, was unthinkable. "They never thought that their daughter could leave the church of her fathers and ancestors," she says. Also, the Islamic Middle East is a patriarchal and family-centered culture, she says. "The general belief is that God created woman to get married and raise children and have a family." Her parents sent her to university, hoping she would meet a man and fall in love. When she graduated, around the time Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, and informed her father that "God is still jealous for my heart," he told her to take her younger brother to London, ostensibly to save him from mandatory military service and the Gulf War. Her father agreed that if she did that, he would let her become a nun. But he had also arranged a marriage for her through family in London, something she didn't learn until her brother told her the night before they were to leave Jordan for London. She prayed a lot that night and recalls thinking: "How this is happening? I did obey my parents for years. I obeyed my culture. I obeyed the tradition of my ancestors." The next day, she put her brother on the plane, but did not board. Her parents disowned her, and she took a bus to The next few years tested her beliefs. She got a job at a hospital and began bringing food and supplies to poor people and prisoners, founding a lay ministry, Love Your Neighbor. Hussein's actions and international sanctions on Iraq after the Gulf War savaged Iraqis' health and welfare. Her father had worked for an oil company and had given her a comfortable life that did not prepare her for the suffering. She ministered at Abu Ghraib and nearby prisons, a memory that makes her voice catch. "Animals in your country lived better than prisoners in my country," she says. "There were kids in prison, between 8 and 14 years old, just because they were stealing, because they were poor. . . . They lost homes. They lost parents." Her work came to the attention of the Assyrian bishop, who had decided to reinstate nuns in the church. He asked Yaqob to start an order; she complied. But she personally observed Roman Catholic practices, which caused friction with her bishop. Jesuit priests from Boston in Iraq arranged for her to study at Boston College. She arrived in the United States just before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. "We had such a bond," says Longoria, who regularly seeks the nun's counsel. "It was her heart. There was an openness, a freedom, very much just reflecting holiness. . . . She's a reflection of God." Today, Yaqob is in sporadic touch with her family. Christian Iraqis are fleeing the country after having been targeted for attack by Muslim insurgents, especially since Pope Benedict XVI quoted a medieval anti-Islam slur. (The pope apologized and said he didn't agree with the slur.) The women in Yaqob's family curb their public outings, fearing for their safety. "The first Gulf War took us 200 years back," she says, explaining her agreement with the late John Paul II's opposition to the 2003 American invasion. "I know what I mean when I say that there's no solution with war." Questions, comments or story ideas can be sent to spiritual@globe.com.

Who are the Christians of Iraq? Tishrin II = November Hermit Assyrian nun is anything but reclusive Nov.10, 06 Fresh Concern Expressed About Iraq's Assyrians Nov.10, 06 Silencing Ancient Echoes: Iraq's Christians Nov. 9, 06 The Non-reaction to the Murder of an Assyrian Priest Nov. 9, 06 Iraqi bishop calls for Christian gathering: unite to be counted and more secure Nov. 8, 06 Proud Assyrian Survivor Can Move on Nov. 7, 06 Assyrian Genocide Victims Discovered In Turkey: Report Nov. 6, 06 Lecture by DR. DONNY GEORGE former Chairman, Board of Antiquities, Iraq Nov. 6, 06 Assyrian areas in northern Iraq as shown in a map by Newsweek Nov. 3, 06 Church calls for action over gruesome violence toward Christians in Iraq Nov. 2, 06 Evidence of Turkey's World War One Massacres Covered up by the Military” Nov. 2, 06 This Was Genocide, But Armenians Were Not Its Only Victims Nov. 1, 06 Assyrian UN Delegation Calls for Autonomous Region for Iraq's Assyrians Nov. 1, 06 Tishrin 1 = October The West Turns a Blind Eye to the Ethnic Cleansing of Christians in Iraq Oct. 31, 06 U.S. Bishops Call for Protection of Iraq's Christians Oct. 30, 06 Hood celebrates 150th anniversary of Assyrian reliefs Oct. 30, 06 Assyrian History On Display Oct. 29, 06 Freedom of Religion Key for All in Iraq Oct. 29, 06 14 years young Assyrian boy decapitated in Iraq Oct. 29, 06 Assyrian civic club marks 60 years Oct. 27, 06 From Discovery to Dartmouth: The Assyrian Reliefs Oct. 27, 06 Sargis Aghajan: A Saint or a Wolf in Sheep's Clothing? Oct. 26, 06 Priest Sends SOS for Christians in Iraq; Faithful Flee, Churches Close in Baghdad Oct. 25, 06 The World Must Speak About the ongoing Assyrian Genocide Oct. 25, 06 Iraqi Militias Conducting Ethnic Cleansing Campaign Against Baghdad's Christians Oct. 23, 06 Pope Urges World Leaders to Help Iraqis Rebuild Troubled Nation Oct. 23, 06 Iraq's Christian Assyrians: Living in Fear Oct. 23, 06 Assyrians built aqueducts to bring water to Nineveh predating Romans by 400 years. Oct. 23, 06 Hope for Assyrian Christians 'Rapidly Dying,' Says Former Iraqi Minister Oct. 20, 06 Christians Live in Fear of Death Squads in Iraq Oct. 20, 06 Congresswoman Esho's Letter to Rice about the endengered Christians of Iraq Oct. 20, 06 IRAQ: CHRISTIANS LIVE IN FEAR Oct. 20, 06 Iraq: Christian Minority Seeks Haven From Violence Oct. 19, 06 GEORGIA: Will mob halt Assyrian Catholic centre? Oct. 19, 06 Ancient ruins inspire hope in U.S. forces in Pre-Christian Iraq . Oct. 18, 06 Christian Migration From Mid-East At Heart of Patriarchs' Meeting Oct. 19, 06 Assyrian language Lecture and Seminar in London Oct. 19, 06 Save Us from the Time of Trial Oct. 18, 06 Persecution of non-Muslims increases in Iraq. Oct. 18, 06 In Iraq, a New Level of Threat to Christians Oct. 17, 06 World Has Forgotten Iraqi Christians: Chaldean Patriarch Oct. 16, 06 Some 500 people attend funeral of beheaded priest Oct. 16, 06 Christians are vacating land of Christ Oct. 15, 06 Threats force Iraqi Christians to flee to Syria Oct. 15, 06 Turkey starts to admit it has an ‘Armenian Question’ Oct. 15, 06 Some Turks change religion as way to West Oct. 14, 06 Beleaguered Yazidi find peace high in Iraq's northern mountains Oct. 14, 06 Beheading of Iraqi priest latest attack on minorities Oct. 14, 06 Kurdish Militia Attacks Assyrian TV Station in North Iraq Oct. 13, 06 Iraq priest 'killed over pope's speech' Oct. 13, 06 More than 35,000 Christians have fled violence in Iraq Oct. 13, 06 Prominent Assyrian Priest Beheaded Oct. 12, 06 Father Paulos Iskandar Killed by Terrorist Abductors Oct. 12, 06 Who Will Remember the Assyrian Genocide? Oct. 11, 06 Abducted and raped, young Christian women and girls are driven to suicide in Iraq Oct. 11, 06 Was the genocide of the Ottoman Empire in1915 only against the Armenians, or included Assyrians also? Oct. 10, 06 Traditional Assyrian Costumes Oct. 9, 06 Organisation and Substitutionism Oct. 8, 06 A Nation Without a Country Oct. 8, 06 Swedish authorities honor Malfono Gabriel Afram Oct. 7, 06 Christian husband and wife converts from Islam released Oct. 7, 06 Terror campaign targets Christians of Iraq Oct. 6, 06 In 20 years, there will be no more Christians in Iraq' Oct. 5, 06 \FIRST-PERSON: Assyrian haircut Oct. 5, 06 The Assyrians: Ignored Among Fears of an Iraqi Civil War Oct. 4, 06 Two Iranian Christians arrested in Mashad. Oct. 4, 06 Car Bombs at the Christian Assyrian shopping district in Baghdad killed 16, injured 87 Oct. 4, 06 30 Christian families receive threats to leave Mosul - Iraq Oct. 2, 06 Mr. Sarkis Aghajan, the Finance Minister of the Kurdistan regional Government Asks for more rights for the Assyrians Oct. 2, 06     Archives September, October 06 June, July 06 March April May 06 January- February 06